Published: Friday, 28th October 2011

During the TGI Golf Annual General Meeting, held during The Golf Show, Managing Director Eddie Reid announced that the group will rebrand to become known as the TGI Golf Partnership.

The new branding is aimed at communicating the TGI Golf Partnership’s unique business model and evolution from buying group to successful golf retail services company.

“What makes the TGI Golf Partnership unique in our industry is that the company is equally owned by PGA Professionals, who all receive shares and cash back bonuses annually based on sales of accredited suppliers’ products,” said Eddie Reid.

“Over the past eight years, we have added more than 200 new retailers to the company, grown total income by more than by 250%, and given back more than £1 million in cash dividends in addition to bonus shares to our Partners.

“Research has shown that employee-owned businesses, such as the John Lewis Partnership, tend to outperform the market because people are incentivised and motivated to deliver higher levels of customer service.

“The same principle applies to TGI and the partnership model that was established 27 years ago. Our Partners, who are selected on the quality and size of their retail operation, and who benefit from the expertise of our team of on-the-road Retail Development Advisers, now account for a significant portion of total UK golf sales.

“This is backed by an array of effective programmes and campaigns for our accredited suppliers that continue to drive sales at on-course shops. It is a business that is growing year-on-year, and our suppliers and the growing number of Partners all share in that success.”

The rebrand sees the word ‘Partnership’ added to a refreshed TGI Golf logo, along with the slogan ‘Drive Our Vision. Share Our Success.’ An advertising campaign based around the theme ‘I am a TGI Golf Partner’ featuring the company’s Partners will appear in the PGA Professional magazine from November. The new brand will then be rolled out across all collateral, including the company’s website, over the coming year.

The company’s recent performance has echoed the findings of an independent report by Cass Business School, commissioned by the John Lewis Partnership, that shows employee owned businesses (EOBs) are more resilient in recession. The average sales growth of EOBs between 2008 and 2009 was 11.08%, significantly surpassing that of non-EOBs (0.61%) during the same period. (Model Growth: do employee-owned business deliver sustainable performance?)

Eddie Reid added: “Even during these challenging economic times, the professional approach of our Partners and the successful business-to-business solutions we offer our suppliers has ensured we are 14% up on sell-in in the first six months of this year and 12% on sell-through.

“It’s a story of how quality, professionalism and partnership – with both our Partners and suppliers – ultimately delivers results.”