It’s always great to hear of a true British manufacturing success story – especially so when the company in question is part of the industry covered by TurfPro.

Woodchipper manufacturer GreenMech based in Alcester, Warwickshire held an event for the trade press last week, the atmosphere of which was decidedly upbeat and buoyant.

GreenMech say they are seeing continued, steady growth, with international markets proving particularly fruitful. They currently enjoy a 60/40 split in favour of exports - with ambitions to raise this up to 70%.

Europe is very strong market for the company with France, Germany and Spain in particular purchasing a lot of chippers. They are also making in-roads into places like Turkey and Russia.

GreenMech put their success down to the quality and effectiveness of their machines, which they say are competitively priced. They proudly boast they are the only chipper manufacturer in Europe who actually produce all their machines themselves. They are also the largest chipper manufacturer in Europe.



One of the reasons the company believes their machines are doing so well is their commitment to reducing noise. It's obvious really but as a lot of chippers are used in back gardens or sensitive areas, if operators can utilise one which isn't going to disturb the locals as much, that's what they'll choose.

Reducing noise even further is where GreenMech see future innovation heading for chipper manufacture. There isn't much call for space-age GPS and computerisation to be added to chipping machines, because as well as not actually aiding operation, sales are very much cost-driven in this market. But further noise reduction is a area which would appeal to customers and GreenMech is therefore keen to push this development.

Chairman Tony Turner said he knows it's possible to bring the machines' db levels down further, the key is to find a way to do it which doesn't make the units prohibitively expensive.

The company are finding they have customers who wish to own a chipper in all sorts of fields of business nowadays. Golf courses, utility companies, schools, colleges and universities, even prisons are finding it’s economical to purchase a machine to get rid of their green waste rather than rely on contractors. And certainly now that legislation surrounding the burning of material is so stringent, chipping is part of many turf professional’s regular workload.

Also great to hear was the company's utter commitment to the dealer network route to market. GreenMech want their customers to be looked after locally by professional experts. Selling direct is not an option for them.

Since I last visited the company in 2014 they have expanded their network to 16 dealers with 27 depots. Recent additions include Turner Groundscare, The Burdens Group, Hamilton Brothers, Burden Brothers Agri and Lloyds Ltd. They have also added more international distributors.

So all in all, it was a real homegrown success story I heard last week. In these turbulent times it was a genuine pleasure to see how British knowhow, dedication, passion and excellence is really paying off for the team at GreenMech. Well done all!