A COLEFORD garden machinery company has won an award for its sales of robot mowers.

Revill Mowers, which is based on the Tufthorn Industrial Estate, was named automower dealer of the year by manufacturer Husqvarna.

Directors Russell Nevill and nephew Jason had no idea they had come top of around 400 dealers from the UK and Ireland.

The announcement was made at an awards dinner at The Belfry golf course, a former host of the Ryder Cup.

Russell said: “It was a nice surprise to get the award – we won for the growth for business, getting into the new technology and pushing it forward.”

Russell and Jason have been in the trade since they left school and set up Revill Mowers 11 years ago.

They have been involved with robot mowers for 25 years and include householders, golf courses and sports pitches among their customers.

Russell said: “In the last five years or so, there has been a lot of change and the technology has just taken off.

“They are very reliable and we are finding more and more older people are going over to them as well as commercial (users) like golf courses.

“On the golf courses, they can take care of the rough and the fairway which frees up the greenskeepers to concentrate on the greens.

“Automowers use GPS technology so they can go around obstacles and they remember fixed objects like trees.

“You just set them off and they nibble away at the grass and keep it in good shape.

“This summer wasn’t very good for the trade because it was so dry and people weren’t buying generally but, strangely, the automakers kept on selling.

There are plans to take on more staff in the new year to support the automower side of the business.