Reesink Turfcare is marking its first year as Toro distributor following the acquisition last July by Royal Reesink N.V. of the turfcare activities of Lely in the UK, Ireland and Denmark.

And it’s been a successful 12 months, built on a strong legacy.


St Andrews

That’s according to managing director, David Cole, who says: “Reesink Turfcare began life with a great legacy in place. Lely had an excellent record as distributor of Toro turf machinery and irrigation products in the UK for over 30 years, and Reesink brought with it 60 years’ unrivalled experience as Toro distributor in the Netherlands.

“While no guarantee of success, it provided a solid start; and when The Toro Company and St Andrews Links signed a long-term partnership agreement under our new watch it spoke volumes about the trust and commitment the ‘home of golf’ had in Reesink’s supply structure and the service and support we offered.”

David Cole says that, since the acquisition, Reesink has enjoyed healthy sales, while market and revenue performance have been good and client retention has been excellent. The business has been steered down a new path, with big changes put in place including a new name, structure, direction and systems, as well as new website; and customer reaction has been extremely favourable, he reports.

Tribute was paid to staff for the way in which they embraced change and stepped up to the plate to make things work smoothly for the new company and customers, headed by achieving the first phase of a necessary operating system changeover in only four months, instead of the routine 18 month expectations for such projects.

Investment in the business was said to have been an essential part of its growth in year one. A new Scotland service branch was opened to add value and build relationships with customers in Scotland; and the significant investment was made in the company’s IT infrastructure, projected to provide live data analysis to deliver a more proactive customer response.

Reesink believes this will result in a future business that’s healthier across all departments and product lines with everything including machinery, irrigation, tractors, aeration, parts and aftersales care synchronised to serve customers better.

As the company embarks on another year, the aim is for continuous improvement and development on all fronts. This includes looking to add to its existing product portfolio comprising Toro, TYM tractors and Otterbine water aeration units with similar, complementary brands.