Myself and the TurfPro team spent a very enjoyable and highly worthwhile two days at the Birmingham NEC for IOG SALTEX last week.

And the impression I overwhelmingly received from both exhibitors and visitors I spoke to was that the exhibition was truly working for them too.

The space the show now takes place in is a decent size, but compact enough to make it feel buzzy and busy most of the time. It's easy for visitors to get around and find who they are looking for. And once on a stand you can have long, productive conversations without being inhibited by whatever the British weather chooses to throw at you that particular day.

The first day of the show on Wednesday felt particularly well attended. The halls became very busy, very early.

Speaking to exhibitors, many told me they had started having their first serious business conversations with visitors on their stands by five past nine on Wednesday. And most said they didn't really stop to catch their breath until around four that afternoon!

The second day took noticeably longer for the halls to fill. Perhaps this might have had something to do with the late night many readers would have had the night before at the IOG Awards ceremony?! That event has grown to be huge, with around 700 visitors and a list of awards to be presented as long as your arm. You can read about all the worthy recipients in today's Briefing here. So it's little surprise that proceedings were a little slower to get going on Thursday!

But by lunchtime the halls did indeed feel pretty packed out once again.

And crucially, packed out with quality, decision-making visitors. Time and again stand holders told me how pleased they were with the caliber of contacts and leads they were making. The top people who are in positions to specify machinery at facilities and businesses across the country were making plenty of genuine enquiries.

The proof of how successful these leads will eventually prove to be will of course not be known until visits and demos are made after the show - but as the first step in the process, SALTEX is certainly providing an excellent forum for business relationships to get underway and develop.

There were also ample opportunities for turf professional visitors to expand their knowledge across the two days, with four seminar theatres offering a rolling programme of educational seminars. As is inevitable with these things, some appeared to be much better attended than others - but with a new innovation this year of some panel debates being broadcast by the internal TV system, more will have heard the discussion than were sat in front of the speakers. This packed programme of talks contained enough quality content to encourage some visitors to attend the NEC on both days.

I genuinely believe that in its third year in the new format - which many would say would be the crunch year for the show - SALTEX hit its stride. It seemed to achieve its two key obligations - to satisfy both exhibitors and visitors.

Was there anything which didn't work? I guess I've just got a couple of slight grumbles

Firstly, the 'outside area'. I'm not sure why they are still bothering with this? There were only about four companies on small patch of grass on an island between a road and the disabled car park. I think the IOG should have the confidence in their show by this point to say we are 100% an indoors show now and knock this on the head.

The other concern I have is not really anything to do with the show's organisers, more with a tiny minority of exhibitors who are still clinging on to outdated marketing techniques of yesteryear. Considering just how progressive and professional an image the show as whole was projecting, for a couple of companies to still use scantily-clad young women to promote machinery doesn’t really fit anymore. The industry has moved on.

But those thoughts aside, genuine congratulations to the IOG, the exhibition organisers and the exhibitors for putting on a fantastic couple of days. Roll on next year!

Almost 700 of the UK’s and Europe’s leading groundscare experts from both the professional and volunteer sector, as well as dignitaries from the governing bodies of sport and influential sports administrators, honoured the expertise, dedication and passion of the grounds profession at the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) annual Industry Awards which took place on the first evening of SALTEX last week.

The 2017 IOG Industry Award winners

Now in its ninth year, the sell-out event at the National Conference Centre, within the National Motorcycle Museum and hosted by talkSPORT radio presenter Mark Saggers, recognised leadership, innovation and outstanding achievement across every aspect of groundscare - from grassroots pitches to professional stadia.

The prestigious awards ceremony also celebrated the quality standards of groundscare achieved in public and private sports venues, and highlighted the progress of young/student grounds professionals as well as entrants’ environmental considerations.

From a record-breaking entry, the winners of the 2017 IOG Industry Awards are:

Bowling Greenkeeper/Team of the Year
Potters Bar Bowls Club, Hertfordshire

Husband and wife duo Rod Smale, 72, and 69-year-old Sandra took over maintenance of the six-rink green in 2014 after the committee said: “The green is getting worse each year – can you improve it?”

Best Maintained Artificial Pitch of the Year
Highfields Sports Complex - The University of Nottingham

Nottingham University has five artificial playing surfaces and five members of the grounds team are fully trained to maintain the sand-based, 3G rubber crumb and water-based surfaces.

Ransomes Environmental/Innovative Project of the Year
Forest Green Rovers FC

The club adopts a ‘green’ policy of pitch care by, for example, not using herbicides, pesticides or fungicides, as well utilising a robotic mower powered by 100 per cent green electricity and using GPS technology to automatically mow the pitch. 

Toro Most Promising Sports Turf Student of the Year
Tara Massey, Manchester City FC

Tara, an apprentice at Manchester City’s Football Academy (CFA), is a Level 2 student and, according to her tutor, “her level of understanding is nothing short of astonishing. The level of knowledge answers within her portfolio of evidence is more comparable to Level 3 and 4 work, and something that should be highly commended.” 

Redexim Charterhouse/Kubota Volunteer Sports Groundsman/Team of the Year
Philip Swann from the Bridge Trust Society, Birmingham

Philip took over as groundsman of the 7.5-acre sports ground seven years ago with, he adds, “another equally inexperienced volunteer”. Since then, whenever a member of the club retires, they are recruited to join Philip’s team. The team is charged with the upkeep of the site including maintaining the clubhouse, two pavilions, the score box and a garage, in addition to two football pitches, a cricket square and nets plus two five-a-side training pitches.

National Governing Bodies Grassroots Sports Grounds Team of the Year
NPL Sports Club, Teddington, Middlesex.

The standard of playing surfaces at the six-hectare NPL site has steadily been improved over the years. The site accommodates a host of sports – two cricket squares (one of 18 strips, the other with eight strips), five grass tennis courts, a bowling rink and two cricket outfields, while in winter the field is used mainly for football.

Headland Amenity Professional Cricket Grounds Team of the Year
Durham CCC

The Durham CCC grounds team ensures the Emirates Riverside Stadium pitch is maintained and presented as an international cricket ground. With this in mind, records are kept of the moisture content and hardness of every match pitch; also, a daily record is kept of all work undertaken on the pitch, and of daily temperatures and rainfall. 

CubCadet Infinicut Professional Tennis Grounds Team of the Year
Nottingham Tennis Centre.

The tennis centre’s grounds team is responsible for the day-to-day management of 13 international grass courts, eight indoor and 19 outdoor courts, as well as changing areas, outside toilets and various soft landscaped areas.

SGL Professional Football Grounds Team or the Year (Premier League, Championship and Scottish Premier League)
Leicester City FC

The 10-strong LCFC grounds team is responsible for the management of all sports turf surfaces and surrounding landscapes of The King Power Stadium, the Belvoir Drive training facility, the Holmes Park LRCFA HQ (under 23s venue) and the OHL FC (Belgium) site.

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SISGrass Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year (English Leagues 1 & 2, National, National North/South, Scottish Championship & Leagues 1 & 2, Ireland & Wales Professional Leagues)
Bury FC, Greater Manchester

Bury FC’s four-strong grounds team is charged with managing a total of 45 acres, including The Energy Check Stadium pitch, six pitches and accompanying shrub and flower bed areas at the Carrington training ground, plus 20 acres of 12 soil-based pitches at the nearby Goshen Community Sports Facility.

John Deere Professional Horse Racing Grounds Team of the Year
Ripon Racecourse

The four-strong grounds team at Ripon Racecourse work consistently to produce a racing surface that is fast, good/good to firm for every race. As part of this expert care, independent agronomy reports have shown that the turf management process has improved.

Mansfield Sand Professional Rugby Football League Grounds Team of the Year
Castleford Tigers, West Yorkshire

The grounds team is dedicated to producing top-class playing surfaces at both the stadium and on the training field, undertaking everything possible to ensure high pitch standards. Recent upgrades to the machinery and equipment used has played a big role in improving the presentation of the stadium pitch, but regular verti-draining and a consistent fertilisation programme have also helped.

GrassMaster Professional Rugby Football Union Grounds Team of the Year
Yorkshire Carnegie (Leeds Rugby)

The four-strong Leeds Rugby grounds team maintains the stadium and training pitches for both Leeds Rhinos (rugby league) and the Yorkshire Carnegie (rugby union) teams, including the Kirkstall Academy ground (two natural turf pitches and a synthetic surface), the Abbey Fields training area (four turf pitches) and the pitch at Stanningley ARLFC. 

National Governing Bodies Professional Sports Grounds Team of the Year
Manchester City FC

In addition to the stadium pitch, the MCFC team (18 full-time staff plus 12 causal staff who cover holidays etc) is also charged with the maintenance and upkeep of 17.5 full-size playing surfaces at the adjacent City Football Academy, which includes artificial surfaces.

Rigby Taylor/Top Green Young Groundsman of the Year
James Wood, Manchester City FC

An assistant groundsman at MCFC, James joined the club in 2013 after a period at Lancashire County Cricket Club. He gained the National Diploma in Sports Turf, with Distinction, simultaneously also collecting the Ransomes Jacobson Turf Machinery Practical Award for his hard work and dedication. 

Growth Products Independent School/University/College Grounds Team of the Year
University of Surrey

Five of the 16-strong grounds team at the University are focused on maintaining the sports surfaces at site, which runs to more than 400 acres. Their remit covers 10 grass football/rugby pitches, eight tennis courts, three artificial surfaces, including a 3G football pitch, two netball courts and a two-lane 40-metre sprint track.

Private Members Sports Club Grounds Team of the Year
The Queen's Club, London

The Queen’s Club team’s main responsibilities revolve around maintaining the 45 multi-surface tennis courts on the West Kensington site, though they also look after the general maintenance on other outdoor facilities including hedges, gardens and the club’s infrastructure.

Contractor of the Year
Premier Pitches, Sheffield

The company works at all levels of the game, specialising in end-of-season renovations and pitch reconstructions while also undertaking maintenance work such as aeration, fertilisation, seeding and spraying. The aim, it says, is to create the very best playing surface and to enhance the standards that can be expected from natural grass pitches.

International Ambassador of the Year
Simon Gumbrill, Stadium Grow Lighting

Simon is a well-known and respected member of the turf industry, having worked for many years with Richard Campey and latterly for SGL. Simon is a leading advocate of the turf profession, delivering high level professional presentations to many professional grounds teams throughout the UK and USA especially, but wherever his role takes him.

Special Recognition Award (Professional Category)

Paul Burgess, Real Madrid C.F.

Paul captured the industry’s imagination of what UK groundsmen can achieve when after beginning his career in Blackpool, he moved to Arsenal then was appointed head groundsman for Real Madrid.

Since then, he has welcomed a continual stream of visitors to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium and to the club’s extensive training grounds, and it is fair to say that he has always talked openly about his role and about the industry.

Special Recognition Award (Volunteer Category)

Peter Green, Honley Cricket Club, Holmfirth, Huddersfield

Peter has spent the past 50 years leading the groundscare routines at Honley Cricket Ground and through his efforts the ground is now considered one of the best in the Huddersfield cricket league.

He has won the league’s annual groundsman award five times, and has been awarded a prestigious lifetime award for services to the league and to the club.

The Alex R Millar Ransomes/DLF Johnsons Groundsman of the Year (acknowledging the role of an individual groundsman from within all the relevant professional grounds team award categories)
Vic Demain, Durham CCC

Vic was appointed head groundsman at Durham County Cricket Club in 2015, following two years as deputy head groundsman at Trent Bridge and before that seven years as head groundsman at Uxbridge CC. His professionalism is recognised not only in cricket but also throughout the industry.

Lifetime/Outstanding Achievement
Martin Ford

Martin has for the past 11 years worked with England & Wales Cricket Board to drive improvements in pitch quality across the recreational game.
While dedicating much of his time to working with Premier Leagues and the network of ECB County Pitch Advisors, he has also supported numerous research and development projects to improve playing surfaces.

Importantly, Martin has been instrumental in developing Performance Quality Standards for playing surfaces – and he stands alone in bringing them to life not only in cricket but also, now increasingly in other sports, too.

His legacy for the game of cricket alone is a tangible enhancement of knowledge and practical skills for thousands of willing volunteers, who will now be tending higher quality pitches for the next generation of cricketers.

Hyde FC's biggest game for 23 years was marred on Friday evening as a flare thrown from the crowd set their artificial pitch alight, delaying kick off by 15 minutes.

A club staff member was forced to run on to the Ewen Fields pitch with a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.

Broadcast live on the BBC, Hyde's game against the MK Dons in the FA Cup first round was eventually played on the 3G surface, but players had to contend with some significant holes which got burnt into the playing area.

Reports suggested that Hyde were set to make a profit of £150,000 from the game, but could end up having to use some of that money to repair the pitch and pay fines for the actions of fans.

The action prompted the EFL to issue a reminder about the danger of pyrotechnics at grounds.

The BBC reported that EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey said: "Taking pyrotechnics into our grounds is a criminal offence.

"Police will seek to impose a football ban order as an appropriate measure."

Any supporter found to be in breach of the terms of the charter will face a minimum three-season club ban.

The shortlists for this year's Fields in Trust Awards have been announced.

Last year's winner Rouken Glen Park is nominated again

Winners in nine categories will be celebrated at a ceremony on Wednesday 29th November at Lord's Cricket Ground in London hosted by sports presenter and journalist Jacqui Oatley.

For the third year the UK’s Best Park Award, as voted by the public will celebrate the nation’s favourite park following nominations by the public of 360 parks and with 15,000 votes cast.

Four local green spaces have been shortlisted: Craigavon City Park in County Armagh, Roath Park in Cardiff, Rouken Glen Park in East Renfrewshire and Stanley Park in Blackpool. The overall winner and UK's Best Park 2017 will be announced on Wednesday 29th November.

• Craigavon City Park was described as “a great mix of lake, woodland, open green space, bike trails, water sports, paths for cycling and walking”.
• Roath Park is celebrated as “a place for both young and old alike” - planting and historical features are supplemented by the opportunity for “ice cream or a cup of tea in the café”.
• Rouken Glen Park - UK’s Best Park winner in 2016 – makes a repeat appearance, identified as “a fantastic place for families to enjoy the outdoors”.
• Stanley Park in Blackpool is packed with interest and described as “fabulous” and “the centre point of Blackpool” in its nomination.

Fields in Trust Chief Executive Helen Griffiths said, "The increased number of nominations and a large number of votes cast show just how much the UK's parks and green spaces are cherished by people who regularly visit them.

"At Fields in Trust our latest research shows a direct link between using parks and green spaces and positive health and wellbeing but, despite their clear health benefits, parks and green spaces are facing an uncertain future all across the UK. Cuts to local authority budgets are making it increasingly difficult to maintain these non-statutory services and this, coupled with continued development pressure, leaves our parks and green spaces in a vulnerable position.

"Recognising the UK's favourite parks is a way of highlighting their contribution to our communities. I congratulate the four shortlisted parks and wish them all the very best of luck at the Fields in Trust Awards later this month".

The nominators of each of the four shortlisted local green spaces will be invited to Lords Cricket Ground to represent their parks at the Fields in Trust Awards on Wednesday 29th November, where the overall winner and UK's Best Park 2017 will be named.

Officials at Dumfries & Galloway golf club have condemned as 'mindless' an attack on their course last week which left the seventh green full of divots and a nearby fence wrecked.

Some of the damage to the seventh green

The Daily Record reported that lots of divots were gouged out of the turf in the attack which appears to have been carried out overnight last Saturday before being discovered by staff at 7.30am the next morning.

Deputy head greenkeeper Steven Carmichael, 38, is quoted by the paper saying, "It’s completely mindless damage and very frustrating for us and the club as it is time-consuming for us to rectify.

“We’ve been getting damage on other areas of the course with flags and rakes from bunkers going missing. Last week we had kids build a bonfire on the course and we repaired that as well.

“It’s been an ongoing issue for us this season but it’s been quite bad recently.”

He added: “It appears to be a golf club that’s been used to hack divots into the ground. We don’t know who or why someone has done it but it’s very disappointing.

“The green is near the road so it would have taken less than five minutes to do all of this damage.

“We’ve had to move the green just now to a temporary one but it’s not ideal conditions to try and fix it. It’s going to take a while.”

2018 dates for Reesink Turfcare’s courses have been announced.

For the first time the guide is accessible online only, with bookings taking place now. The 16-page Reesink Training Guide can be found at www.reesinkturfcare.co.uk.

There, the company says turfcare professionals and employers keen to offer staff the opportunity to learn and expand their areas of interest, will find Reesink’s biggest range of vocational training for land-based disciplines delivered with Lantra, the national awarding organisation.

Alongside that is City & Guilds training and Toro and TYM manufacturer-backed turfcare machinery training. In total, there are nine courses available to choose from.

Neil Adams, head of turfcare training at Reesink, said, “Whether a turf professional at a golf club, sports stadium, amenity and parkland setting, school or small holding, Reesink works closely with Toro and TYM to provide a wide range of courses. These are delivered by nationally recognised quality assured trainers and assessors to develop skills and competency in the use of mowers, spraying units and tractors.

“Working with accredited training bodies such as Lantra and City & Guilds to level two and Toro and TYM manufacturer-backed training to level one means we have a comprehensive training offering to suit everybody.”

The courses available include a turfcare mechanic course and sprayer technician course to level one and the recently added compact tractor driving award to both level one and two, as well as pesticides application course to level two.

Neil concludes, “This range of training courses demonstrates our belief in continuously improving standards in the industry. We aim to make training convenient with some courses delivered at the trainees’ working premises, too, using familiar equipment in a familiar environment. This set-up means it could not be easier for customers to develop and invest in their employees.”

SALTEX last week saw Gary and Sue Mumby launch their new venture, Mumby Machinery Ltd, which will specialise in new and used equipment for the turfcare, landscaping and construction markets. 

This move means that they have parted company company with Blec - a company which they founded in 1986. 

In a statement issued by Charterhouse Turf Machinery ahead of the show the company says that since purchasing the assets of BLEC Global Limited in August 2015, Redexim have worked closely with Gary Mumby to integrate the development and manufacturing of BLEC products into the Redexim BV operation.

Gary Mumby talking to visitors to the Mumby Machinery stand at SALTEX this week

This process, Charterhouse says, has given the opportunity to update certain designs of the Blec products and take full advantage of Redexim’s advanced manufacturing techniques; Redexim is now able to offer a range of BLEC products with parts and service support.

Gary Mumby will therefore not be involved in the sales and support of the BLEC product range within the UK and Ireland. Gary will, however, continue to supply parts under licence for machinery manufactured by Blec Global Limited.

Redexim say they would like to thank Gary for his assistance and wish him the best of luck for his business ventures.

Charterhouse Turf Machinery will take over full responsibly for all sales, parts and support of BLEC machinery in the UK and Ireland, distributing though selected dealers.

Mumby Machinery exhibited last week at SALTEX with two new machines as well as the Harley Power Rake which the company has been approved as UK distributor of.

The new machines were the Multi-Star 1400 which is a tractor mounted multi-use turfcare implement which can carry out surface aerification, overseeding, liquid feeding and initial seeding.

The other new machine was the Hydra Drive 900 is two wheeled tractor with a a hydraulic system for powering attachments including initially a rotor rake, double drive seeder annd power box rake  - with other attachments to follow.

Reesink Turfcare has appointed John Addy to its TYM tractors team as northern regional sales manager.

This appointment is, says Steve Haynes, TYM sales manager, part of a strategy to accelerate growth of the TYM business in the UK. John has vast sales experience in the sector, having worked at dealer level for some time, not only in the groundscare market, but also working with construction equipment sales.

Steven says, “John has experience in all the key areas important for this role, he has a good understanding of the tractor market and a proven track record for sales having worked within the dealer network for some time. It’s this knowledge of working with dealers that makes John ideal for the role and our plans to grow the TYM dealer network and further strengthen and support the relationships that already exist.”

Concluding the news from the brand is that Scott Turner, who had previously held the position of TYM product specialist takes responsibility for sales in the south.

Steven says, “Scott moves from his role of TYM product manager where he used to work with all dealers across the UK to now focusing on dealers in the south. This new structure focusses on the skills of two individuals who are tractor specialists. By splitting the sales area between the two guys we can now fully focus our efforts on the day to day tractor activity and developing our dealer network to further grow the TYM business in the UK.

It’s that time of year again when Japanese knotweed’s growing season draws to a close and the plant dies away, but specialists Environet are urging people not to delay tackling the weed as it remains very much alive, waiting to emerge bigger and stronger with new shoots next March.

Although still standing, the bamboo-like canes will now be turning brown and brittle, which can fool people into believing the plant has died or that their own efforts at treating it through cutting the plant back, or burning it, have been successful. However, like many plants, the rhizome system beneath the ground is healthy and lying dormant throughout the colder winter months.

Herbicide treatments cannot be used during winter as they require the plant to be in leaf, but that doesn’t mean treatment needs to be postponed until spring. In fact, Japanese knotweed can be dug out at any time of year using the environmentally friendly Resi-Dig-Out method, which involves digging out the rhizome roots and sifting out every viable piece before returning the clean soil to the ground. An insurance-backed guarantee can then be secured for the treatment which will ensure the property can be bought or sold without difficulty.

Nic Seal, MD and Founder of Environet comments, “Each winter we see enquiry levels fall, but we know Japanese knotweed hasn’t magically disappeared, it’s simply a case of out of sight, out of mind. Savvy people will take action through the autumn and winter to tackle knotweed on their land, ensuring they don’t face an even bigger problem next spring. Digging knotweed out of the soil is an instant solution.”

A Guide to Identifying Japanese knotweed in Winter

As the temperature drops, the green heart shaped leaves will turn brown and fall from the plant.

In late November/early December the hollow, bamboo-like canes will turn brown and die, although they remain standing.

In March, red or purple asparagus type shoots will appear, quickly turning into green bamboo-like stems which grow at a rapid rate, reaching up to 3m in height.

Grillo UK are looking to appoint a Salesperson to cover Scotland & parts of northern England.

The successful applicant should ideally reside in the North of England for effective coverage and be prepared to spend some nights out.

Duties will include developing and maintaining a strong Dealer Network, demonstration of Grillo products and Dealer support as and when required.

Full product training will be given along with a fully expensed company vehicle, basic salary plus bonus.

In the first instance please forward your CV to : stevegadsby@grilloagrigarden.co.uk

www.grilloagrigarden.co.uk

Tel; 01889 569149