Kingstown Works Limited (KWL) based in Kingston upon Hull, this year’s City of Culture, has recently invested in seven Toro Groundsmaster 3400 out-front rotary mowers to be operated by its largest client Hull City Council.

The seven machines will play a key role in keeping the green spaces of the city in the best possible condition during this all-important year.


L-R: Chris Jennison, Hull City Council contract manager; Jon Wright, sales CEO, Russell Groundcare; Nigel Lovatt of Reesink Turfcare

In a tender process, completed by Russell Groundcare, via the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation, Toro achieved the best results for price, capability and delivery. KWL is an existing Toro customer and the acquisition is part of a replacement programme for older Toro triple mowers coming out of service.

The decision for KWL to purchase rotary mowers is a move away from traditionally opting for cylinder mowers to maintain the city’s parks, sports fields, horticultural areas and municipalities. And the reason for this says Garry Middleton, business unit leader at KWL Fleet, is down to a rotary mower’s ability to work on longer grass at a higher output rate with ease.

He says, “Our client needed to marginally extend periods between cutting and, based on this, required a machine that could cope with cutting longer grass while still providing a good finish, which the Groundsmaster is more than capable of.

"Russell Groundcare and Toro performed well in the tender process as our experience of working with both has always been a good one: the service from Russell and indeed Reesink Turfcare [UK distributor of Toro] is excellent and the rate of cut and quality from Toro prove outstanding.”

So, what impact does Hull being the UK’s City of Culture have on Garry and the team’s work? Garry says: “Expectations haven’t changed in terms of the results our client quite rightly wants for the public and open spaces of Hull, which require a quality finish, but with all eyes on the City this year that does add a bit of extra pressure! Having a brand new Toro fleet means we can rest assured that the quality and consistency of cut will be delivered.”