Chief Executive’s Report

It’s good to be back

In a year where we have been able to come back together to celebrate the sheer excellence of the landscape industry, we have had yet another fantastic event with close to 1,000 members and guests attending the 45th National Landscape Awards.

And what a fantastic event it was indeed. It was such a pleasure to see the winners of the prestigious National

Landscape Awards celebrating in style at JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel with the rest of their peers, clients and guests, and it’s an honour to be able to provide the platform to showcase our members’ outstanding achievements.

In a year that seems to have been phenomenally busy for the vast majority of Association members despite what has been going on in terms of lockdowns, the effects of Brexit and the materials shortages, it is a wonderful sight to see that members continue to uphold the professional standards expected of them and go on to exceed as proudly showcased via the National Landscape Awards.

The entries into the Awards this year, once again, demonstrate the importance of using skilled professionals to undertake work whether it be in a small domestic garden or on large ground maintenance contracts.

I would like to express our very sincere gratitude to our Chair of the Judging Panel, John Melmoe, and to his panel of industry experts for their professional commitment to the task of selecting this year’s award winners. They undertake an enormous amount of work on our behalf to maintain the reputation and integrity of the Awards. Each year, the benchmark of excellence is raised, and I am delighted to say that 2021 has been no exception. Every entry is given their fullest attention to ensure the winners are those Association members most befitting of an award. I would like to congratulate every member who entered this year and acknowledge the achievements of those who have ultimately been successful.

The Judges and the awards process have been very capably coordinated and project managed by Emily Feeney, Events Project Manager from Landscape House. Once again, without the commitment shown from Emily, with support from Operations Manager Kirsty Wood and the wider team, the whole awards process would not run so smoothly.

Membership Satisfaction Survey

Across November we gathered your feedback via our online annual Membership Satisfaction Survey, and a huge thanks goes to those of you who took the time to complete it. The survey provides members with the opportunity to share their views on our products and services and suggest improvements for the future.

I am extremely pleased with those items highlighted in green as these show an improvement upon last year or that we have exceeded our target of 75% Excellent or Good feedback. 91% of members stated that they were either very satisfied or satisfied with their Association membership which fantastic feedback and offers us a key metric to benchmark against moving forward.

A new addition to the survey this year was gathering our Net Promoter Score (NPS)– a customer loyalty and satisfaction measurement, determined by subtracting the percentage of customers who are detractors from the percentage who are promoters. Our Net Promoter Score is +43 which is a big positive and will now be used as an important KPI for us to measure performance against. According to Survey Monkey’s global benchmark data, which accounts for the NPS of more than 150,000 organisations, the average score is +32 meaning that the Association’s score is 26% higher than this average.

Further key areas from this year’s survey results can be seen on page 35.

BALI Services – rated good or excellent

Knowledge, advice offered and professionalism of staff 2020/21 2021/22

89% 90%

Communication of industry developments and legislation 84% 85%

Speed of response to enquiries/telephone calls

88% 88%

Promotional opportunities for your business

Administration and turnaround time of LISS/CSCS SmartCards

55% 58%

76% 69%

Industry representation at government level

Workshops/events/networking opportunities

84% 74%

71% 70%

BALI Products – rated good or excellent

BALI Accredited logo

BALI Newsletter (e news)

Who's Who Landscape Directory

Landscape News

BALI HR/H&S in association with Quest

Technical Officer support

BALI Insure in association with Aston Lark

BALI Jobs in association with Horticulture Careers

Dispute Resolution Service

BALI Awards - Entrant 2020/21 2021/22

91% 86%

81% 79%

80% 87%

85% 88%

80% 81%

81% 80%

71% 67%

63% 50%

72% 80%

84% 87%

ROLO Health, Safety and Environmental Training for Supervisors and Managers

We announced the launch of two new training courses at Supervisor and Manager level in July this year, to join the popular Register of Land-based Operations (ROLO) Operative level course. The new courses will enable our industry Supervisors and Managers to receive the appropriate level of health, safety and environmental training and apply for their LISS/ CSCS cards.

The Supervisor and Manager level courses have been developed by the Association to meet the training needs of the land-based sector.

They are fully supported and approved by CITB and Build UK as equivalent to the CITB SSSTS and SMSTS courses.

The Association plays an essential role in the safety and wellbeing of those that work in the landscape industry by raising industry standards through training. ROLO courses address the specific safety and environmental challenges the sector faces, providing specific training and keeping candidates up to date with the latest knowledge and skills to work in the landscaping environment.

Since ROLO’s relaunch in 2012, the Association has seen over 39,000 Operatives go through ROLO training and 22,000 gain their LISS/CSCS cards.

Both new courses are made up of two parts and have a blended learning approach that starts with an online e-learning course, before moving onto a tutor-led or online delivery led course. The courses take two days for the Supervisor course and three days for the Manager course. Learners will engage with activities and assessments in both aspects of the course to gain knowledge and prepare them for their final assessment.

On successful completion and passing of all aspects of the course, learners will receive a ROLO Supervisor or Manager accredited certificate which is valid for five years, after which the appropriate refreshers course can be undertaken. These courses will also support Supervisors and Managers in applying for the appropriate LISS/CSCS cards.

Refresher courses will be available for those renewing from having taken the full Supervisors or Managers courses and for those looking to renew their CITB SSSTS or SMSTS courses for their Land-based sector position until the end of March 2022.

Over the years our provider network has been delivering ROLO training to the industry, we have seen standards across sites consistently improving. In response to the increasing call for higher level courses from businesses who are seeing how useful ROLO training is, we have developed these two brand new courses to continue our legacy of improving industry standards. Find out more at bali.org.uk/lisscscs

Regional AGMs

I look forward to seeing many of you at the Regional AGMs in the New Year and I hope that as many of you as possible will try to attend these valuable networking sessions. Further details will be published shortly at bali.org.uk/events

In the meantime, on behalf of the Landscape House team here at the British Association of Landscape Industries, may I wish you and your families a very happy festive season and your businesses a successful 2022. Your Association is here to support you next year and far beyond.

Best wishes.

Wayne Grills

Chief Executive