industry & Park Operator SALTEX Preview 2023
EUROPE’S LARGEST FREE TURF MANAGEMENT SHOW
POWERED BY
1 & 2 NOVEMBER 2023
NEC BIRMINGHAM
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SALTEX PROVIDES THAT ALL IMPORTANT GROUNDSCARE ADVICE
Pristine grounds can elevate a venue, and ensure visitors get the positive vibe that is so important to maintain a successful business. So how do you ensure that your groundscare programme is the best?
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ell one way is to attend SALTEX, Europe’s largest free, sports turf, amenities, and landscaping trade exhibition. The event delivers an unmissable mix of learning and networking opportunities, education, and exhibition, all in one place over two days. Visitors can view the latest advances in equipment, hear about product developments in soft and hard landscaping and receive technical advice, all invaluable elements if success in keeping grounds in great condition is to be achieved. Now in its 77th year SALTEX 2023 will provide the visitor the chance to view over 400 brands in three halls, across two days – 01 and 02 November – at one central location – Birmingham NEC. Alongside the exhibitors is an allencompassing Learning LIVE education programme that provides advice, insight and real solutions to the biggest issues that the grounds management industry faces. This year, SALTEX will host a series of over 30 sessions enabling visitors to hear directly from industry leaders, technical specialists, and experts from across the industry. Some of the first speakers to be signed up include: Dr Kate Entwistle and Dr Deborah Cox who will run an interactive turf disease clinic; with Alex Vickers, Dr Richard Earl and Dr James Welsh running an interactive soil science clinic. Leatherjacket and Chafer Grub control will be tackled by Sean Loakes (Syngenta) and Dr Minshad Ansari (Bionema). Tackling a key issue for a growing number of groundscare professionals of ‘Working in a Chemical-free world’ will be
Dr Christian Spring and Neil Rodgers from the STRI. Last year’s show brought together over 8,300 visitors from 50 plus countries with the biggest names in the groundscare industry voicing their enthusiasm for SALTEX. Asked why they attended 73 percent of visitors said it was their interest in the industry, 70 percent to source new products, services and suppliers and 46 percent stating that is provides a great opportunity to meet industry colleagues and make new connections – building networks, knowledge and learning about new innovations. The show is organised by the Grounds Management Association – the leading not-for-profit membership organisation
representing grounds managers, grounds personnel, grounds maintenance managers, greenkeepers and all others involved in the management of sports turf, pitches, landscape, and amenity facilities in the UK. SALTEX takes place at Birmingham NEC on 1-2 November 2023. To secure a free ticket to Europe’s largest and leading sports turf, amenities, and landscaping trade exhibition, register online at https://www. saltex.org.uk/
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SALTEX LEARNING LIVE PROGRAMME 2023
BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF GROUNDS
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esigned to bring people together for the greater good of grounds, SALTEX’s comprehensive and extensive Learning LIVE programme for 2023 is now live on the exhibition’s website – www. saltex.org.uk/learning-live. Months in the making, all of the industry’s hottest topics are covered across the three stages over two days. On the Spotlight Stage on Wednesday 1 November, the ‘Messi of mowing’ John Ledwidge, head of grounds and landscapes at Manchester City FC, Nick Taylor, managing director of Greycircle and Adrian Kay, York Racecourse Grounds Manager, host a discussion on skillful leadership best practice and the importance of team culture. How do you deliver a major sporting event? Grounds managers at England’s most iconic cricketing venues talk about that and overcoming the challenges in hosting this year’s Ashes tournament on the Main Stage. Visitors can also meet the team behind the Women’s Ashes’ pitch delivery. These female pioneers will discuss how they got involved in this initiative and how they’d like its legacy to help promote
grounds management as a career option for women and girls. Also on Wednesday, attendees will get the chance to take part in an interactive panel discussion on the Main Stage with GMA consultant, Tim Nicholls and the Rugby Football League’s, Pat Clusky. The topic of discussion will be the GMA’s newly launched Grounds Management Framework which offers new and existing grounds staff a clear career pathway aligned with the necessary tools and qualifications needed to improve pitch standards and progress within the industry. On day two, the Main Stage is busy celebrating volunteer heroes. Wes Matthews from Cranfield FC & Luton Town FC, GMA award winner Dean Gibbons from Wantage Bowls Club and Liam Murgatroyd from Queensferry ARLFC talk about working around the day job, finding funding opportunities and making the all-important budget spread further. The requirement to reduce non-household water usage by nine percent by 2037 has created the perfect storm for leisure turf irrigation, resulting in requirements to reduce both abstraction volumes and
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mains use at the same time. At Learning LIVE visitors can find out how water availability will change and what should be considered in the search for alternative sustainable water sources. Tony Hanson, Planet Mark Associate and Golf Environment Organisation Sustainability Associate, who is hosting a session on this subject says: “Water availability is changing – historically high personal consumption, population growth, climate change, increasing incidence of drought and flooding, over abstraction and pollution have all contributed to problems we now have to solve around water resource and quality. The leisure sector can protect future water sources and be part of the solution at SALTEX.” Speaking of climate change and what comes next, over on the Spotlight Stage on day one, an important audience participation event concerning where we were, where we are now and where we are going with concern to UK weather under the umbrella of a rapidly changing world is hosted by Jim Dale – senior meteorological consultant, British Weather Services. While on day two, the Spotlight Stage shines a spotlight on building relations with key stakeholders and justifying capital expenditure. The seminar is delivered by Callum Allsop from Leicester City FC, Adrian Kay from York Racecourse and Niall Hazelhurst from Warrington Wolves. And finally the Eco Stage, on day one an update on sustainable installation and maintenance of synthetic turf, the current EU regulations on rubber crumb and recycling solutions is hosted by Alistair
Cox from Loughborough University, Colin Corline from SAPCA, Chris Barry from Football Foundation and Eric O’Donnell from Sports Labs. Following the sustainable theme, on day two Dr John Dempsey discusses nonpesticidal disease management. The independent turfgrass researcher says: “With all the restrictions on pesticides and the ambition of turfgrass managers to maintain their facilities and control disease in a sustainable manner, nonpesticidal disease management presents ways in which to do this without recourse to pesticides and by utilising the turfgrass’s own defence mechanisms. “My seminar covers several research projects carried out over the past three years and presents results on surfactant effects on soil moisture and turfgrass quality, rootzone amendment’s effect on turfgrass growth, reduction of earthworm casting and the uptake and accumulation potassium phosphite.” All Learning LIVE sessions qualify for both BASIS and BIGGA CPD points with 2 BASIS CPD points gained for attending SALTEX this year and a point for each session attended (up to four per day). BIGGA Networking Credits are also available with one for attending SALTEX and a one BIGGA education credit per hour for each Learning LIVE seminar attended. More information about the SALTEX 2023 Learning LIVE programme can be found on the event’s website at www. saltex.org.uk/learning-live. Free visitor registration is now open. Visit saltex.org.uk or register here http://saltex.org.uk/
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