Rigby Taylor’s new Area Manager
Phil Baldock has joined Rigby Taylor’s Northern team of Area Technical Managers.
He brings a wealth of practical experience to this role having worked in greenkeeping for a number of high–profile clubs including Foxhills Country Club, Hankley Common, Royal Portrush and Ganton.
Phil has won the Shell ‘Best of Better Britain’ Conservation Award for his sand dune conservation and has staged Curtis Cup, Walker Cup and Brabazon Trophy events.
As a keen supporter of BIGGA, he was secretary and chairman of the Surrey section and founder member of BIGGA Northern Ireland section and its first chairman.
Rigby Taylor – a century of innovation
From its incorporation in 1919, Rigby Taylor has been at the forefront of providing products and services to the sports and amenity turf industry. Originally serving horticulturalist and gardeners in the north west of England, the company launched its first ‘Taylor’s’ fertiliser in 1930 and quickly became the leading supplier of sports turf products in northern England. Throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, it established branches in the midlands, southern England and Scotland.
Rigby Taylor was the first sports and amenity distribution company to introduce its own range of branded turf protection products, and it entered into long-term supply partnerships with major international research-based organisations which saw Rigby Taylor as the perfect conduit for promoting and supplying products. Many of these partnerships continue to operate today.
Innovation is what sets Rigby Taylor apart from its competitors. As a seed agent in its own right, the company works closely with its seed breeding partner, Top Green, to develop technologically-advanced grass seed mixes including tetraploid types and the Carbon4Grass carbon sequestration mixtures. The company also leads the way in introducing super granulation fertiliser formulations as well as its unique Impact paint formulations, which have received the Queen’s Award for Innovation and Enterprise. The company was also the first to introduce autonomous robotic and GPS pitch line markers to the industry.
Most recently, Rigby Taylor was selected by Bayer to launch the new fungicide active Exteris Stressguard, the first new fungicide active to be introduced to the UK turf industry for over 10 years, and by Rain Bird as its authorised UK irrigation products distributor for golf, landscape, sports pitch and domestic systems.
Employing over 50 field-based technical personnel, supported by agronomy specialists in grass seed selection, plant nutrition, water management, plant protection, line marking, irrigation and drainage, the company is well prepared for the next 100 years!