Colne business leader crowned winner in prestigious industry award

Chris Gibson, managing director of Colne-based GGM Groundscare, has won the Leadership Award, recognised as the top accolade in The Service Dealer Awards, beating off stiff competition from across the UK.

The awards, organised by the leading business magazine Service Dealer, are now in their 17th edition and celebrate independent dealers in the garden machinery, professional turfcare machinery, farm machinery, forestry equipment and ATV/quad industry.

This year, rather than just focusing on sales and service excellence, to best reflect the extraordinary circumstances that dealers have coped with during these past two years, the 2021 award categories were modified to reflect the hard work of dealerships and their employees during this time - both within their businesses but also in their communities.

Finalists and overall category winners are selected by a judging panel from nominations submitted by dealers, manufacturers, and suppliers. Upon Chris winning the Leadership award, the judges said:

“When the pandemic hit, Chris’s priority was ensuring the safety of his staff. He acknowledged that normal working methods needed to quickly adapt, and he never shied away from making difficult decisions in everyone’s best interest. Not only have there been no jobs lost, GGM are now a bigger team than before and have achieved business growth during the past two years.

“In addition, Chris has found time to spearhead environmental policies at the dealership and maintain charity work, raising over £10,000 for three charities; Greenfingers Hospice, St John’s Hospice and Pendleside Hospice.

“He has also shared his wealth of expertise with the wider industry, contributing to the Dealer Digital Toolkit, writing Service Dealer’s Diary of A Season, joining industry panel calls and speaking on sector podcasts.”

GGM Groundscare is a family business, started by Chris’ father in 1976 and he took over the business in 2000.

It is now a specialist supplier of tractors and high-quality professional land-based equipment for commercial and domestic use across the North-West and Yorkshire, with depots in Haydock and Colne.

Chris said: “I’m absolutely delighted and humbled to be awarded this accolade. It is an understatement to say that this has been a hard but successful few years, however we were quick to adapt our business at the start of the pandemic, and it is testament to our incredible team that we have managed to grow our business and also continue to develop our levels of service."