Tag Archive for: The

Menai Tractors joins the Etesia family

/in , /by

Menai Tractors joins the Etesia family: Menai Tractors, based in North-West Wales, has been appointed as a new Etesia dealer and will be distributing Etesia’s complete product range which includes ride-on mowers, scarifiers, brush cutters, green technology and pedestrian mowers.

Founded by Robert Wyn Jones and his wife Gillian in 2007, Menai Tractors specialises in groundcare and agricultural machinery. Since its creation it has gained an excellent reputation for delivering a first-class service to its customers.

Menai Tractors joins the Etesia family

Menai Tractors joins the Etesia family

Robert believes that the Etesia brand is a strong addition to its extensive portfolio.

“Whenever I speak to someone who has previous experience of using Etesia machinery, they do not have one bad to say about them,” he said. “They are well built; the quality is second to none and I genuinely think the company is one step ahead of everyone else.

“I would point anyone who is interested in Etesia towards the reliability of the machinery and the quality of cut. It doesn’t matter how tall or wet the grass is – it goes straight through it every time.”

Specialists in manufacturing high quality grass cutting machinery for both the professional and domestic market, Etesia’s extensive range of products have been in consistent high demand for a number of years. It is for this reason that the company’s vast dealer network continues to grow. From the UK to Ireland, Etesia dealers are providing their customers with innovative solutions for their green space requirements.

“We’ve already sold a few of the Etesia ride-on mowers,” continued Rob. “I think the next 12-24 months are going to be very interesting. I have no doubt that the Etesia brand will be very popular with our customers, especially the local authorities. We deal with several caravan parks too and I think it will strike a chord with them too.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk.

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Etesia UK on Twitter @EtesiaUK and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/EtesiaUK. You can also view the latest Etesia videos by visiting www.youtube.com/EtesiaUK.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Customer service at the heart of Reesink awards

/in , /by

Customer service at the heart of Reesink awards: Each year Reesink UK highlights its dealers who go above and beyond in providing exceptional standards of customer service, goals and considerations with its Aftermarket Dealer Awards.

Lee Rowbotham, service and training manager at Reesink UK, says: “The relationship between distributor and dealer is vital to the success of both businesses. In many cases Reesink’s dealers have that all-important customer facing contact. We appreciate how vital that role is and feel strongly about strengthening our relationship with our dealers wherever possible. That’s one of the reasons why the Aftermarket Dealer Awards came to fruition.”

Customer service at the heart of Reesink awards

Customer service at the heart of Reesink awards

The awards recognise an overall Dealer of the Year for Excellence in Customer Service, alongside outstanding performance in three key areas: Service, Parts and Skills. For the first time this year, Reesink also recognised its dealers that showed the greatest improvement across all key areas in a brand new award.

The new award is designed to reward dealers that showed the biggest step up across all sections of its KPI scoring: service, parts and skills with Devon Garden Machinery scooping this inaugural award.

Steve Dommet from the company says: “This award recognises the efforts our after sales team has put into raising standards and improving the service we provide our commercial customers. As this is a new award it was a pleasant surprise when we found out we’d won.”

Dealers are scored across all three key categories in keeping with Reesink’s Service Level Agreement. The dealer that achieves the highest combined score across categories is awarded the overall Dealer of the Year for Excellence in Customer Support. This year that award went to Reesink Turfcare South East who also won the gold award for Excellence in Skills. Tom Clark, branch manager of Reesink South East says, “Receiving these awards is a proud achievement and recognises our staff members doing a good job. It shows customers we’re a trusted brand as an award winner in what we do to be recognised as one of the best in the field.”

The runners up in these respective categories were Lloyd Limited and Oliver Landpower, who both took home silver awards.

When it came to Excellence in Parts, Revill Mowers took the gold award, with Gammies Groundcare taking silver. Stan Grewar, parts manager at Gammies Groundcare, says: “We’ve got a young team and this award reflects their hard work. I’m very proud of them, I know that the company and the parts department are in safe hands with them.”

Excellence in Service saw Cheshire Turf Machinery win gold while Redtech Machinery took silver.

Mark Woodward, service director at Cheshire Turf Machinery claims: “We are continually investing in our customer service and the excellence in service award is our eighth award since 2017. All of our staff have been brilliant in maintaining and improving standards since the Reesink service level agreement was introduced.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate one of our service technicians, Chris Hester. He’s our first technician to successfully complete the prestigious Toro Master Tech course.”

Lee concludes: “Reesink has always prided itself on delivering fantastic after sales service and the Aftermarket Dealer Awards recognise those dealers who do an exceptional job at upholding this customer service standard. We’d like to thank them all for their continued hard work and incredible work ethic, it’s a real pleasure working with them year in and year out.”

To learn more about Reesink’s aftermarket offerings including genuine parts, machinery servicing and maintenance advice, customers can get in touch with their local Toro Genuine Parts dealer or service centre or contact Reesink via reesinkturfcare.co.uk.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

It’s TinyLineMarkers® at the double for PGSD!

/in , /by

It’s TinyLineMarkers® at the double for PGSD!: Recent rapid expansions have seen major investments for Hounslow-based contractors PGSD – the most recent of which is a second TinyLineMarker® from Origin Amenity Solutions (OAS).

So impressed with the accuracy and labour savings brought about by their original TinyLineMarker® Pro, a Pro X has joined the fleet to deliver efficient marking to schools and sports turf customers across the home counties.

It’s TinyLineMarkers® at the double for PGSD!

It’s TinyLineMarkers® at the double for PGSD!

“Due to the growth in business, we were finding that marking surfaces manually was becoming problematic in terms of both time and labour” explains Managing Director Mark Hooley. “Sports facilities and schools tend to work to extremely tight changeover timeframes and so, to meet requirements, we looked to technology to help.” Mark and the team researched the market extensively and found the TLM Pro to be extremely effective during trials. “We wanted something that was straight forward to operate and that would give us the precision we need when installing these lines. The TLM Pro met all of our requirements, and upon delivery in the spring of 2022, proved to be absolutely outstanding!”

The TLM Pro was shared between teams based in London and Hertfordshire before being joined by a new TinyLineMarker® Pro X in April 2023, giving the two PGSD schools’ teams their own marker for an even more efficient service. “Our operatives were blown away by the intuitiveness of the Pro but the Pro X is next level!” exclaims Mark. “The tablet has been upgraded and there are even more settings and stored markings – all easier to find and use. There is also a wealth of new features, simple things like the ability to manually flush out the system after marking which is a great addition.”

Robust and versatile, the TLM Pro X is the new fast and effective solution to marking – offering a 10L paint capacity and high traction, pro wheels making it suited to even the most demanding field painting jobs.

“Our two TLM’s have been out most days as we prepare sports grounds for the summer season. With the software, we can programme and mark out a 400m running track in 90 minutes compared to two operators spending a full day using string and tape measures… and getting even better accuracy! Once summer marking is complete, we’ll then have another busy season come August when we start putting down markings for football and rugby.”

“We’re delivering a superior product to our clients with these markers and, when combined with the simplicity of use and labour savings, makes the investment essentially cost-neutral.” Mark adds, “There is also plenty of support from Simon Hughes at OAS who has helped us at every stage of the process, including delivering all the initial training, and though we’ve not needed to call on him we know help is available at the end of the phone if we need it.”

Free demonstrations are being offered across the UK.  To book or enquire visit https://tinymobilerobots.com/tinymobilerobots-uk/

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Shropshire Club can’t get enough of the Quadraplay

/in , /by

Shropshire Club can’t get enough of the Quadraplay: The football pitches at Prees Cricket and Recreation Club in Shropshire have significantly benefitted from a SISIS Quadraplay, according to Head Groundsman Duncan Austin.

With a multitude of football teams ranging from under 8’s up to seniors, both men and ladies, it is safe to say that the three football pitches are heavily used.

Shropshire Club can’t get enough of the Quadraplay

Shropshire Club can’t get enough of the Quadraplay

Aside from the three football pitches, Duncan also maintains two artificial football pitches, a cricket square and two bowling greens, so anything that makes his life easier is a huge benefit.

It is for this reason that Duncan and the Club decided to explore the possibility of obtaining an equipment grant through the Football Foundation.

“The Football Foundation is helping to improve football pitches at grassroots level and there are several grants available,” said Duncan. “We conducted a big pitch assessment, took photos, root depth measurements and provided the Football Foundation with lots of other information. We were over the moon when we found out we had been accepted for the grant.

One of the machines they recommended was the SISIS Quadraplay.”

The multi-functional SISIS Quadraplay single pass maintenance system is perfect for busy groundspersons like Duncan as it incorporates a mounted frame for up to four implements such as grooming rakes, spikers, slitters, rollers and brushes. The implements can be fitted to the mainframe in any order and can be independently adjusted to achieve the desired effect. Compact, robust, versatile and with the ability to carry out up to four operations simultaneously – the Quadraplay makes life a lot easier for many groundspersons.

Duncan was familiar with the SISIS Quadraplay after previously seeing it in action at a demonstration evening at a nearby football club. He admits to being impressed when he first saw the Quadraplay but didn’t realise just how beneficial it could be, until now.

“I use it all the time and whenever I do, I know that the Quadraplay is improving the ground in some form,” he said. “It is great to use after games because it can help bring the surface back to life and it puts all the divots back in place.

“The grass gets trodden down after a game and that doesn’t do the leaf any good so the Quadraplay can stand the plant up to help it dry out and you have the spike at the front which gets rid of any surface moisture. Therefore, the surface dries out quicker and is healthier for the plant. Then when you come to cut, because the plant is stood up, you get a nicer clean cut. You can also use the brush which is excellent for presentation.

“Another good way of using it is to lift the three back implements up and use the spiker/slitter. This has all the weight on in and you can get really deep with it. It’s important to do this because with so much usage I need to get as much air into the ground as possible.

“It is just so versatile. You just can’t overuse something like the SISIS Quadraplay in my opinion.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter or Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Morpeth Golf Club looks to the future

/in , , /by

Morpeth Golf Club looks to the future: Morpeth Golf Club has a new approach to running its 117-year-old business; utilising every asset to broaden its appeal and be much more than just a great course. 

With new leadership and investment across the site, Morpeth is focused on drawing in customers to the clubhouse, restaurant, pro shop, simulator, events space and personal training facilities, as well as its flourishing 18-hole golf course.

Morpeth Golf Club looks to the future

Morpeth Golf Club looks to the future

A more positive and profitable future is being spearheaded by general manager Chris Liddell and course manager John Scurfield whose new strategy has included a significant investment in new course machinery from John Deere.

“If everything around the course is doing well, we have the budget to ensure our greenkeeping team gets all the tools it needs to keep the place looking great,” Chris said.

He joined the club in January to support its development through the bar and catering aspect of the business. As a former regional director for branded hospitality groups such as Pizza Express and TGI Friday’s, Chris has also been a member at Morpeth for 20 years.

“Where I feel I’ve been able to add a bit of value to the club is bringing in the big company principles such as implementing budgetary processes and more structure in how the club is run,” says Chris. “What will be pivotal in growing the club in the future is not only appealing to our current membership, but also broadening our appeal to the wider community. A part of what we have to do here is appeal to every demographic.”

Morpeth has 650 playing members, with over 20 more joining since the New Year. Chris projects the club could have about 750 members by the end of the year.

One aspect he wants to rejuvenate is the junior golf initiatives by developing an academy membership for young golfers to progress.

“In recent years I’ve seen that golf clubs have taken a hit in the number of junior memberships and that is something that I want to change,” says Chris. “I want to start getting more juniors into golf because I remember having such great days here when I was a junior member myself.”

To maintain the club’s growth, the stunning parkland course must be maintained to the highest standard, which is helped by Morpeth’s long-standing relationship with John Deere dealer Thomas Sheriff & Co.

Course manager John has been working at the club since he left school and has always used John Deere machinery. It’s a course he knows better than most ¬– holding the record with a six-under-par 65.

“We’ve had this partnership with John Deere for about 30 years, and the investment in the machinery has been necessary,” says John. “As the number of golf clubs in the area increases it dilutes the market, so we have to provide the best possible standard of our course to keep our current members and attract future ones.”

Morpeth’s latest investment includes an 8000A E-Cut Hybrid Fairway Mower, a HPX 815E Work Utility Gator, a 2550 E-Cut Riding Greens Mower, a HD 200 Precision Sprayer, and a 2030A Gator. All the machines are on a five-year finance lease with John Deere.

With only a five-person greenkeeping team, a busy playing membership and the course driven to staying open all year round, there are challenges. But John has taken to visiting other clubs to see how other teams manage.

“On volunteering at various clubs including Royal Cinque Ports and Royal Liverpool Golf Club, I went to see what I could bring back to Morpeth, even though we’re worlds apart from those bigger clubs,” says John. “One thing I brought back was that staff morale is so important. Despite these guys starting at 4am and working all day, they never stop laughing and joking around with each other and they keep a real team spirit.

“When handpicking new people to work with us, I’ve learned to base them more on their character than their skillset because team morale is so important.”

John’s team are all now experienced in using the John Deere machinery, and are proud to do so, being particularly impressed by the reliability and efficiency of the mowers that they use.

“Before they came here to Morpeth these guys hadn’t really had much experience with John Deere machines at the previous clubs they worked at,” John says. “So when they came here and started using the John Deere mowers, they straight away said that it’s top notch. It’s always a good sign when your team are proud of what they’re working with.”

In developing and maintaining the course for the future, John is interested in looking into John Deere’s GPS technology for future investments, looking at how implementing it could further increase efficiency in maintaining the grounds and also help in keeping costs down.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.