Only a brief piece from me today, as my main job this week is to seamlessly hand over the baton - because as you may have already seen, there will be a new face here at the top of TurfPro every Monday from next week.
Well I say new face!
Many of you will already know Laurence Gale as one of the most recognisable, knowledgeable and respected figures in the UK turfcare industry. And if you don't already, you most definitely will very soon.
Laurence will be out and about, all over the country representing TurfPro, with his camera (probably with more than one in fact!), visiting grounds, clubs, parks and trade shows with his ear to the ground, searching out the stories which matter to turf professionals.
Laurence is the man who will help the team to take TurfPro on to the next level, generating opinion pieces, interviews, advice columns and articles, which will make the publication your go to source of information on the UK groundscare industry - every Monday at 12. We will of course still bring you all the latest news each week as well.
For those of you who don't know Laurence, he has enjoyed a long and varied career in professional turfcare, beginning in 1972 as a parks apprentice with Birmingham City Council - a start which led to him working on three gold medal winning Chelsea show gardens in the late 1970s.
Also a keen sportsman, Laurence represented school, club and county at rugby union culminating in the chance to play for several clubs notably, Moseley, Worcester, Nuneaton, Portsmouth and Newport to name a few.
After completing his apprenticeship in 1977 he was promoted to supervisor and worked in various parks and golf courses. In 1983 he moved south to take up the post of Head Groundsman at Portsmouth FC. In 1985 he then became GMO for the MOD looking after several large Navy, Army and Airforce bases.
In 1990 he returned back to the Midlands’ and took on the post of Parks Manager at Telford & Wrekin Council. In 2003 he took the opportunity to complete an MSc In Sports Surface Technology at Cranfield University before taking on the role of Editor at Pitchcare in 2004.
In recent times he has written for several industry titles including Professional Horticulture + Landscape Design, Turf Matters and our very own Service Dealer.
So that's quite an impressive CV he's built up there. One which arms him with the experience and skills required to provide you, our turf professional readers, with fascinating, timely and comprehensive content, each and every week.
As for me, it's been a pleasure addressing our readership for the past four years. I won't be disappearing completely however. I now have the grand title of Head of Editorial, so I'll be contributing news stories and overseeing all published content. I'll also continue to act as editor of our sister title Service Dealer, both the printed magazine as well as its Weekly Update.
If any of our readers would like to contact Laurence with ideas for articles, please email him on laurence@turfpro.co.uk
All that's left for me to do is to wish Laurence the best of luck and to thank you, our loyal readers, for your continuous hard-work, professionalism and expertise which makes the UK turfcare industry one which generates much admiration and respect worldwide.
