From Yard Man to Managing Director

When Ian Ellis started stacking shelves in the GreenTek workshop in 2000, little did he know that 23 years later he’d be driving the business forward at the helm as Managing Director. And now with expansion into new overseas markets, and new product developments underway, he’s certainly got exciting aspirations for the company’s future.

“We’re aiming to double our turnover in the next six years, we’re expanding into new markets including the US, and have some exciting new products in development,” revealed Ian, who started his career in the interior landscape business supplying plants to offices.

But while looking ahead to the future, Ian never forgets his roots within the business.

“I joined the company in 2000 as a yard man and spent most of my time loading and unloading forklift trucks and stacking pallets in the workshop. I remember the whole site was on a slope which made stacking shelves in any sort of order quite a challenge!”

At the time, the company was based at Manor Farm in Leeds and had been gradually evolving since 1969 from a lawnmower parts and repair business, sharpening mower blades for domestic customers to rebuilding and reconditioning commercial grass cutting machines.

As the domestic market began to slow down, GreenTek focussed on the commercial side of the business and identified an opportunity to supply turf care equipment to the golf market. Securing a deal as the exclusive distributor of ThatchAway greens mower cassettes – a move which has established the company’s leading position in the marketplace today catering to the needs of professional greenkeepers.

In fact, 90% of the UK’s top golf courses have GreenTek equipment in their tool shed – and a recent deal with Royal Liverpool Golf Club to supply equipment to prepare for the 151st Open Championship this summer is the latest endorsement of the quality of GreenTek’s machinery.

As the company expanded into the golfing market, this created an opportunity for Ian to get out of the workshop and meet customers for product demonstrations.

“At first, this was completely out of my comfort zone but very quickly I realised that I had an aptitude to operate any type of machine and enjoyed being at the ‘coal face’ meeting customers, demonstrating our innovative equipment and answering questions.”

The launch of the Dynamics range of mower attachments was an intensive period of travel up and down the country for Ian.

“One day I’d be in Scotland, the next I could be down on the south coast. I’d never seen so many golf courses in such a short space of time and there’s no question someone might want to ask about Dynamics that I can’t answer.”

Rather than just knowing what the machine could do, Ian would actually show the customer with a real time demo on their course. Which wasn’t without risk when you’re operating on some of the most prestigious courses in the world.

In 2012, Ian became a shareholder within the business and soon afterwards was promoted to the position of Operations Manager and started looking for new premises for the expanding business. Now based at the 3.5 acre site in Walton near Leeds with 31,000 sq ft of onsite warehouse storage, GreenTek can respond to customer orders quickly and deliver from stock.

A major challenge came in 2020 with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this eventually led to a growth in the golfing industry.

“We wondered what would happen at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, but when golf courses were able to reopen there was a renewed interest from greenkeepers and we’ve seen that year-on-year since then. There’s been an increased demand for revolutionary solutions that save time and deliver outstanding results with minimal disruption to players. And that’s something we excel at.”

This is exactly the type of equipment RLGC have chosen in preparation for this year’s Open Championship. The DynaSeeder and Dyna-Corer machines drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to overseed and micro-core greens with minimal distribution to play. The whole seeding operation on 18 greens can be completed in just a few hours.

And when it comes to outstanding results, the Micro-Groomer is the latest in sward refinement with over 2,000 extra fine tungsten tips working the upper leaf area for the precision groomed surface that professional players expect.

“We’re extremely proud to have been chosen by Royal Liverpool Golf Club in this way. It’s a very important year for the club hosting the Open Championship and the fact that they’ve come to us is a clear endorsement of the quality of our machinery and the trust they can place in us to deliver.”

James Bledge, Links Manager at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, added that he had used GreenTek products over the years and have always been extremely impressed with the results.

“When looking for a supplier who could help create perfect greens in the run up to such an important and prestigious event as the Open Championship, GreenTek was an obvious choice.”

So, what changes has Ian seen during his years in the industry?

“I believe greenkeepers have become a lot more analytical.

Previously, they carried out tasks at particular times of the year because it was the thing to do, but now they stop and ask themselves why they’re doing things, what are they achieving, and is there a better way of doing things?”

“From a purchasing point of view, there are a lot more challenges. Uncertainty over costs and supply of raw materials disrupts the supply chain and means customers can’t budget with as much certainty as they could in the past.”

In response to these changes

GreenTek unveiled its latest product earlier this year - the Mega-Mix fertiliser mixing station. This revolutionary new product provides a fast, economical way for greenkeepers to mix their own feed.

With the rising cost of liquid concentrate, mixing feed from soluble straights can be up to 90% cheaper and 90% less time consuming with the Mega-Mix. It avoids any messy straining and additional dilution and mixes up to 1200 litres in the tank, using only cold water. The high-capacity pump transfers the solution through the filter unit and into the sprayer in just minutes.

“We’re delighted to bring this revolutionary product to the market. The Mega-Mix is clear proof of our ongoing commitment to recognising greenkeepers’ needs and providing them with innovative solutions to enhance the quality of their courses.”

Talking to Ian leaves you in no doubt about his passion for the job at GreenTek, “I absolutely love my job, which has given me great opportunities to expand my product knowledge and share this with customers through face-to-face product demonstrations.

“I’m extremely honoured and privileged to be offered the position of managing director and look forward to continuing to build on the legacy of innovation at GreenTek to grow the company in the future.

“We’ve got exciting plans for new product development – both enhancements to existing machinery and completely new products –and we’re looking forward to expanding into new markets.”