IOG Industry Awards honour UK grounds expertise
Almost 300 of the UK’s and Europe’s leading groundscare experts from both the professional and volunteer sector, as well as dignitaries from the governing bodies of sport and influential sports administrators such as Sport England CEO Jennie Price, have honoured the expertise, dedication and passion of the country’s grounds profession at the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards.
The packed Oscar-style ceremony at Cardiff’s SWALEC Stadium, home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, recognised leadership, innovation and outstanding achievement across every aspect of groundscare – from grassroots pitches to professional stadia, including all types of public and private sports venues, and it highlighted the progress of young/student grounds professionals as well as product development and employer considerations.
Hosted by talkSPORT Radio’s Mark Saggers, the sell-out IOG Awards followed a day-long series of IOG Conference presentations by some of the biggest names in the industry on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as keynote speeches by Huw Jones, CEO of Sport Wales, and Ian Ricthie, CEO of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club and Director, Wembley National Stadium.
“An excellent opportunity to put the Kubota brand in front of a wide cross section of grounds care professionals in a relaxed social environment. A very informative conference followed by enjoyable evening.” - David Blackwood, Sales & Marketing Manager Kubota (U.K.) Limited
“SANLI UK is delighted to have sponsored the IOG’s Innovation in Grounds Maintenance Award for 2010 and congratulates winner, Flow Control (GB), on developing a highly practical and innovative safety product that should prove invaluable to owners of petrol-engined machinery and equipment. SANLI UK will be looking at recommending the no-spill fuel container to its dealers and the fast-growing number of SANLI outdoor power equipment users throughout the UK and Ireland.” - Mark Osborne, Managing Director SANLI UK Ltd
"Consistently improving and setting new standards is only possible when you care passionately about what you do. At Johnsons Sports Seed our passion is quality sports turf! As sponsors of the Groundsmans Groundsman Of The Year award for the second year, we are proud to be involved with the IOG in recognising outstanding work in the field of turf management! Our whole team had a fantastic time at the awards. Mark Saggers does an incredible job and puts a real polish on the event!" - Derek Smith, DLF Johnsons Sports Seed
“It was an excellent evening giving us the opportunity to applaud the very worthy nominees and award winners. Well attended by a good cross section of the industry, aided by a good menu and the venue staff who made us feel very welcome.” - Mike King, Sales and Marketing Manager for Vitax.
To view a complete list of winners please click here.
We also have some presentations from the conferece available;
How sustainable are our sports facilities? Dr Iain James, Senior Lecturer Cranfield University
The Big Apple – Managing with less. Duncan Wood-Allum, Sports, leisure, culture
