One Leisure, a multi sports complex based in St Ives, deservedly picked up the 2014 IOG Grassroots Sports Grounds Team of the Year. It is a remarkable achievement for head groundsman Rob Bradshaw and his small team who look after the 52 acre site. The secret to his success? Sherriff Amenity - the UK’s market leaders in providing turf care and amenity solutions.
Rob is a rising star in groundmanship; not only did he scoop the IOG award this year but last year his 3G pitch won The Best Maintained Artificial Pitch of the Year. He is also a pitch advisor for Huntingdonshire FA. This is a man who is passionate about what he does and every professional needs top quality products to work with in order to win those all-important accolades.
“Sherriff Amenity definitely played their part in us winning the IOG award. After being nominated, a lot pictures were taken of One Leisure – especially the cricket square and the football pitches. We had applied ProTurf granular fertiliser to the football pitches which enhanced the colour and made them healthier. Not only that, but we used the Marathon range of slow release fertilisers on the cricket square which resulted in some beautiful surroundings and made this one of the best squares around,” said Rob.
Rob, before working his way up to the position of head groundsman, first started at One Leisure four years ago as an assistant groundsman. From the offset his commitment to perfection was apparent when he insisted on using the best products and suppliers in the marketplace and this led him to Sherriff Amenity.
“One Leisure had always used another company, but when I arrived I wasn’t impressed to be honest. So I thought, I’m new, let’s start fresh, shake things up a bit and look for another supplier. After searching around I came across Sherriff Amenity and a representative came to see me. Since that day we have worked with the company. I’ve constantly received great deals, great products, great service and we don’t use anyone else because they are the best out there,” he said.
With such a large site to look after consisting of football pitches, rugby pitches, hockey pitches and athletics tracks, Rob faces a battle with the weather especially in the months of summer. To aid him in this tough period he uses the Evolution Pro range of liquid fertiliser. The Evolution Pro high performance liquid fertiliser range is based on advanced formulation technology that provides rapid leaf penetration and quickly relieves nutrient deficiency symptoms. With superior efficacy, relatively low amounts of nutrients are required to achieve the same effects as unformulated products and the interval between repeat sprays can often be extended.
“I love the longevity of the product. When you compare the prices of it to other products on the market you see that it is excellent value for money. A lot of the pro clubs use it and you can see why,” said Rob.
Not only does Rob work with Sherriff Amenity at his position with One Leisure but he also purchases their products with a grounds association that he runs in the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire area.
“I would recommend Sherriff Amenity to anyone; they are approachable and extremely good at delivering products. It’s a first class service and that’s what I want. I want to be able to speak to the experts and have a good rapport. “Not only are Sherriff Amenity making my site look great, but they are also helping my grounds association by making the playing surfaces of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire look better too,” he said.