Feature FSM


Each one carries a wide range of qualifications and experience of collectively, more than a century.


A visionary company


But there’s so much more to this visionary company than meets the eye, and on closer inspection the package they provide is second to none in terms of analysis work. This includes soil, leaf tissue, water and nematode identification, along with performance testing via the use of the latest exclusive Turf-Tec agronomy tools. This data is collated and used in ongoing product and cultural maintenance programmes.


e AGS.


Phillip Garrod to the role of UK Sports Turf Manager.


Raising the profile


A former head groundsman with extensive practical experience and a BSc (Hons) in Sports Turf Science, Phillip’s brief was to raise the profile of the business. He was also asked to develop a range of products suitable for the maintenance of professional football pitches, schools and grass- roots sport. Via this process exclusive key lines


such as Growth Products liquids, Sustane Natural Fertilizers and Polyon (controlled release technology) have been introduced, all raising the bar in UK sports turf quality. These standards were fully recognised at the recent EFL Annual Awards where three of the four winners were on full AGS agronomic programmes. As you can see AGS has wasted


no time in growing an outstanding reputation within the industry. As they celebrate their second anniversary, it’s clear they’ve quickly developed from healthy market seed to a blossoming player in an ever evolving business. Their


‘Supply-Consult-Support’


strapline, has been recognised as cutting edge, demonstrating an appetite for not only world class quality and technically innovative products, but also the need to provide a comprehensive support package via an in-field team of turf specialists.


FSM 27 Supporting the business Phillip Garrod, UK Sports Turf Manager. ’s top groundsman have lifted


It’s good to know AGS suppliers have been carefully selected based on their ability to support the business long into the future. They invest heavily in R&D to ensure a pipeline of new technology and products is maintained, whilst being sympathetic with an ever-changing backdrop. There’s little doubt the bar is being raised to unprecedented levels, thanks to a pesticide reduced turf and amenity marketplace. This is an organisation in the vanguard utilising composted organics, low salt liquids, beneficial fungi and even bacteria. They facilitate their focus not only on plant health, but also on both soil profile and long-term sustainability. This is opposed to some dated industry practices still adopted today, such as the over-use of cost- effective sources of nutrient, which can lower pH and create inhospitable environments for soil microbial life. AGS UK Sales Manager Peter Holmstrom explained: “The analysis


work is of vital importance in terms of developing a top quality playing surface. We need to find out if the soil has low p levels or high amounts of sulphur for example. This would enable us us to use the right fertilizer or the correct products for the long term health of the grass. In short, it facilitates the creation of the right agronomic programme for the client, and this is all important of course. We want to get things right. “Looking at the pitch awards,


winning is a wonderful tribute to each groundsman involved, given the standard of clubs across the UK. In the case of Swansea, Anthony basically re-constructed the pitch with our help, so to win the accolade was a fantastic achievement. “Going forward we intend to


build more open partnerships in order to listen to what the clients want and deliver the best individual programmes. In fact, when it comes to professional pitches we’ve done some valuable work with Watford FC in the past year. It’s a huge compliment to work on such a high profile stage and, we’ll continue to keep our standards at their apex.”


The way forward


Being able to assist in the finest lawn- care from bowling clubs down to Ryder Cup venues means AGS have a band of extremely loyal customers, ably catered for by a hard working staff of 18 people. There’s little doubt despite being relative newcomers as a business they remain leaders in their field. A treble of pitch awards is testament to that.


www.advancegrass.com


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