Ian Johnston, managing director of TGI Golf, is to retire at the end of the current financial year. TGI Golf is the leading buying group for golf professionals, with more than 360 members across Europe.
The TGI board of directors has confirmed that retail operations manager Eddie Reid is appointed as the company’s new managing director, effective April 2007, while Ian Johnston will become the company’s chairman on a part-time basis.
Eddie Reid said, “During his seven years in charge, Ian Johnston has turned TGI Golf from a buying group of 62 professionals to a major force in golf retail with more than 380 members, and ownership of the UK’s most successful golf trade event. Thanks to Ian, and the board of directors who have whole heartedly supported the strategic changes that have taken place, the company now operates from a very stable financial platform allowing us to maximise the services we provide to the members.”
Since 1999, Ian Johnston has overseen growth in the group’s membership of more than 500 per cent, a significant increase in financial performance and stability, expansion into Europe and the establishment of the TGI Golf Show, at which more than £2 million of business was written in November 2006.
“In the six years that I have been here, Ian has been hugely influential among the membership, and in building a fantastic team at TGI head office,” added Eddie Reid.
Following retirement, Johnston will remain involved in the ongoing business of TGI Golf and takes over as Chairman of the TGI board.
Ian Johnston, said, “All of us on the TGI board are keen to preserve continuity and the relationships that we have built up within the golf industry – and for these reasons Eddie is the perfect choice to take over as MD.
“I would also like to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to all the staff with whom I have worked over this period. Everyone contributed and they all shared the same enthusiasm to serve the members to our best ability, and to work in partnership with our suppliers. The attitude of the staff is undoubtedly one of the key differentiating factors about TGI.”
Eddie Reid has an extensive retail background and an in-depth understanding of the strategies required to sustain the business of TGI. He joined TGI Golf in April 2001 following 20 years in the oil business, working with multinational companies including Gulf Oil, Q8 and Jet, during which time he won several industry awards including ‘Retail Trader of the Year’.
Reid is looking forward to leading TGI into the next phase of its development, and stressed the importance of keeping existing foundations firmly in place: “It is excellent for the group to have continuity and I am delighted that Ian will continue to work with us. The team at TGI know me and I feel ideally placed to optimise our potential. We aim to build on Ian’s achievements and to successfully develop the members’ businesses and the group as a whole.”
TGI Golf www.tgigolf.com