Reesink UK’s first Master Service Technician award

Rosie Duckworthin Machinery & Mechanics

Highest training achievement awarded to David Creasy.

David Creasy, first response technician for Reesink Turfcare's Sheffield Park branch, has been awarded Master Service Technician status for completing one of the most stringent and comprehensive training courses in the industry.

Reesink UK's first Master Service Technician is David Creasy, centre, with Reesink's Lee Rowbotham, right, and Peter Clarke

Reesink UK's Master Service Technician programme is specifically designed to provide the most thorough training for technicians, ensuring their skillset is updated and meets the demands of the industry's continuous evolution. Advanced modules ranging from First Aid Safety Training to Advanced Sprayer Service are covered.

So, what was it that appealed to David about undertaking the course? He says: "A huge proportion of our customers work for golf clubs that are in the top 100 courses in the UK and 89 of our contacts are Master Greenkeepers. Since 99 percent of my role is customer-facing, it was only ever going to be advantageous for me to have the highest level of training there is to give the best possible advice and service."

David says when it comes to education and training in the industry, it has for many years favoured turf, with very little available to help support the use of machines and getting the best possible results from them.

He says: "I've been working in the industry since leaving college in 1998 and it's always been important to me to be able to get additional qualifications, but I've found education and training for technicians and workshop mechanics and those in the maintenance and servicing side of the industry to be lagging behind the rest. When Reesink launched the Master Service Technician programme I just thought: "thank goodness for that" and applied! It's really needed to help progression in the sector."

"So often these incredibly advanced and high technological machines just aren't being used to their full capabilities. It's given me great job satisfaction to know I can help make sure customers take full advantage of what the machines can do, keeping them in the best possible condition and making their job that much easier."

The training fits in well around work requirements, explains David, who was on track to have completed the course over a year ago but COVID meant his final training modules had to be put on hold: "It's an absolutely fantastic course, really thorough and well-rounded, taking everything to that next level. It's well-arranged, with a mix of practical and theory work and a test at the end of every module."

Lee Rowbotham, service manager at Reesink, says: "We designed this training to be flexible. It fits in around work requirements for participants and the fact that David confirms this to be the case proves the model is effective and bodes well for its longevity. It's a huge achievement for David to become Reesink's first Master Service Technician, he's worked really hard and put in the extra work to achieve his goal."

A lot of training and courses were put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic, but Lee says there is renewed interest in uptake now with Reesink seeing training requests double each week: "There's a lot of interest in training at the moment and it's easy to understand why: the benefits it brings not just to the individual but for the customer too seem endless."

Master Service Technician training is available to all those working in Reesink's extensive dealer network. To find out more about this and the training course available from Reesink, one of the most comprehensive from a turfcare machinery and equipment distributor in the country, visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk/resources/training-courses.