growing marketplace. However, it was the requirement to submit local authority services to competitive tender under the Local Government Acts of 1988 and 1992 - commonly known as Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) - that helped drive this initiative. This demand for contractual services led to a revolution in the way we managed facilities, I myself managed several large contracts for the MOD in the late eighties, employing contractors to undertake a wide rage of services and, again, whilst working for Telford & Wrekin Council also used contractors to maintain our facilities. There will be good and bad
experiences and, even today, there are a minority who give contracting a bad name. The trick is to vet and ensure the contractor you employ has the necessary skills, machinery and experience to undertake the work required, whilst building up a relationship to ensure continuity of work standards.
This industry now has a wealth of specialist sports turf contractors who are able to take on any type of work in terms of new build, drainage, renovation and specialist maintenance operations. The Landscape Drainage Contractors Association have over eighty member contractors who, over the years, have been responsible for looking after the needs of hundreds of sports club, golf courses and other sporting facilities. The LDCA is a national standard setting organisation - a trade association of contractors, manufacturers and suppliers who undertake to comply with recognised standards of workmanship and materials.
The association publishes technical specifications for field drainage schemes, pipeline reinstatement and guidelines for sportsturf drainage installation which set out the quality of workmanship and materials to be used in drainage and water management
schemes. These standards are recognised by industry bodies, and the LDCA Sportsturf Guidelines have been adopted by Sport England and the Football Foundation as the standard to which funded sportsturf drainage schemes must be carried out. An LDCA contractor undertakes to work to these specifications and guidelines and to the requirements of the LDCA Quality Assurance Scheme, which also covers the use of British Standard materials, liability insurance, health and safety legislation and provision of a warranty with regard to workmanship and materials. During the coming months, Pitchcare will catch up with a number of these companies to see how they came into being and what changes they have had to make to remain competitive in an ever changing and demanding marketplace. We begin the series by talking to Carl
Pass of Premier Pitches, Paul Simpson of Worth Draining and Marcus Young.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148