Industry


The Grass Group


25 years and counting...


Tim Merrell T


his year sees Newmarket based machinery suppliers, The Grass Group, celebrating their twenty-fifth year in the industry. The company has gone from strength to strength,


expanding its range of products to meet the ever changing requirements of the industry whilst, at the same time, delivering the standards of service customers have come to expect. Through its twenty-five years,


142 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015


Managing Director Tim Merrell has been the backbone of the company’s growth, but from where did this oak tree grow? After graduating from Newcastle University in 1986 with a BSc Hons in Agriculture, Tim became a fully-fledged agronomist at a farm in France. The farm was reasonably equipped with machinery, but never of the right sort to do the job properly according to Tim; “they were either the wrong size or didn't have the right attachments.” So Tim started to import the relevant machinery into France from the UK - it was an instant success and the business grew quickly as more farms found out about the service. So much so that, by 1989, he had left the farm and set up a business, MJT Contracts Ltd, with a French John Deere dealer. Tim returned to the UK to spearhead the sourcing of the machinery, leaving the JD dealer to handle the delivery in France. Selling tractors, combines, diggers and then parts, they were


The Trilo S12 clearing litter at Hampstead Heath


A bit of Dutch courage, coupled with some ‘joie de vivre’, has seen Tim Merrell build a successful business in the turfcare industry. With a portfolio of products that are widely used across all sectors, how did the company get to where it is today?


Pitchcare talked to Tim as The Grass Group celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary


turning over £1million within twelve months. Despite business being good, it was vulnerable to exchange rate fluctuations and other factors that could affect a solely importing operation. It wasn’t long before Tim was introduced to a turf grower who wanted a vacuum sweeper for his turf farm, and his next opportunity came along - Trilo. When someone else then approached Tim for the same product, he realised it was worth his while to investigate further and went over to Holland to look at the range. He could see the potential and, with two orders already safely under his belt, he placed the order and, in return, was appointed the official UK dealer for Trilo products. Tim has always acknowledged the help that the Trilo brothers, Cees, Louis & Leo, gave him; “the Dutch were very good to me and always have been,” he says. In the 1990s, ‘leaves’ had become ‘litter’, with one of the first machines being sold to


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