Topturf

COMPANY PROFILE

2014

Top Turf

+27 (11) 281 2500 | www.topturf.co.za

company profile

Landscaping South Africa Editorial: Harriet Pattison Production: Ajuanne Payne

From instant lawn suppliers to landscaping top golf courses, Bidvest Top Turf have continued to grow since it began over three decades ago, blossoming into a horticulturist company with a firm footprint across Africa and heavily focused on being green; in more ways than one…

Founded over 30 years ago, Bidvest Top Turf has grown from an instant lawn provider supplying the East Rand in the province of Gauteng, to expanding into landscape construction all over Southern Africa.

Managing Executive of the Bidvest Top Turf operation in South Africa, Jonathan Ferguson, who has now been with the company for two decades, explains the company’s successful rise from supplier to landscaper: “We grew instant lawn on various farms and supplied this as a product into the market. The obvious expansion of the business would then be in those early days, into landscape construction because people didn’t only want the instant lawn to be supplied they now

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wanted it to be laid as well, so the business soon began to supply and install instant lawn for various clients.”

Joining the company in 1987, Ferguson qualified in the early 1980’s as a horticulturist with a higher technical diploma in horticulture. “I moved into landscape contracting and the green services business and I’ve been here ever since” Ferguson explains.

Bidvest Top Turf began maintaining the gardens it was building and eventually the business grew from its roots as a lawn supply business into a multidisciplinary green industry business in South Africa.

THE EARLY YEARS In 1979 a turning point for Bidvest Top Turf came

Bidvest Top Turf

when the company Sun International opened the gambling and gaming resort, Sun City. “One of the most notable things in our early years, is the job at Sun City” Ferguson explains, “We were very involved with the construction of the first golf course, the Gary Player Country Club and we did the landscaping around the resort. It was an anchor job for our company in 1979.”

Bidvest Top Turf continued to work with Sun International throughout the 1980’s, “They built resorts all over South Africa so we followed them around. We followed them to Mauritius where we still operate to this day. Our first job over there was the Le Touessrock Hotel.” Three decades on, Ferguson

explains the company’s footprint continues to expand: “The business developed and grew as South Africa grew. We worked in Sub Saharan Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and we’ve been as far as Angola, we have quite a footprint down in Southern Africa.”

In 2004, Bidvest Top Turf were acquired by Bidvest, Ferguson explains this move changed the face and business plan of the company. “The focus for the business since 2004 has been on annuity type income, rather than landscaping and constructing type income because of the stability in the annuity type environment. It is recurring work whereas in the construction environment, the revenues go up and

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company profile

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GREEN FOCUSED As well as being involved in landscaping and golf courses, Bidvest Top Turf has developed product lines for vertical landscaping, such as roof terraces, which are becoming increasingly popular in South

“We would like to develop ideas around what we call labour based contracts, instead of using mechanisation, use labour and employ labour to do what machines would normally do” Africa. Like so many other businesses, the focus on being green and running a sustainable company is important to Bidvest Top Turf. Ferguson explains: “We’ve got a huge initiative for green buildings

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and sustainable development. The Green Building Council of South Africa certifies, rates and grades buildings for their green components that goes from the energy they use, to the water they consume to the environmental quality and ecological value of the gardens.”

With so much focus on ensuring green credentials are maintained, Bidvest Top Turf has gone one step further with an innovative solution for controlling pests. “We want to use birds of prey to control pests on industrial sites such as pigeons that are nesting in awkward places. We launched that a couple of months ago which is a very green product and instead of poisoning birds we are using natural ways to control them” Ferguson explains. Bidvest Top Turf have another idea nestled away which Ferguson admits he is excited about: “I think urban agriculture is a new opportunity for us, it might link back to roof garden buildings growing around food and cities growing their own food instead of carting it in from farms 100 miles away. Of course, it takes a lot of effort and input but I think it’s an interesting avenue for a business like ours.”

Bidvest Top Turf MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM With operations in both South Africa and Mauritius, Bidvest Top Turf now have over 1 000 employees.

Basic skills are taught to all staff members when they join the company and a Management Development Program (MDP) encourages those in supervisory positions to move up to management. Interns are also taken on board by the company to offer them practical training and employment if it’s available. Ferguson explains: “I think we can do what we call labour based contracts, instead of using mechanisation, use labour and employ labour to do what machines would normally do, it takes a bit longer but you’ve employed people rather than using mechanisation.

“We have a social responsibility, South Africa has massive unemployment estimates of 25% to 30%. Our industry has relatively low barriers to entry from an education point of view and the skills can be trained relatively easily to uneducated people. We grapple with a regulated labour environment, which doesn’t help and if it wasn’t so regulated I think you would

see a lot more entrepreneurs starting and taking the risk of employing people.”

“THE FUTURE IS LOOKING GOOD” For a company that has significantly grown over the last 30 years, where does it want to venture into next? “Africa is one of the fastest growing areas in the world so if something comes up in Mozambique, or Botswana or even further afield we would obviously have a look at them” Ferguson explains.

“Generally what happens is South African companies follow other South African companies so if a large South African construction company got a large construction job in another country, we would ideally like to follow them because we know them and we know that the project is properly funded. It is always a challenge working out of your own country” says Ferguson.

For a company that has grown from instant lawn suppliers to national landscapers, the future is looking very green indeed. “There’s new exciting products and new sectors that we could be getting involved with so the future is looking good” concludes Ferguson.

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FOR SIDE DISCHARGE, MULCHING OR GRASS COLLECTION, THERE IS A “ZERO TURN”, RIDE-ON

WALKER “ThePETROL impact of AND the renewed AVAILABLE IN BOTH and sustained drive towards DIESEL VERSIONS a more ‘green’ way of living

Tel:011 472 0477 or email:walker.admin@walkermowers.co.za in South Africa has been

extremely positive on our web:www.walkermowers.com business” jun 14 PAGE 5

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