Allett Welcome Russian Dealers Unisaw to Regal House
We welcomed Alexander Markin (CEO of Unisaw Group) and Igor Rudakov to the Allett factory last week. Here’s what he had to say to our Export Manager Dave Allett about how Unisaw supplied over 180 Allett machines to the Russian World Cup. Note- his words have been slightly edited to make it more readable in text format.
Unisaw visit to the factory
Alexander: We’ve come to the UK for the first time and it's our first time at Allett. Our company Unisaw have operated in the Russian market for 25 years in the garden business. We’ve worked with Allett for 4 years. We work in the agricultural business, sports field business, golf industry and municipalities. We have more than 150 employees.
Dave Allett: You’ve had great success in the last 2 years supplying Allett machines to the World Cup. Can you tell us a little bit about the clubs that you supplied, the new stadiums and the training grounds?
Alexander: It was a big event in Russia in 2018 and it was a hard year for preparation for us. We worked with Allett, our key suppliers and greenkeepers from England also helped us. Portsmouth FC grounds manager Matt Frost and Sports Turf consultant Phil Fifield came to us for training and support for our people. We delivered machines to 8 main stadiums and 20 training fields.
Dave Allett: Which training fields did you look after and for which countries? What were the top 3 countries you looked after?
Alexander: We delivered machines into the training fields where France trained- they became the world champions for 2018. We also delivered machines into the training grounds where Croatia trained near St Petersburg and also for Belgium at their training ground near Moscow.
Dave Allett: I understand Allett machines were also used at the Luzhniki Stadium where the final was held- is that correct?
Alexander: It's correct. Luzhniki used Allett machines for the games and Luzhniki was the stadium for the opening ceremony and the World Cup Final.
Dave Allett: The pitches looked fantastic for the world cup and obviously Allett Mowers and the Unisaw organisation were heavily involved in that. Can you tell me a little bit about the preparation of the pitches?
Alexander- Some stadiums were only just built before the World Cup. The 2018 season in Russia was delayed. It was a very short time for preparation and a very busy time for greenkeepers, for training centres and for main fields.
Dave Allett: Russia did very well in the tournament how did the Russian people respond?
Alexander: The World Cup is a possibility to see the top level football teams. We have many jokes about our Russian team because the last several years we’ve not had the best players. We talk about how the play must be improved and everybody looks to our national team as motivation. It was very good- many people came to watch from all over the world. Russian people like discussion and like to make attention. It was held in smaller cities too, for example, Volgograd -it’s very nice to communicate- it was very exciting. We went to many games and it really got people talking. There was a big emotion shown. Many of my friends watched each game and if they weren’t watching live they were watching on television.
Dave Allett: You’ve had a factory tour today what are your thoughts?
Alexander: From what I’ve seen it’s a flexible factory also the people here listen to the customers and act on it which is very important. The commercial part of Allett is important. We work with Dave Allett and its very client orientated. Allett has a top manager and we are very happy to work with them. If small issues arise we are always in communication with Allett and we work as a team to solve them.
Dave Allett- We feel exactly the same, working with you is a pleasure- the communication is fantastic and we thank you very much for all of the sales effort and more importantly the service element. I know you put service very highly on your list of priorities and I believe during the World Cup you sent mechanics to each of the grounds to ensure that the machines were working well and people knew just how to use them
Alexander: It's true. Before the World Cup, we delivered machines after visiting each stadium. Some stadiums changed their grounds teams, so we tried to support as much as possible and called back to these stadiums to ensure the greenskeepers knew how to use machines. We had a visit just after the world cup from Allett MD Austin Jarrett to discuss what was good about the world cup and how we could improve for the future- its always possible to improve. Today we visited the factory and noticed feedback from the groundskeepers was already being taken into account in the design of the machines which we are very impressed with.
Dave Allett: What are your plans after the world cup. How do you see the future for Unisaw?
Alexander: After the World Cup sales will, of course, be down. We think people will know more about Allett now, about the technology and how it works. It's important that we don’t stop and react as quick as possible to customers questions so we can further promote the Allett brand in Russia.
You can find our video with Alexander below....
Unisaw visit to the factory
Dave Allett: Which training fields did you look after and for which countries? What were the top 3 countries you looked after?
Alexander: We delivered machines into the training fields where France trained- they became the world champions for 2018. We also delivered machines into the training grounds where Croatia trained near St Petersburg and also for Belgium at their training ground near Moscow.
Dave Allett: I understand Allett machines were also used at the Luzhniki Stadium where the final was held- is that correct?
Alexander: It's correct. Luzhniki used Allett machines for the games and Luzhniki was the stadium for the opening ceremony and the World Cup Final.
Dave Allett: The pitches looked fantastic for the world cup and obviously Allett Mowers and the Unisaw organisation were heavily involved in that. Can you tell me a little bit about the preparation of the pitches?
Alexander- Some stadiums were only just built before the World Cup. The 2018 season in Russia was delayed. It was a very short time for preparation and a very busy time for greenkeepers, for training centres and for main fields.
Dave Allett: Russia did very well in the tournament how did the Russian people respond?
Alexander: The World Cup is a possibility to see the top level football teams. We have many jokes about our Russian team because the last several years we’ve not had the best players. We talk about how the play must be improved and everybody looks to our national team as motivation. It was very good- many people came to watch from all over the world. Russian people like discussion and like to make attention. It was held in smaller cities too, for example, Volgograd -it’s very nice to communicate- it was very exciting. We went to many games and it really got people talking. There was a big emotion shown. Many of my friends watched each game and if they weren’t watching live they were watching on television.
Dave Allett: You’ve had a factory tour today what are your thoughts?
Alexander: From what I’ve seen it’s a flexible factory also the people here listen to the customers and act on it which is very important. The commercial part of Allett is important. We work with Dave Allett and its very client orientated. Allett has a top manager and we are very happy to work with them. If small issues arise we are always in communication with Allett and we work as a team to solve them.
Dave Allett- We feel exactly the same, working with you is a pleasure- the communication is fantastic and we thank you very much for all of the sales effort and more importantly the service element. I know you put service very highly on your list of priorities and I believe during the World Cup you sent mechanics to each of the grounds to ensure that the machines were working well and people knew just how to use them
Alexander: It's true. Before the World Cup, we delivered machines after visiting each stadium. Some stadiums changed their grounds teams, so we tried to support as much as possible and called back to these stadiums to ensure the greenskeepers knew how to use machines. We had a visit just after the world cup from Allett MD Austin Jarrett to discuss what was good about the world cup and how we could improve for the future- its always possible to improve. Today we visited the factory and noticed feedback from the groundskeepers was already being taken into account in the design of the machines which we are very impressed with.
Dave Allett: What are your plans after the world cup. How do you see the future for Unisaw?
Alexander: After the World Cup sales will, of course, be down. We think people will know more about Allett now, about the technology and how it works. It's important that we don’t stop and react as quick as possible to customers questions so we can further promote the Allett brand in Russia.