Tag Archive for: Role

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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Role of grounds staff is key

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Role of grounds staff is key: With ‘no pitch no play’ one of the biggest barriers to levelling the playing field between women and men’s football, the success of the women’s game depends largely on the involvement of the grounds industry.

Ahead of speaking at SALTEX, the leading turf management show being held on Birmingham NEC from 02-03 November, on increasing pitch capacity for the women’s game, Hannah Buckley, senior facilities and project manager for the women’s professional game at The FA, shares why the importance of the pitch and ensuring the groundswell of forward movement for the womens’ and girls’ sport is not lost because of poor playing conditions.

Role of grounds staff is key

Role of grounds staff is key

“When any new sport or technology comes along, some people will be reluctant to embrace it, others will do so wholeheartedly. We all saw this with those who hosted women’s matches and practise for the Euros and those who didn’t.

“It’s important to remember the men’s game is over 150 years old, women’s is 50 and the young girls’ pro game is only 11 years old. At the start of our journey, all the infrastructure was built around 150 years of the men’s game.

“What’s important going forward is to remove the unknown entities when it comes to additional female users of any pitch. Everything is the same with regards to the pitch and its set up, it’s only the players who are different. Accommodating women’s sport causes far less damage than the men’s: the players weigh less, are smaller and therefore it is important to acknowledge different impacts against different users. Understanding differences provides opportunities for example professional training environments don’t need as much space in a natural pitch training environment – and that reduces the initial budget outlay and ongoing maintenance costs.

“Several women’s professional clubs have secured investment from the Premier League in the last three and a half years to improve pitch quality delivering new stitched and carpet hybrid products.

“Women’s football is here to stay and we’ve got to focus on the pitches we’ve got. England has its infrastructure challenges. We’re an island with limited land availability, with predominantly urban stadiums and training grounds. We are not going to start by building new pitches, so we need to understand the playing surface and the game and work with what we’ve got and make them work for the future of the sport. And all sports groundspeople have a role to play in this. The process starts in education settings, local authorities and clubs, and in.

“My talk at SALTEX in fact considers this very subject and looks at the impact of Leigh Sports Village in Wigan. This example shows the impact a focus on grass roots can have at its finest. The venue had the biggest investment in public sports, recreational and educational facilities in Wigan borough for many years and has transformed Leigh into one of the finest hubs of activity in the North West. Its multi-surfaces serve the whole community providing a range of activities for local people as well as hosting international sporting events. It attracts the next generation of sporting stars in the community but is also home to professional rugby league team Leigh Centurions and Manchester United’s Women’s, U23s and U19s teams. It’s been a host stadium for the Rugby League World Cup 2022 and UEFA Women’s Euro 2022. The plethora of sports they host is down to the quality of surfaces and I’ll look at the how and why they’re able to do that in my Learning LIVE seminar at SALTEX.

“It’s something we can all work together on too. And by that I don’t just mean by looking at the way other sports are incorporating this requirement into their plans going forward or even other countries, but how grounds teams need more diversity – opportunities exist for women in helping prepare the surfaces for the women’s sport, we need diversity to be reflected in that sector, there’s a whole career pathway that could be incredibly rewarding for women.

“What really puts it into perspective is the moment when the Lionness’ won the Euros it was years in the making for those working in the womens’ game – it was the moment we’d all been waiting for, and it came on home turf. That feeling was indescribable and something we want more and more people in the industry to be a part of, experience and celebrate. We now have the world’s best sporting women’s league and everything to play for in terms of continuing the momentum. We need others to join in with those who supported us then, to support us in the next chapter as we work towards the next international event.”

Hannah joins Ted Mitchell of the Rugby Football Union, Iain James from the England and Wales Cricket Board and Ashleigh Seddon form the Rugby Football League at SALTEX on Thursday in theatre 1 at 1.45pm as they look at how groundspeople can increase pitch capacity for the women’s game. Register for a free ticket at saltex.org.uk / register here

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New role to advance Export division

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New role to advance Export division: It has been announced that Tom Challinor will succeed Peter McDonald in the role of Export Manager for Agrovista, combining this with his current position within the Amenity sector.

Tom has been working for the company for over a decade and started as an amenity Sales Advisor. Even back in 2012, when the amenity export operation was of a humble size, Tom had his eye on international markets.

New role to advance Export division

New role to advance Export division

“We were receiving a few international calls and enquiries but due to the size of the team and other commitments, we were unable to prioritise this area of the business.

“We discussed this internally to look at ways to improve the handling of our international enquiries.  I got the go ahead to take this on as a part of my role and this has developed over the years to become my full-time focus.”

By nurturing relationships with key customers and seeking out new partners in new territories, Tom has worked hard to grow the amenity export side of the business. Agrovista’s products have made a lasting impression in various European markets and further afield.

Last year Tom was instrumental in Agrovista becoming a corporate member of the Institute of Export & International Trade – a move which helped to boost the company’s export potential even further. He also recently achieved a diploma in International Trade – a four-year course which is provided by the Institute.

“I am, of course, over the moon to be presented with this new opportunity,” he said. “The processes are essentially the same but on the agricultural side there are more high-volume sales in comparison to the smaller, more frequent orders on the amenity side. With the unique, and highly successful Discovery agricultural range of products there is a lot more regulation, registration, and legislation required.

“Currently, the Discovery products are popular with big agrochemical companies in countries such as Turkey, Slovakia, Romania, and Slovenia, whereas the amenity products have more of a presence in central Europe and the Middle East. I believe this presents some opportunities to crossover and the growth of both could go hand-in-hand.”

Tom will divide his time between the company’s offices at Allscott and Rutherford House, and believes his colleagues, and Agrovista’s ever expanding networks will be integral.

“We have a fantastic technical department that is extremely helpful and always answer any technical questions I have.

“Everything is in place to succeed – the support I have around me is superb.”

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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The role of Sports Pitch Management Platforms

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The role of Sports Pitch Management Platforms: Data has always been a part of professional sports turf. For decades grounds people have made notes on paper about their maintenance. As time passed, the paper turned into spreadsheets and has evolved into online pitch management platforms such as GrasPro.

This shift has been down to advancements in pitch technology and the expectations that come with it. Simply put, to get the best out of their investment, pitch managers need to know precisely what is going on with their pitches.

The role of Sports Pitch Management Platforms

The role of Sports Pitch Management Platforms

Using a data management system to do this helps collect and track that data and allows for enhanced decision-making and early detection of issues using historical data. As an industry, we are still in the relatively early stages of data platforms, but they have already made an impact; below, we look at the six vital roles of pitch management systems in the future of turf.

The Advantages of Moving Data Online

The main advantage of moving data online is accessibility. It’s there whenever you need it, wherever you are. With a system like GrasPro, all of your information is in categories, so it’s quick to find exactly what you need. No more rummaging around notebooks or figuring out what’s the right spreadsheet.

Once you’re set up, you really see the benefit of quickly accessing your categorised data, setting and measuring KPIs, and being able to share information with your grounds team, coaches and facility managers instantly. This benefits everything from sharing notes related to upcoming fixtures and quickly comparing and analysing using graphically presented graphs, charts and tables.

Being the Change Through Data

The second vital role of pitch data is decision making and change. Having comprehensive pitch usage and quality data goes a long way to informing the future of your pitches. How many games can they take in one week? When do they need to be aerated? How much water do they need? Etc.

Having this information helps with day to day maintenance, planning and scheduling, but it can also inform major infrastructure decisions when building new facilities, deciding on a new pitch construction or planning a tournament.

Informing decisions is also applicable to consultants who use testing kits and GrasPro to provide informed improvement plans, support grounds team and benchmark pitch progress.

Data is a Team Effort

This one is less about the vital role of data and more about the team using it. Gathering data regularly is crucial for analysis, and it is a team effort. With everyone involved – whether at the same facility or venues across the globe – having a group of people adding to a system provides more comprehensive data.

It also has the added benefit of engaging those collecting. It helps them understand a bit more about how what they are doing is making a difference, and this can be especially helpful in educating new staff.

Making Pitch Maintenance a Green Machine

It’s already proven that collecting data is vital for sustainable turf maintenance, and the importance will only grow in significance.

In 2020 The Sustainability Report published by Touchline stated 83% of football fans care if their clubs impact the environment. The report also found that sustainable stadiums cost 31% less to operate.

When it comes to pitch maintenance, working sustainably can be done simply by only using exactly the amount of water and fertiliser you need, not spraying on windy days or by finding the optimum amount of time to use grow lights etc.

The savings this can make whilst helping the environment are considerable and, in some cases, can even lead to finances being available to purchase battery powered mowers.

The Ability to Bring all of your Data Under One Platform

The popularity of data collection can be seen in its availability. If you buy a weather station or grow lights, they will typically come with data collection software.

Whilst this is helpful for that particular tool, you can lose the benefit of having all of your data in one place.

A solution for this is using an independent platform like GrasPro, which has the largest range of data categories available. Having all of your info in one place means you can analyse and report on it in conjunction with other data to deliver the big picture you need.

What’s the Future of Pitch Management Systems?

A significant role in the future of pitch management platforms is development. Automating the data collection is the next logical step in making it a more efficient process.

This can include everything from automatic water readings to machinery sensors that track machines’ usage. Eventually, this can lead to automatically generated daily, weekly and monthly reports for a truly streamlined process that delivers everything you need to know.

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Oakland Hills highlights role of Bernhard

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Oakland Hills highlights role of Bernhard: Oakland Hills Country Club’s South Course has made a meteoric rise in Golf Magazine’s (Golf.com) World Top 100 Golf Courses rankings list, as it celebrates the completion of an extraordinary restoration project and improved course conditioning, through the support of Bernhard and Company.

The South Course at Oakland Hills has played host to 17 major golf championships in its illustrious history, including six US Opens, three PGA Championships and the 35th Ryder Cup in 2004. The restoration project has allowed the course, once again, to offer its originally intended playing style, with larger fairway landing areas and greens. That, coupled with pristine conditioning, has enabled the famous course – nicknamed ‘The Monster’ – to rise a phenomenal and unmatched 41 places in the new rankings list, moving into 31st position.

Oakland Hills highlights role of Bernhard

Oakland Hills highlights role of Bernhard

Following the renovation work carried out by renowned course architects, Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, Directory of Agronomy, Phil Cuffare, and his team of turf professionals were tasked with elevating the conditioning on the South Course to its highest ever level. With industry-leading grinding equipment and educational support provided by Bernhard and Company, the team was able to work with profound efficiency in delivering attention to detail mirroring that of the very best courses in the world.

Cuffare said: “We are very excited about the recognition that our famed South Course is receiving after the completion of its extensive restoration. To bring back to life something that had been lost for so long is a great feeling and we are continuing to express that through our conditioning efforts.

“The ultimate compliment to great golf course architecture is great conditioning. As such, the most important aspect of our agronomic programmes is turf health, and the cornerstone of achieving that is using our reel and bedknife grinding machinery to sharpen mowing equipment used to maintain our fine turf areas.

“The ability to achieve the perfect cut in an efficient and precise manner is what separates Bernhard and Company from others. We have very high expectations that need to be met and Bernhard is the partner that helps us to achieve those goals.”

The project involved the course being largely stripped back to the bare soil, to make way for a total revamp. When managing the growth and health of the new turf, it was more important than ever to ensure that all grass cutting was carried out with perfectly sharp blades to prevent any damage to the young plants.

What’s more, each hole was covered with sand in traditional USGA specification, meaning that mower blades were constantly subjected to sand damage. However, with the Bernhard and Company Express Dual 4250 Reel Grinder and Anglemaster 4500 Bedknife Grinder machines in the workshop, the maintenance teams were able to sharpen blades as regularly as necessary to ensure that they were operating at maximum efficiency as the course began to blossom.

The latest Golf Magazine Top 100 ranking reaffirms Bernhard and Company as the dominant grinder supplier to the world’s best courses. In addition to Oakland Hills, Bernhard and Company are also the official grinding machine provider for over half of the courses named in the list, including major championship venues all around the globe. Impressively, Bernhard and Company machinery is used by 13 of the world’s top 20 courses and seven of the top 10.

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