Baroness looking to dominate Europe
Japan's number one brand for greens mowers for golf courses - Baroness - is looking to Europe for growth. The manufacturing business, Kyoeisha Co. Ltd, has more than 100 years experience of building a reputation for quality, durability and low maintenance.
After 30 years in the UK as a niche player, it has set up its European headquarters in Basingstoke, Hampshire to implement a two front strategy to dominate the sector in Europe. The Baroness brand is setting about creating a new dealership network and expanding the product range to cover all the grass cutting and specialist equipment needs of the modern golf course.
"In Japan, we are the number one name for grass cutting equipment for golf courses and have offered a complete range for decades. The time is now right to bring it all to the UK and Europe." says Ian Kerry, Managing Director, Kyoeisha UK Ltd, "To be successful we need good local dealers to show case our products and for a large part of the south of England we have appointed Lister Wilder Ltd based in Wallingford, Oxfordshire but with outlets across the south of England."
Lister Wilder Ltd has taken on the Baroness dealership so that it can now offer a complete range of machinery for golf courses.
"Baroness mowers have a well earned reputation for, a exceptional build quality, high speed of cut, durability and low maintenance costs" said, Andy Bolan, Group Sales Manager for Groundscare machinery, Lister Wilder Ltd, "mixing it with our Kubota range of equipment and specialist tractor ranges and in combination with the our Campey turf care equipment range means we can meet all the machinery demands of any golf course across the south of England."
The Baroness trail blazers have been the LM56 and LM66 - two specialist greens mowers which use solid tooth gears rather than belt or chain drives. This means constant peak performance and low maintenance. Coupled to this is the toughest and most hard wearing cutting cylinder around, made from Nickel-Chrome-Molybdenum steel. The 4.5hp engine delivers 250 clips per metre - an industry maximum.
"Offering the Baroness quality and reliability with ride-on reel mowers, fairway mowers, and rotary mowers for the rough will generate a lot of interest," said Andy Bolan. Top of the LM range is the LM 2700, a five cylinder ride on fairway mower with a 2.7 metre cutting width and power rated at over 32kW. The LM 180B must rate as one of the most versatile in the range, being able to cope with the long grass conditions and slopes of the outfield areas, together with shorter fine turf areas where a fast high speed output is needed.
For the semi rough and beyond it is the GM range, headed by the five-deck rotary ride-on GM2800. This Kubota engine powered unit can generate over 41kW to drive a total cutting width of 2800cm and a cutting height range from 20mm to just over 90mm. The GM2800 is designed to be a flexible machine to deliver high work rates and smooth manoeuvrability in tight corners and on demanding slopes.
Specialist items, such as the SP05 ride-on, three wheeled bunker rake clearly show the company's commitment to saving time and labour for geen keepers. It has two or three wheel drive and a very low centre of gravity to enable side to side or up and down raking of even the most challenging bunkers.
Most of the mowers are powered by Kubota diesel engines. "As the largest supplier of Kubota products in the UK, we know these power units very well, " explained Andy Bolan, "we have models of the most popular models in stock and with a little notice we can arrange for delivery of specialist items. " Machines are available now at most local Lister Wilder depots for hands on testing and live demonstration.
Kyoeisha U.K. Ltd is the UK distributor for the Baroness brand and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Kyoeisha Corporation, Japan, the manufacturer of the Baroness range of specialist grass cutting machinery. www.baronessuk.com