DAVE SALTMAN, Managing Director
Made a guest appearance at Harrogate last month, mainly to deliver a Wednesday morning seminar on changes he has seen in the industry over the past twenty years. Why the short time span Dave? In typical ‘Deadline Dave’ fashion he was still writing his presentation at 11.30pm on Tuesday evening!
JOHN RICHARDS, Operations Director
A spell of full-ttime grandparenting (the early shift) meant that John was looking forward to the Harrogate ‘break’ more than usual, just to catch up on some sleep. Sadly, that didn’t happen as he spent much of the three days ‘babysitting’ the rest of us. Still, it was amusing to see him trying to ‘contain’ Loz in Wetherspoons!
LAURENCE (WRITING) GALE, Editor
When one of our lady staff members happened to mention that she ate Cadbury’s Creme Eggs in ‘a special way’ it sent Loz into a flat spin, with offers of ‘cameras’ to record the event. So flustered was he that he reckoned his lunchtime chips tasted ‘a bit funny’. Turns out he had put sugar on them rather than salt!
PETER BRITTON, Sales & Production
The head office now has a zoiper telephone system installed and, desperately trying to retain some control over the onrush of technology, Peter steadfastly refuses to link to it (much to Al’s chagrin). Anyway, the headset would muck his hair up and, quite frankly, what was wrong with pressing button B?
ELLIE TAIT, PR and Marketing
Thank goodness for the early availability of Cadbury’s Creme Eggs! They are Ellie’s answer to all ills at the moment -ttetchy children, broken down washing machines, traffic jams ... Her only gripe? Why are they sooooo small these days? Surely someone at Cadbury’s must know there’s a market for giant ones?
ALASTAIR BATTRICK, Web Monkey
Head of Nerd Centre operations, phone systems and grumpiness. Ask Al any question and the answer usually begins with err, well ... probably. We consider that to mean yes, so when we ask him when it will be finished his response is err, well ... probably end of... so we take that to be the deadline! He usually delivers.
DAN HUGHES, Sales Manager
Behaved himself at Harrogate, so he tells us, but kept on disappearing to places he referred to as ‘clubs for discerning gentlemen’. I still can’t work out why they let him in! Still, we can’t complain too much ... unless you were in the hotel room above him when he got in at some ungodly hour of the morning!
CHRIS JOHNSON, Training Coordinator.
Elegant, beautiful profile, delicate and fashionable -jjust some of the adjectives that describe Chris’s shoes! Trying to explain the ‘women and shoes’ theory to a bunch of clod hopping male colleagues just didn’t cut the ice but at least we have an idea about some of the attributes she looks for -n
none of us fit the bill! STUART BURTON, Web Designer
Now a firmly established member of the Pitchcare Nerd Centre, Stu has been beavering away at all things techy, creating new websites for industry companies and firing off newsletters left, right and centre. He’s obviously doing something right because the website had record stats in January.
KIRAN CONTRACTOR, Sales Administrator
Smooth talking, trendy and hip (oh, sorry, that’s me) Kiran has settled in to his role as ‘shop assistant’, helping us achieve a record year of sales. With his beloved Manchester United back on top of the Premier League he can now raise his head above his computer screen -b needs to stand on a chair!
but he JULIE ROBINSON, Sales Administrator
Happy soul around the office. Julie has a fondness for warmth and has spent the winter months snuggled up to the radiator. She persists with the bad habit of tipping left over coffee into the bin but we let her off as her infectious laugh keeps everyone in the office smiling. Even Al!
SHARON TAYLOR, Company Accountant
Sharon is used to being at the bottom of the table as she is an avid Baggies fan (she’s the one!). Early mornings in the office, late nights at the computer, and bitterly cold days spent looking after horses -iit’s enough to wear anyone down. So, why does she look so good?
WELCOME TO pitchcare
Our friendliness will pull us through ...
Whilst trying to remain upbeat and positive, it is difficult to ignore the wider aspects of this global financial disaster. The implications will be deep rooted and likely to cause many people and companies hardship over the next couple of years.
Our industry though remains generally optimistic for the coming months and, for most exhibitors and visitors, the Harrogate show was a success. Yes, less numbers, but it seemed that, while some staff had foregone the trip (to save money), the senior people still came to peruse the show.
As if I needed any further reminder of the country’s woes, I personally spoke to half a dozen groundsmen and greenkeepers who had recently been made redundant, but were all confident in returning to work quickly.
For most of us, our work revolves around sport and, regardless of a recession, perhaps even because of the recession, people want to enjoy recreational activity. While there are, undoubtedly, areas that can be cut back on, a little less seed or fertiliser, due to the needs of the playing surfaces, it is vital that at least a certain level of maintenance is continued.
My feelings in these times tend to be more so with the machinery manufacturers as capital expenditure is usually one of the first cuts to budget. To tide themselves through lean times, many larger clubs and local authorities will try to get an additional year of use from their fleet, spending more on maintenance and repair of existing machinery.
I write this foreword in New Orleans, having come out to attend the American
equivalent of BTME. Along the same lines as Harrogate, the show is less supported this year than previously, some suggesting that attendance here is down by as much as 40%. However, there is a similar positive mood from most of the people I have spoken to, and even in the
current financial climate British companies, greenkeepers and groundsmen have not been deterred from making the journey here.
The show is best described as colossal; the exhibition hall, I’m told, is just over a mile long. Having spent the first two days wandering through it, I believe them!
The Golf Industry Show is the place to come to view the latest products and machines on the market. As in previous years, there are some great innovations ready to project the industry forward, improving the quality of work as well as the quality of turf. For me, the frustrations arise where some new chemicals and products for sale in the USA haven’t yet been approved for use in Europe.
Whilst enjoying some sunshine over here for a few days, I’m hearing about all the chaos and misery brought by the cold weather back in the UK. These icy spells and snow falls are further compounding the financial issues, preventing many from getting on with their businesses and completing contractual obligations. For turfcare professionals keeping sports surfaces open and playable has become the order of the day.
In summary, these are difficult times and clearly we are not recession proof but, by the same token, we are not a luxury industry struggling to exist. We are lucky enough to work in a friendly industry and the camaraderie that I have witnessed already in 2009 will see us all pull through until the good times return.
Good luck to you all Dave Saltman Managing Director
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