The sale of Bayer Garden to French firm SBM Développement (SBM) completed in early October, meaning that the product range and all positions in Europe and North America transferred to SBM at the start of the month.
Bayer Garden was part of Bayer Environmental Science – a business unit of the Bayer CropScience division. The deal means that the Bayer Environmental Science team is being re-structured and will solely focus on professional turf, amenity and pest control solutions, and will remain at the Cambridge Science Park.
And taking on the position of Bayer head of sales for turf and amenity, is Neil Pettican – moving on from his previous role as national account manager.
Having worked in the industry for 20 years as well as completing a master’s degree in sports turf technology, Neil has both hands-on experience and technical expertise in a diverse range of sports turf in the UK and abroad. He’s also worked at several international events at Wembley Stadium as well as four European golf tournaments.
The new role of head of the sales and technical team for turf and amenity products at Bayer will see Neil head up the Turf Solutions team, and driving the future direction of the business. Neil maintains that looking after his customers is still top of the agenda.
“The changing needs of greenkeepers and turf managers are paramount, and we’re always innovating with new technologies and application equipment. We’ve got an innovative new product launch on the horizon, so 2017 will be an exciting year for the team,” says Neil.
And heading up the whole Bayer Environmental Science team as the new country head, is Alan Morris, who has moved on from his previous role of professional products head of sales.
“The future is bright for Environmental Science. The Turf Solutions team is dedicated to supporting professionals – not only with product information, but also guidance on everything from the best cultural control methods to employ, to breaking down legislation jargon. And Bayer has a large global support team fully dedicated to these areas of the business with a wealth of experience to draw upon, meaning our customers are always armed with the right information to do the job,” says Alan.
To contact the Bayer Turf Solutions team turfsolutions@bayer.com