The three category winners for the 2017 Amenity Sprayer Operator of the Year Awards were announced at the 2017 Amenity Forum conference held at the Pirelli Stadium at Burton on Trent on Thursday 12th October.

It is the third year of the Awards, which aim to reward top sprayer operators across the amenity industry, and to share their best practice to enhance standards for all.

The main sponsors of the awards are ICL and Syngenta. Each winner announced at the event received a framed certificate and a trophy from the sponsors, together with the offer of free training awarded by BASIS Registration.


L - R: Awards supporter Stephen Jacob, CEO of BASIS Registration Limited, category winner Lee Harrison from Complete Weed Control, Category winner Nathan Hume from SH Goss Ltd, Mark Pyrah from sponsor ICL, category winner Chris Phillips from Complete Weed Control and category runner up Andy Baker from Ely Golf Club

The category winners and runners up were as follows:

Sportsturf category: an especially highly competitive category with just one point separating winner from runner up

• Winner - Chris Phillips who works for Complete Weed Control
• Runner Up – Andy Baker from Ely Golf Club

Landscape & Amenity Knapsack Operations category: a category that attracted a very good number of entries and some difficult judging decisions

• Winner – Nathan Hume who works for SH Goss Ltd.
• Runner Up – Tony Robinson from Southern Horticulture

Landscape & Amenity Mounted Sprayer operations: another category that attracted a very good number of entries and some difficult judging decisions

• Winner – Lee Harrison from Complete Weed Control
• Runner Up – Robert Alexander from JSD Rail

The three category winners have now been invited by ICL and Syngenta to attend as their guests the BTME exhibition in January when the overall winner will be announced at their evening awards event. The overall winner will receive the Amenity Forum Shield from Forum chairman Professor John Moverley OBE and will have a choice of prize options provided by the sponsors. These are a trip to the USA to attend either the Green Industry & Equipment Expo or the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America Conference or to receive instead £2000 of ICL and Syngenta products.

Speaking about the awards, John Moverley said: “We are extremely grateful to the sponsors of these awards who are members of the Forum and fully supportive of all our objectives. The awards highlight the professionalism that exists in our sector and the high standards achieved. I congratulate all who entered and especially the winners.”