ALL JACOBSEN MANUFACTURING TO BE RELOCATED TO IPSWICH

Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., have announced their intention to relocate all manufacturing of Jacobsen professional turf equipment to its facility in Ipswich.

In a statement the company said the move will begin this autumn and be completed in stages over the next several months.

Textron said this move will ". . enable the company to focus its investments, skill, and improvements in mower production on a single facility, and leverage existing resources and expertise at its Ipswich facility."

The plant, which currently builds Jacobsen and Ransomes mowers, is the oldest manufacturer of motorised lawn mowers in the world, in operation for more than 187 years.

According to reports in the U.S media 30 to 35 percent of Jacobsen products had been manufacturing in Ipswich over the last five years. However that figure is thought to have risen to around 50 percent coming out of Ipswich during the past two years - reflecting a desire by Textron to limit multiple manufacturing locations.

Jacobsen relocated North American production from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Augusta, Georgia, in 2016.

The UK facility will now produce mowers for all regions, including North America. Jacobsen will maintain its sales, parts, and customer-care teams in North America, and its network of North American distributors, to serve its customers in the United States and Canada.

"We are excited to establish our Ipswich, UK. facility as the worldwide manufacturing centre of excellence for Jacobsen equipment," said Simon Rainger, vice president, Turf for Textron Specialized Vehicles.

"This move will enable us to operate more efficiently, and expand on the legacy of innovation and quality that our Ipswich plant has built over its long history."

Jacobsen say they are continuing to develop new products to serve their customers around the globe. The brand is due to launch a slate of new mowers in coming months, including the Eclipse 360 ELiTE electric greens mower powered by Samsung SDI lithium-battery technology, and the new AR530 and AR730 area rotary mowers.