THE LAST WORD
JASON PETSCH
Looking back to the future
of grounds maintenance
By JASON PETSCH, CEO FOR GRITIT AND THE COMPANY’S GROUNDS MAINTENANCE SERVICES
hen you think of industries on the verge of
disruption, it’s often a case of seeking out
traditional sectors that have been doing things
the same way for years - decades, even.
You’ll look for industries that could use a shot in the arm
from some smarter thinking or that could benefit from
digital technologies to trim away layers of accumulated
inefficiency. On the face of it, grounds maintenance seems a
great candidate for this treatment.
In the UK the sector is extremely fragmented, with many
of the established service providers having been around for
several decades and delivering very traditional offerings
based on fairly rigid maintenance regimes. But that’s not
to say that things haven’t been evolving. In many respects,
today’s ground maintenance industry has companies
competing to discover ways to add more value to their
clients.
Those who struggle to achieve this rely on leaner,
cheaper services, so much of grounds maintenance has
become increasingly commoditised and, as a result, overall
service is suffering. It’s therefore time to re-evaluate some
of the common practices in the industry, reconnect with
what customers actually need, and shift the competitive
battleground further towards value.
W
Short term is short sighted
One of the causes of commoditisation has been a relentless
focus on the short term: Whether it’s the duration of client
contracts, or the seasonality of employment across the
sector, there is a lack of investment in lasting relationships
and better service delivery.
In many respects, this is an inevitable result of cutthroat
competition. When faced with more complex challenges on
site, contractors will naturally be reluctant to treat the root
cause of an issue if they feel there is a chance that that hard