Tag Archive for: Best

AGS Win Best Business Award

AGS Win Best Business Award: Advance Grass Solutions Ltd (AGS) was named winner of Best New Business category at the 2019 Best Business Awards.

The BBAs pride themselves on having a large panel of independent expert judges who select winners according to strict criteria for each category and sector.

AGS Win Best Business Award

The Best Business Awards judges said:

Commenting on Advance Grass Solutions Ltd, the winner in the Best New Business category, the chairman of the judges said:

 “Advance Grass Solutions has come up with a sound formula for the perfect playing surface that incorporates consultancy, agronomy programmes, scientific and technical analysis, product selection and solid turf management principles. Through its all-in-one package and policy of using environmentally-friendly products, AGS has grown a quick reputation for creating sustainable, top-quality playing surfaces for major sporting venues including Premiership Football Stadia, Top 100 Golf Clubs and Independent Schools”.

“The AGS management have shown true entrepreneurial skills setting credible foundations around a solid business model which augurs well for the future. Congratulations to AGS for coming up with market leading solutions and achieving strong growth in terms of turnover and new business.”

Upon receiving the Award, Jamie Bennett, Chairman and CEO said: “We are extremely proud to have won our first national business award and being recognised for excellence in our in our particular field is very satisfying. This award is a credit to the whole AGS team whose dedication is directly related to our success. I would also like to thank our loyal customers who have shown faith in our products and service support which has made this award a reality.”

The Best Business Awards are one of the UK’s highest profile awards and winning this accolade speaks volumes about the quality of your organisation. Due to its high profile, the Awards attract a wide range of entries from across all sectors from large international PLCs and public sector organisations to dynamic and innovative SMEs. The winners all have one thing in common – they are truly excellent at what they do and Advance Grass Solutions Ltd (AGS) have proved this by winning a Best Business Award.

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Best Park Shortlist Announced

Best Park Shortlist Announced: Four parks from across the UK have been shortlisted in Fields in Trust’s search to find the UK’s Best Park. Castle Gardens, Antrim; Cyfarthfa Park, Merthyr Tydfil; Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline and Stanley Park, Blackpool have each been shortlisted following a public vote.

The UK’s Best Park is organised by green space charity Fields in Trust who, for over 90 years, have legally protected parks and green spaces ensuring they will always be available for future generations to enjoy. A record 364 nominations were received for UK’s Best Park 2019. Those nominations were supported by park users, communities, Friends of Parks groups, and landowners and an unprecedented total of 36,832 votes were cast for parks and green spaces across the UK.

Best Park Shortlist Announced

The shortlisted parks are:

  • Antrim Castle Gardens, Antrim. The nomination identified that Antrim Castle Gardens has completed a transformation “… from local gem to national treasure” and recognised the “passionate team driven by the ambition to put their place on the map”.
  • Cyfarthfa Park, Merthyr Tydfil was identified as “…a park for people of all ages and interests”. The park was celebrated for its “…sensory garden and meadowlands which provide a haven of tranquillity”; and “The woodland walks, a delight for dog walkers and nature-lovers …  it is a park for all”.
  • Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline, Scotland is known locally as “The Glen” and was celebrated for its diversity “… from kid’s areas to glasshouses, peacock sanctuary and historical features …. rocky waterfalls, imaginative paths, well-stocked, neatly trimmed flower beds and herb gardens”.
  • Stanley Park, Blackpool, was described as “… a beautiful, tranquil place away from the hustle and bustle of the Blackpool seafront”. The “great volunteers and staff who keep it in tip-top condition” were also recognised in the online nomination.

In addition, 73 parks and green spaces have achieved “Much Loved” status, having been placed in the top 20% of all UK’s Best Park 2019 nominations throughout the UK. The “Much Loved” status recognises the support of local people who use and love these parks and green spaces.

Fields in Trust is a UK-wide charity that since 1925 has been legally protecting parks and green spaces in perpetuity. The UK’s Best Park Award recognises the role that parks play in our communities, supporting mental and physical health and bringing people together. The charity is concerned that many parks and green spaces are under threat and are at risk of being lost to development or a cycle of decline and disappearance.

Fields in Trust recently published research, the Green Space Index, which revealed that over 2.5 million people across Great Britain do not have access to a local park within ten minutes walk from home. With public sector cuts leading to pressure on parks and green spaces, there is a risk that a lack of legal protection could lead to more being sold off or developed. Yet these vital outdoor spaces deliver health and wellbeing benefits to those that use them regularly. Fields in Trust research reveals that overall, parks and green spaces contribute £34 billion each year in health and wellbeing benefits to their regular users and save the NHS £111million each year simply in avoided GP appointments.

Fields in Trust Chief Executive, Helen Griffiths said: “The increased number of parks nominated, and a record number of votes cast, show just how much the UK’s local green spaces are cherished by the people who use them. Recognising the UK’s Best Park is a way of revaluing our green spaces for the physical and mental health benefits they provide to their local communities. I congratulate all our “Much-Loved” parks and green spaces and wish the four Home Nation winners well for the UK’s Best Park award which we will announce on September 12th. 

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Search For UK’s Best Park

Search For UK’s Best Park: The Fields in Trust UK’s Best Park, 2019 is now open for a public vote to select the nation’s favourite local park. A total of 364 public nominations for parks and green spaces across the UK have been made – each one a much-loved part of its local community. Now it is time to choose the winners via an online public vote at www.fieldsintrust.org/best-park until noon on Monday 19th August.

Voting opens to coincide with “Have a Field Day” on Saturday 6th July, the annual celebration of parks and green spaces. Over 250 community-led events will engage thousands of people across the UK, people are coming together for picnics with their friends and neighbours, celebrating local parks and green spaces and joining a movement of fellow park users across the UK who want champion their parks and protect them for future generations to enjoy.

Search For UK's Best Park

Fields in Trust is a UK-wide charity that legally protects parks and green spaces in perpetuity. The UK’s Best Park Award recognises the role that parks play in our communities, supporting mental and physical health and bringing people together. The charity is concerned that many parks and green spaces are under threat and are at risk of being lost to development or a cycle of decline and disappearance. Last month Fields in Trust published research which revealed that over 2.5 million people across Great Britain live more than ten minutes’ walk from a park or green spaces. With public sector cuts leading to pressure on parks and green spaces, there is the risk that a lack of legal protection could lead to more being sold off or developed.

Fields in Trust Chief Executive Helen Griffiths said: “Our parks and green spaces are a vital part of UK community infrastructure. We know that they provide benefits to the physical health, mental wellbeing and community connections for people that use them, so we are delighted to see a record number of nominations for the UK’s Best Park award and it is encouraging to see so many people organising picnics with neighbours to celebrate how much they love their local park.  Fields in Trust is committed to protecting these valuable and much-loved parks and green spaces for future generations to enjoy.”

Nominations include small community gardens and large nature reserves, sports fields and playgrounds, each green space valued by its community and nominated by the regular park users who love to walk, run, cycle, relax, picnic and play with their children in the UK’s parks. The UK’s Best Park 2019 will see the park with the most votes in each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland shortlisted with the UK’s Best Park, 2019 announced in mid-September.

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Cromer Courts Among The Best

Cromer Courts Among The Best: Cromer’s tennis players have always boasted that their 10 grass courts are amongst the best in the country – and now it is official.

Following a visit and inspection by an official from the LTA, the sport’s governing body, and an inspector from the Sports Turf Research Institute they have produced their official report which concludes that: “The grass courts at Cromer are some of the best grass courts in the UK. They are well managed, dominated by perennial ryegrass and are open for play for six months of the year. The courts and surrounds are always beautifully presented and are a credit to the grounds team.”

Cromer Courts Among The Best

The LTA consider grass court venues such as Cromer to be very important for British tennis and believe it to be vital that events are played on grass throughout the summer and that all players, but especially juniors, have the opportunity to play on grass.

The objective of the Cromer site visit was to assess the quality of the playing surfaces and suitability for holding grass court tennis competitions. The inspectors conducted agronomic assessments of the playing surfaces as well as evaluating the maintenance regimes, staff levels and available machinery and equipment. They carried out a botanical analysis, a soil analysis, which involved soil samples being analysed in the Institute’s soils laboratory, and measured both the surface hardness and the soil moisture.

Amongst the many positive comments were that “live grass cover on courts at Cromer was excellent” and they were very complimentary on the work that is done out of season by way of scarifying, over seeding and top dressing.

The association’s treasurer Martin Braybrook said: “This was a very thorough inspection and the results reflect great credit on our groundsman, Matthew Jordan and his assistant, Peter Cooper. Over the years we have had a succession of excellent groundsmen and we are delighted for Matthew to have received such a positive report.”

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Imants ShockWave The Solution

Imants ShockWave The Solution: Kyles Athletic Shinty Club has turned to the Imants ShockWave 100 from Campey Turf Care Systems to solve their drainage problems.

The club is based on the west coast of Scotland in Auchenlochan, with their facility at the edge of the Kyles of Bute – a narrow sea channel. They are often subjected to heavy rain, and when combined with a drainage issue on the field a number of games were called off with some having to be played at other clubs at a cost to the Kyles Athletic. Because of this, they decided to have drainage installed.

Imants ShockWave The Best Solution

Tom Whyte is the sole volunteer groundsman at the club. He explains that the field was in good condition before the drainage issues started to appear, and after unsuccessful attempts to resolve it, he thinks the ShockWave could be the solution.

“Two years ago, the committee decided to get a contractor in to install drains, but they weren’t a success, and it was put down to the stone being too close to the surface. Because of the compaction, they couldn’t go further down without causing a lot of hassle to the field. We spent a significant amount of money to have the work done, and it wasn’t a success, so we had to look at other ways of fixing the issue.

“The council tried to use a tine aerator, but after covering about a seventh of the pitch, they said it was too wet and never came back. I was recommended a ShockWave, and I spoke to Richard Heywood at Campey and he explained to me that when the ShockWave hits the rock, it rides it, it doesn’t try to break its way through, but it will go through the small stuff.

“For us, it was all down to money, I spoke to Richard Campey, and he did us a deal with the ShockWave, a New Holland Boomer 125 and a fertiliser spreader. That led to me approaching our district council and Clackmannanshire District Council. Both of them gave us money towards the machines, and that made it affordable for the club.”

The Imants ShockWave is the perfect solution for Kyles Athletic because it is designed to decompact heavy wear areas by relieving soil compaction using 12mm thick knives. This makes it the ideal aerator on fields that have stone near the surface because the blades won’t break and cause further damage to the machine.

While the main aim of purchasing the machines was to eliminate the drainage issue, Tom also wanted to be able to plan his maintenance. In the past, the club relied on borrowing equipment from others, but now they own their machines Tom feels able to raise the standards with plans already in place to hire the machinery out to provide income for the club.

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MM The Best For Shrewsbury School

MM The Best For Shrewsbury School: Shrewsbury School Grounds manager Andy Richards claims that Limagrain UK’s MM brand of grass seed has proved time and time again, to be the best mixtures for the school’s sports pitches.

Set on the banks of the River Severn, Shrewsbury School is one of the country’s leading co-educational independent schools for 13-18-year-olds and attracts boys and girls from all over the country.

MM The Best For Shrewsbury School

Academic excellence aside, the school prides itself on a strong sporting ethos and boasts some of the finest teams in UK education. The main sport in the Michaelmas (autumn) term is football, in the Lent term fives and rugby, and in summer cricket. During term times, pitch usage is seven days a week and with over 800 pupils, many of whom participate in sports, it is safe to say that the pitches encounter a lot of wear.

It is for this reason that Andy is very particular in choosing a grass seed that stands up to such high usage.

“Three years ago we made the decision to change to Limagrain’s MM60 on our football pitches,” he said. “We were experiencing a lot of disease, especially on our first team pitch, and I think we sprayed four times to tackle fusarium. With this in mind I thought it was worth trying something different to see if we could find a seed that was better for our site.

“We trialled MM60 on one pitch against the seed that we were previously using over the course of a season – to see which one was the best. Results showed that there was a lot less disease from using MM60 and it stood up a lot better to the really high usage that we have. The pitch that we trialled it on had 112 uses during a twelve week period and it felt like the MM60 provided a much more upright leaf which seemed to protect the pitch more than our previous seed.

“It was an easy decision to change to the MM60 and we implemented it across all of the football pitches – we didn’t even need to spray it for any disease in that first year.”

Limagrain’s MM60 grass seed is renowned for producing an excellent playing surface. It is a 100% Ryegrass formula which is perfect for renovation and divot repair, has a high disease resistance, fantastic aesthetic qualities and offers extremely fast germination – which is boosted by the inclusion of Headstart GOLD®.

Developed using the latest scientific findings and field experience, Headstart GOLD® is a natural revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid germination and is perfect for enhancing performance on grass seed coatings for sports fields, golf courses, lawns and amenity turf.

For 2019, MM60 now includes Limagrain’s new Ryegrass cultivar Annecy which has outstanding disease resistance particularly against Leaf Spot. This along with excellent wear tolerance, density and recovery makes it a very valuable addition to the mixture at a time when plant health and disease management has never been so important.

MM The Best For Shrewsbury School

After ‘Koro-ing off’ the pitches during the annual August renovations, Andy has just 28 days to ensure the pitches are playable for the opening fixtures. Therefore, when Andy sows the seed he needs absolute confidence that it will perform.

“We know that by the fourth or the fifth day MM60 is going to be showing; within seven days it is going to be green, and then between ten and fourteen days we will even look at putting a growth regulator down and encourage it to start tillering and get as deep rooted as possible. MM60 responds excellently – it’s hungry, it’s vigorous, it comes through well and it colours well. The Headstart can also take out the need for pre-seed fertiliser.”

In a similar move, Andy also decided to change to Limagrain’s MM50 for the school’s cricket pitches after his previous seed was not meeting his expectations.

“We were using a different seed on the squares but our recovery was so poor and the pitches were almost dead at the end of two or three games of cricket. We didn’t even trial the MM50 – we just went straight in on a whole square and the difference was incredible. The speed that it came through and the quality of the sward was really impressive. We had no disease through the winter and when we prepared our first wickets with MM50 the following spring – the denseness, the texture of the leaf and the way it cut down to the 6mm we aim for was amazing. The wickets looked good and they coloured up well but the most important thing was that we could water them after four or five days of play and within a couple of days they were almost green again.”

As Andy says, MM50 is ideal for cricket squares and outfields. This hard-wearing mix has rapid germination, very fine leaved appearance, high shoot density and is tolerant to very close mowing, along with high disease resistance. All these attributes together produce a fantastic sward that has great colour all year round. It is also widely praised for its rapid recovery – something which is incredibly important to Andy.

“With the amount of games we have here, recovery is a massive thing and we have to get them back quickly. MM50 has just proved time and time again to be the best cricket mix in the country.

“Limagrain is a great company to work with. They will come in a few times a year, have a look around and we will discuss things like overseeding pitches or seed mixtures. The service has been very good and I don’t think they could actually do anymore if they tried.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

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Best Buy For New 47cm Model

Best Buy For New 47cm Model: EGO is once again adding to its list of independent ‘Best Buy’ awards for its range of outdoor power tools.

BBC Gardeners’ World rated the EGO Power+ LM1903E-SP 47cm Self-Propelled Mower one of its best mid-price mowers, scoring it 19/20 and reporting on the ease of use.

Best Buy For New 47cm Model

The mower, which is new for the 2019 season and uses the brand’s 56V Arc Lithium battery, was trialled head-to-head with other established brands, coming out as one of the top on test.

With the write-up, in the March issue of the magazine, now on newsstands, it puts the newly launched model in a great position from the off.

Steve Roskell, marketing director (EMEA) at EGO, comments on the latest accolade: “Since our launch, we have been awarded numerous independent ‘Best Buys’ throughout Europe reflecting our position as the experts in the field of cordless technology in outdoor power equipment.”

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SALTEX 2018 Voted The Best Yet

SALTEX 2018 Voted The Best Yet: The post-show visitor survey from SALTEX 2018 has revealed that an overwhelming amount of attendees believed the 2018 show was the best and most vibrant to date.

SALTEX at the NEC, Birmingham has again proved to be the annual meeting place for the UK and European groundscare industries. Only at SALTEX does the industry have the opportunity to experience a comprehensive overview of the latest developments and innovations in groundscare and to find out about the capabilities of this sector.

SALTEX 2018 Voted The Best Yet

Following two days of networking, education and innovation, the 73rd SALTEX exhibition closed with an independently audited, visitor total of 8,902.

Visitors attended from 44 different countries and according to the findings of this year’s visitor survey, these attendees included grounds personnel, greenkeepers, landscapers and contractors.

The event organisers are very pleased to hear that 90 per cent of visitors, who took part in the survey, were successful in meeting their show objectives and equally as many rated their overall show experience as either very good or excellent and no less than 90 per cent of visitors have already put SALTEX 2019 into their diaries, which takes place at the NEC from 30-31 October.

Survey respondents said that their top priorities for attending were to source new products/services and suppliers (79 per cent) and discover new innovations (77 per cent).

More than 47 per cent used their visit for professional development by attending show features such as the Learning LIVE education programme, Ask the Expert and the Job Clinic.

More than half of the survey respondents held a leading or management position at their respective companies, with 84 per cent either having sole responsibility for purchasing or contributed to the process. In addition, 65 per cent had the ability to sign-off on amounts up to £50,000 and 12 per cent had the ability to sign-off on amounts of more than £500,000.

The survey findings also revealed that SALTEX visitors had very specific interests: almost 80 per cent attended to find out more about machinery, power and hand tools for their daily work and nearly half of the visitors were interested in seed, turf and aggregates. More than 38 per cent of visitors wanted to see exhibitors representing both sport surfaces and facilities and landscaping materials. Other areas of interest included: arboriculture, horticulture and forestry (37 per cent); commercial vehicles, tyres and trailers (33 per cent); synthetic turf (24 per cent) and security, personal protection, health and safety (18 per cent).

Vic Demain, head groundsman at Durham CCC, believes that the show is well attended because it caters for everyone in the industry: “I consider SALTEX to be the best show in the industry and it is ideal for everyone to come to, whether you are a volunteer, a professional or an international groundsman – there is something for everyone,” he said.

For Adam Witchell, head groundsman at Forrest Green Rovers FC, attending SALTEX provides him with a great opportunity to continue his learning. “For me it’s all about education. I love the seminars and here at SALTEX I’m learning lots of things from great people in this industry. It is a fantastic event, there is some absolutely brilliant machinery on display and a good range of exhibitors.”

Alison Saxby, estate team leader at Workington Town Council also thought the opportunity to enhance her knowledge was a top priority for attending SALTEX: “I like the live talks because they keep you abreast of the current regulations and new innovations,” she said.

With the NEC being located in the centre of the UK and boasting fantastic travel links, it is no wonder that 85 per cent rated the accessibility of the venue as excellent. Stuart Kerrison, head groundsman at Essex CCC said: “The NEC is so easy to get to. I attended to look at a couple of new machines because this is where you see all of the latest innovations. Anyone who attends SALTEX gets so much from it – from viewing new products, attending seminars and networking,” he said.

Benjamin Imamovic, assistant groundsman at FK Željezničar Sarajevo, believed that his journey to SALTEX was certainly worthwhile.

“It’s awesome; I came all the way from Bosnia and Herzegovina to see all of the new machines and learn something new and I am amazed.”

SALTEX 2019 takes place at the NEC, Birmingham on October 30 and 31.

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

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John Deere Among Best Brands

John Deere Among Best Brands: John Deere has again been named among the world’s most valuable brands in an annual ranking undertaken by leading brand consulting firm Interbrand. John Deere is now ranked 88th in the Best Global Brands research announced in October 2018, rising four spots from a year ago. Interbrand estimates the John Deere brand to now be worth approximately $5.4 billion, a 12 per cent increase on last year.

“A decade after the global financial crisis, the brands that are growing fastest are those that intuitively understand their customers and make brave iconic moves that delight and deliver in new ways,” said Charles Trevail, Interbrand’s global chief executive officer. Interbrand said its brand valuation is based on three key areas – financial performance of the brand; the brand’s influence on purchase decisions; and the brand’s strength to create loyalty and sustainable customer demand.

John Deere Among Best Brands

“This recognition emphasises the success of our 70,000 employees worldwide who work each day to deliver on the company’s core values of integrity, quality, commitment and innovation,” said Samuel R Allen, Deere & Company chairman and chief executive officer.

John Deere has been included in the Best Global Brand ranking since 2011, when Interbrand estimated the value of the John Deere brand to be $3.65 billion. The Interbrand methodology was the first of its kind to be certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation requirements for monetary brand valuation.

For more information, visit: www.JohnDeere.co.uk

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Best To ‘Be Safe’ With Makita

Best To ‘Be Safe’ With Makita: Several hundred students attending Merrist Wood College, a multi-award winning, 400 acre estate and ‘outdoor classroom’ in Guildford, Surrey, are benefiting from Makita UK’s invaluable Be Safe training modules.  The College specialises in a variety of subjects from animal welfare and arboriculture, to landscaping, garden design, equine management, sport, Public Services and horticulture.  For students on the land-based courses Makita UK, Britain’s number one professional power tool manufacturer, has started to deliver a series of Be Safe modules in grounds maintenance, landscaping and horticulture.

These informative 1.5 hour Outdoor Power Equipment (OPE) Correct and Safe Use modules, which carry the LANTRA Awards Approved Training Provider badge of recognition, provide a grounding in machine selection using the right tool for the job, safe use and correct control of Makita machines used for grounds care, horticulture production and amenity horticulture.

Best To 'Be Safe' With Makita

“It is important to give these students an easy-to-understand course in basic machinery safety and selection,” says Kevin Brannigan, marketing manager, Makita UK.  “The students will receive some practical training during their courses but it is vital that they appreciate the risks and processes related to powerful equipment such as hedge trimmers, brush cutters, line trimmers and many more pieces of equipment in our Outdoor Be Safe seminars which brings a fresh approach to this important training.”

The first Outdoor Be Safe modules have been delivered and several more are scheduled in the months ahead.  From January 2019 and onwards the October 2018 apprenticeship intake will also benefit in the course.  This training is completely free of charge and certificates of training are awarded by Makita for all participating students.

“After attending the Makita Be Safe workshops our land-based students were given generous hands-on experience testing some of Makita’s leading cordless machinery including lawnmowers, chainsaws, strimmers.  Linking with Makita UK has been really valuable for our students in showcasing safety but also the direction of quieter and more sustainable options for their core equipment needs,” says Richard Dewing, Associate Principal Curriculum and Head of Campus – Merrist Wood.

Simultaneously, Makita’s highly popular Construction Be Safe modules are being delivered at Guildford College of Further Education, Guildford, Surrey (another college alongside Merrist Wood in the Guildford College group).  These are being delivered to students attending the plumbing, electrical and construction courses, with day-release apprentices also attending from January 2019 onwards.

Bookings can be made by downloading the fax-back form from the Makita website or email leads@makitabesafe.com.  Makita will contact the College in each case and make arrangements directly.

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