Tag Archive for: lands

Barry lands exciting new role

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Barry lands exciting new role: When people say the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, Barry Browne is among those who scan the landscape and honestly say that for him and his team it absolutely is.

With 20 years of industry experience Barry is ideally positioned to lead the growth of ProGreen, a highly-regarded business which supports a range of sectors around the UK and Ireland.

Barry lands exciting new role

Barry lands exciting new role

ProGreen, owned by the part employee-owned WCF Ltd, is a specialist business which ensures the likes of top golf courses, Premier League football pitches, famous country houses and estates, Commonwealth War Graves and a range of landscaping environments including holiday parks and highways, look their best thanks to their market leading products, bespoke training and expert advisers.

ProGreen is well-known for offering trusted advice with its knowledgeable and professionally qualified team ensuring its customers receive the optimum product or service for their needs.

It also offers both conventional classroom-based training on the safe use of pesticides and e-learning courses in a range of sectors.

Through its own Peterborough-based operation and its link-up with Amazon it supplies a wide range of weed killers, moss and algae control products, fertilisers and grass seed, as well as providing a comprehensive range of sprayers, granule application equipment and accessories.

Barry, who was appointed as ProGreen’s General Manager earlier this year, knows this industry inside out, and when the opportunity arose to join the company he knew it was an ideal fit.

Barry said: “When I met with Phil Muray (WCF’s Deputy Managing Director) I knew that ProGreen and I were on the same journey.

“I know how to grow this business and what its potential can be. It can really take off from where it is. It is highly regarded and trusted by its suppliers and customers and has an ideal platform to grow.

“The team here is amazing. The level of qualifications they have and the specialist knowledge they can share with customers is second to none. From soil analysis to their training portfolio, from fertilisers to sprayers, they are trained to give the best possible advice so that customers get the right products for their particular situation and scenario at the right price.

“We build long-term relationships with customers, whether that’s large businesses and organisations or individual consumers – we treat them all with the same attention and respect.

“They trust our advice and our products and we are there for them to hold their hand and share our knowledge with them through the process.”

Among the diverse sectors of ProGreen’s corporate clients are:

  • agriculture businesses
  • commercial contract spraying companies
  • football clubs
  • golf courses
  • local authorities
  • highways
  • housing developers
  • shopping centres and retail parks

ProGreen also ensures its team are trained to give the latest up-to-date advice on a range of emerging topics, from Biodiversity Net Gain legislation with advice on trees, grasses, meadows and wildflowers; to the latest changes in planning developments; from advice on dealing with invasive plants like knotweed, buddleia and bamboo to some of the more unusual issues such as from outbreaks of bed bugs affecting the hotel and leisure industry.

“We can advise customers on a whole range of issues,” said Barry. “When housing developers are wanting a wildflower meadow for example we are able to advise on the best UK native wildflowers which will support the British bee population, which in turn will provide the best, long-term, sustainable net gain.

“Whatever the challenge, the ProGreen team is available to discuss the best solution for the customer,” said Barry.

Phil said: “We are delighted to have brought Barry on board to lead our expert team at ProGreen. Barry is an ideal fit for our business and our people and brings with him more than 20 years of experience in this sector.

“We are excited about how the company can grow by expanding our offering and building on our excellent reputation for providing our customers with top quality advice, training, products and services.”

As well as being available online, over the phone and in person, the ProGreen team also exhibits and demonstrates at a range of major trade events including:

  • UK Lawn Care Association Summer Festival at Brailsford Golf Club, Derbyshire on June 26;
  • GroundFest, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire; September 10 & 11;
  • FutureScape Landscape and Trade Exhibition, Excel, London, on October 15 & 16.

For more information visit https://www.progreen.co.uk

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INFINICUT® combo lands at Durham

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INFINICUT® combo lands at Durham: They say ‘all good things come to those who wait’, and for the team at Durham County Cricket Club, they’ve waited almost five years for their very own INFINICUT® and UltraGroomer™ set-up!

The combination has been on the mind of Head Groundsman Vic Demain since 2017, so when funding became available, the INFINICUT® was top of the shopping list. Following delivery in March, the INFINICUT® has been living up to expectations – swiftly tackling the invasion of annual meadow grass on the club’s practice facilities.

INFINICUT® combo lands at Durham

INFINICUT® combo lands at Durham

In charge of preparing surfaces for T20, County and International Cricket, Vic keeps his eyes and ears close to the ground when it comes to new solutions to the key maintenance tasks. “We had the opportunity to use the INFINICUT® complete with UltraGroomer™ for a couple of weeks back in 2017 and were hugely impressed by it, but unfortunately until this year the funding hasn’t been available” Vic explains. Over the COVID period, four units were hired by the ECB to help with preparations for those fixtures taking place behind closed doors, with one of these now finding a new home with Vic and his team of five.

“Having been sold on the UltraGroomer™ from all those years ago, we jumped at the chance to purchase one, together with a 22” INFINICUT® FL. It was delivered just as we began to see the grass thicken up and the annual meadow grass coming through which is where this machine comes into its own.” Featuring over 80 tungsten carbide tipped blades, the UltraGroomer™ from the TMSystem™ range improves the plants immediate environment by removing Poa ingress, lateral growth and organic matter to enhance the movement of oxygen, moisture and nutrients.

“While the Poa keeps growing and seed heads are showing we’ve been conducting fortnightly runs with the UltraGroomer™ and it’s done a fantastic job. We will also be looking to use it for thinning out the sward as part of our main pitch preparations.”

The INFINICUT® also becomes Vic’s first battery powered machine, something that will be in use even more frequently when he receives his new SMARTCut™ cutting reel. “We’re excited for the INFINICUT® to become a dual-purpose machine, with it lining up to be used to cut the main square and practice areas.” Vic adds, “Through the summer we are often hosting meetings and weddings and the last thing they want in the background is noisy mowers! Where we would previously be told to turn them off, with the INFINICUT® we’ll be able to cut the grass without disturbing the guests.”

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