TORO continues to invest in Global Strategy.

Latest focus sees Bob Buckingham relocate to Cyprus to better serve emerging markets

Toro has invested heavily in the international arena over the past decade, with the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region becoming the focus for development this year.

It is a move which has recently led to one of the turf machinery industry's best-known names, Toro's Bob Buckingham, relocating to Cyprus to spearhead plans by The Toro Company aimed at upping its presence in the emerging international markets of Europe, Africa and the Middle East and better serving its customers.

Toro said ongoing investment and expansion of its 'European' business was focused on the emerging markets of Central/Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and that this had identified the need for someone to be fully responsible for the development of distribution and new business in this region.

"Western and Central Europe and SA Africa are very important but mature markets," Bob Buckingham said. "Eastern Europe, with Russia, Bulgaria and the Balkans, for example, along with the Middle East, are now the emerging markets with huge growth potential. So I have relocated to Paphos, in Cyprus, to be much better positioned to develop our business and serve customers there. I'm really excited at the prospect."

For the past six of the 20 years that he has worked for The Toro Company, Bob Buckingham has been the firm's European director of sales, working out of southern England. His new role sees him promoted to director of new business development. He has been in the industry for 33 years. His wife Maggie and son, Alex, 21, have joined him in Cyprus, while son, Luke, 19, has remained here to attend university.


As part of wider changes aimed at strengthening and expanding the Toro EMEA team, Christian Grisard-Van Roey has taken over from Bob Buckingham as European sales manager for golf and commercial products. Eric Tortelier remains as European sales manager for Irrigation and both men are supported by their own field teams. Recent additions to the teams are: Arturo Moran, area sales manager Southern Europe Equipment, and Xavier Agusti, his equivalent for irrigation; Teodor Denchev, for business in Eastern Europe, and Pieter Clarke for the Middle East. Additionally, there are two open positions to further support Central/Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Photo caption: Toro's Bob Buckingham, left, with his successor Christian Grisard-Van Roey, shortly before departing for Cyprus.