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It’s more than products with ICL

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It’s more than products with ICL: Warren Scott, Grounds Manager at Liverpool Football Club, has revealed why he chooses to work so closely with ICL.

Warren has been working for Liverpool FC for an incredible twenty-three years. He joined as an apprentice, worked his way up and now oversees the twenty-five members of grounds staff across four of the club’s sites including the legendary Anfield Stadium.

It’s more than products with ICL

It’s more than products with ICL

Warren admits to avoiding the limelight but his whole philosophy to grounds management is somewhat pioneering. His innovative methods could well be the blueprint for years to come according to Phil Collinson, North West Key Accounts Manager for ICL.

“I like coming in here because I always learn something new,” said Phil. “What Warren is trying to do is absolutely ground-breaking and in years’ to come his work should be influencing the whole industry.”

It goes without saying that Warren selects his turf maintenance products very carefully.

“I decided to test a range of ICL fertilisers against others we have previously used,” he said. “We collected data from our soil probes, took leaf tissue and soil samples and we found that a lot of the ICL products stood out in terms of longevity, performance, and also price.”

After Warren’s trials, he began speaking to Phil, and it became evident to him that ICL offers a whole lot more than just products.

“Phil started to go through how I work as a groundsman, how I look at growing grass, how I like to maintain the football pitches here – he wanted to learn about what I do and what I want, rather than just sell me products.

“I also wanted to work with a company that could help me to prove certain things I believe in,” he continued. “Personally, I think that as an industry we overuse fertilisers and so I was therefore surprised that a fertiliser company was willing to share their research and work with me on this – especially as I want to use less. For the past year that is what we have been doing together.”

Phil commented on this approach: “It is great to work closely with Warren on this. At ICL we only ever recommend applying exactly what is needed – we are very efficient with what we do. Fortunately, I work for a company that allows this technical approach, rather than being solely sales led. It is essential to have knowledge of what the customer is trying to do, otherwise you can’t have that relationship or help provide the correct solutions.”

Warren uses a wide range of ICL and Syngenta products across all the club’s sites and he offered a snapshot into how two of the products have performed.

“I think if you can keep the rootzone moisture even throughout the profile, then you will get a more uniformed growth pattern – and this is why we use Qualibra wetting agent.

We generally apply this product every three weeks and have had very good results.

“I also like the mix of Qualibra used with Vitalnova Links (a biostimulant formulation). This mix really impressed me last year and we saw better germination on the pitches where this was applied.”

Aside from the products, Warren was also quick to praise ICL’s commitment to education.

“A big factor in choosing to work with ICL is that you can get great education along with the products that we use,” he said. “I would never put a product down without knowing exactly what the product is, but many skilled grounds persons, not always by choice, don’t know this. Quite often they don’t get the chance or the time to do this kind of research. In this respect ICL frequently hold seminars and education days – they give people the opportunity to learn why they are applying certain products.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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Create pitch perfect sports fields with Attraxor®

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Create pitch perfect sports fields with Attraxor®: High quality, well-maintained sports pitches are essential to pupils’ sporting successes and achievements. The BASF product Attraxor® is a plant growth regulator containing the active substance prohexadione, that can be used to regulate growth of all managed sports turf, helping to create fields and pitches that are easier to maintain and have improved playability.

Prohexadione inhibits the Gibberellic acid pathway, which results in a reduction of turf height and turf biomass by up to 70%. Turf root formation and sward density is enhanced, with positive effects on the play, while turf colour and quality are maintained, promoting turf that doesn’t just look healthy, but is healthy.

Create pitch perfect sports fields with Attraxor®

Create pitch perfect sports fields with Attraxor®

In addition, due to its unique effects on seed head production, Attraxor® is also used as a Poa annua management tool.

Acting within four hours of application, Attraxor® delivers great turf quality and appearance, improves sward density and playability and enables better labour efficiency – all essential for the maintenance of high-quality pitches. Another labour and time-saving benefit is that Attraxor® can be mixed with fertilisers, adjuvants and stimulants, depending upon the need, and even contains a water conditioner for easier application.

Recent trials in Germany indicated another exciting Attraxor® feature. Functional areas treated in winter showed significantly less Microdochium nivale infection (-78%), compared to untreated areas thanks to a physiological processes described as the Apogee effect. Prohexadione causes a change of plant cell structures including thickening of plant cell walls, therefore, turf plants which are susceptible to M. nivale in winter, create a physical barrier which helps to withstand fungal infections. The broad temperature range of Attraxor® activity (starting at 7°C) is a perfect fit for late applications to optimise the IPM potential of this powerful active ingredient. This is hugely beneficial to help avoid a costly spring refurbishment programme.

For further product information including warning phrases and symbols refer to https://www.pestcontrol.basf.co.uk/en/Products/Product-innovation/Turf/

Attraxor® contains prohexadione calcium. Attraxor is a registered trademark of BASF. © BASF 2022. All rights reserved.

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Reduce your environmental impact with Aspen Fuel

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Reduce your environmental impact with Aspen Fuel: It is perhaps no surprise that recent research into the environmental and health impacts of petrol-powered hand tools has highlighted some worrying statistics around emissions and the knock-on negative effects on public health.

However, making additional capital investment or disposing of serviceable equipment can be avoided with the simple switch to Aspen Alkylate Petrol – significantly reducing the impact on the environment and eliminating exposure to hazardous hydrocarbons.

Reduce your environmental impact with Aspen Fuel

Reduce your environmental impact with Aspen Fuel

Amongst the research recently published in the national media, it stated that a leaf-blower can emit up to 11 times more carbon monoxide than a Ford Fiesta and that two-thirds of those surveyed reported health issues, such as breathing problems, during operation. However, solving the problem may be limited by a number of factors, not least by the resources required for the sometimes lengthy and complex procurement process.

Operators looking for a cleaner alternative could consider fuelling their petrol-powered tools with Aspen – an alkylate petrol which is ethanol-free and virtually free from Sulphur, Benzene and many other harmful substances. In contrast to the pollutants emitted by pump-petrol, with Aspen, you can mow for 100 hours before reaching the same level of toxic benzene emissions emitted in one hour of mowing with regular petrol.

Switching to Aspen is easy, and while it cannot reverse damage caused by regular petrol, it will have a cleaning effect on the internal parts – particularly removing soot build-up in the exhaust port. No modifications are required to covert a machine to run on Aspen, only to avoid diluting the benefits, operators are advised to wait until the fuel tank is as empty as possible before switching. For older equipment, switching after a service where any susceptible parts should be replaced, is ideal.

Director of Weedfree Landscapes Tim Bower switched to Aspen 2 for all of their 2-stroke equipment. “Straight away we noticed the reduction in noxious fumes. For the operator this brings fantastic health benefits, especially during prolonged periods of exposure, but it also makes for a cleaner working environment which is desirable when we’re working in public spaces such as schools for example.”

Aspen is available pre-mixed for 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines and, along with improving reliability and prolonging the performance of engine components, the cleaner burn improves the working conditions for the operator and significantly reduces the harmful impact your machinery makes on the environment. Because of this, and in particular the benefits it can bring to those working in confined spaces, Aspen is a popular choice for tree surgeons, local authorities and green space managers looking for an alternative, greener power source.

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Action Lawn sets high ambitions with Etesia

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Action Lawn sets high ambitions with Etesia: Action Lawn and Leisure has been appointed as a new Etesia dealer in Stirlingshire and surrounding areas.

Action Lawn and Leisure was founded in 1998 by Bob Bruce. It is a family run business which prides itself on offering a personal service with good advice and excellent product knowledge. The company works with a variety of groundscare brands, but the time had come to set higher ambitions according to Ian Bruce, son of founder Bob.

Action Lawn sets high ambitions with Etesia

Action Lawn sets high ambitions with Etesia

“Currently we are operating at about 70% domestic and 30% commercial,” he said. “We are looking to venture more into the professional market and want to be able to offer machinery of the highest quality. That is why Etesia kept coming into my head.

“We have dealt with a few Etesia machines over the years and have always been very impressed with what we’ve seen,” continued Ian. “Our local council has an Etesia fleet it was the only machine that came in for a service this year that didn’t need major repairs. This tells me it is of a decent quality because the council are quite boisterous with their machinery!”

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.

Etesia’s complete product range includes ride-on mowers, scarifiers, brush cutters, green technology and pedestrian mowers, and Ian believes the machinery will be the perfect addition.

“I believe the Etesia products will help us attract larger contractors, landscapers with a few vans on the road and potentially some national trust sites – to name but a few,” he said.

“One of the biggest problems we’ve got in Scotland is wet grass and this is always choking up our customers’ machines. The Etesia machines are designed to cope with this very easily.

“This feature combined with their performance and build quality, makes the Etesia range of products highly appealing.”

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

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Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

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Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare: Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is placing its trust in STAR EV and Reesink e-Vehicles when it comes to its football players’ welfare at its Training Centre in North London with three all-electric ambulance vehicles.

It is absolutely vital for all the footballers’ welfare that strict medical requirements are in place at all times and as well as having a fully trained medical team, Tottenham now has two new ambulance vehicles for the men’s team and one for the women’s. These vehicles are kept on site, fully equipped and ready to support the medical team at a moment’s notice.

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

Spurs trust STAR EV with player welfare

For the club that holds the title of the Premier League’s greenest club, it was a given that the vehicles would be battery-powered, but the decision of which brand to put his trust in when it comes to supporting the medical teams with the safety of the players came down to Darren Baldwin, Head of Playing Surfaces and Estates at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, who explains: “What makes these ambulance vehicles stand out are their logical design and innovative features that combine to make the job of the medical team easier.

“The gurney in particular is applauded for how it slides on and off and locks in securely with just two clicks of the handle, while the auto lift and load feature mean it stands up securely. The medical boxes and good storage capacity make sure the team has everything they need logically stored and conveniently to hand so they can be efficient under pressure.”

It’s not just the ease of use the medical team has commented on though, Darren reports positive feedback on the quality of the product too. He continues: “We’ve all been blown away by the quality of these vehicles, they are far in advance of the competition. The little things have been accounted for, like the windshields, for example, they aren’t plastic, and they have windscreen wipers. That’s a fantastic feature to come as standard.”

The grounds of Tottenham Hotspur are extensive – 18 acres – and these machines are required for the academy, training grounds and pitches so how have they performed on such a large site? Darren says: “There is a lot of trust in the batteries! Obviously, it’s a big consideration choosing electric for such vital vehicles – we need to be able to rely on them 100 percent of the time. But charging is easy and there are clear controls to show what charge is left.”

Dave French, sales manager of Reesink e-Vehicles, the UK distributor of STAR EV, says: “There’s no reason to doubt battery power these days, especially with STAR EV, it brings to the UK battery power built to last. There’s on-board charging, meaning no expensive infrastructure. And with the Lithium option, you don’t need to worry power drifting away either, you get a constant amount delivered throughout the discharge. Both the AK and Capella ambulance vehicles are nimble and compact vehicles, designed from the ground up to manage the carriage of a casualty, whilst offering excellent support from other passengers.”

Dave concludes: “It’s a real honour to not only have equipped Tottenham Hotspur with such a key equipment purchase to keep its players safe, but that the club, which is voted as one of the greenest in the premiership chose STAR EV to continue on its journey to carbon neutrality.”

To find out more about STAR EV call 01480 226800 or go online at reesink-evehicles.co.uk

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