OPINION SeanO’Driscoll
Teamdeservessuccess afterdifficult year
A
fter a turbulent 2012 it was so refreshing to hear the positive vibes that came fromthe
official launch of this year’s CLA Game Fair being held at Ragley Hall,Warwickshire, fromJuly 19th to 21st. Work is already under way at
the family home of the ninth Marquess andMarchioness of Hertford and their four children to ensure that the prestigious event is as weatherproof as possible after last July’s cancellation. It is hard to fully confirmwhat
financial damage was caused to the rural economy by one of the wettest years on record but, speaking at the launch, TV presenterTomHeap, from BBC1’s Countryfile, felt that it was at least £1 billion. Certainly there weremany
tales of unsold stock, sales that were only going to bemade on the day – lost forever. I understand that the CLA
Game Fair itself,with upwards of 144,000 visitors and 1,000 exhibitors, generates a staggering £80million in the regional and wider rural economy. I hope thatGame Fair director
Andrew Crawford and his team enjoy good weather this time around because I know that
they had somany new initiatives and ideas planned before the abandonment. I worked pretty closely with
thempreviously so I saw at first hand the planning, negotiation, endeavour and hours that were put in. Bear inmind that it was due
to be the first show for Andrew and a number of his teamso all that work was followed by a huge amount of
heartache.So I, for one, amkeepingmy fingers crossed for themand at the same time hoping that the next 12months bring weather that is kind to the countryside and ultimately good for shooting and fishing. Tere can be no denying that
the bad weather finally caught up with the trade – footwear and country clothing aside – with a number of retailers reporting pretty dreadful sales figures. It was a shame because up
Statistics–Whogets thismagazine? Retailers of both fishing and shooting
This month’s edition ofTackle&Gunshas been sent out to a total of 5,343 people in the
industry.This is broken down as follows:
711
Agents and reps of both fishing and shooting – including clothing
Retailers of fishing equipment only Agents of fishing equipment only
Wholesalers and manufacturers of fishing equipment only
66
www.tandgmagazine.com 94
Wholesalers and manufacturers of both fishing and shooting – including clothing
102
1,619 187
Fisheries
Retailers of shooting equipment only Agents of shooting equipment only
Wholesalers and manufacturers of shooting equipment only
Shooting grounds and clubs
Press, public relations and others Firearms officers
588 Total circulation
265 757 42
307 290 326 55
5,343
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until June, although business was tough,most people were holding their own.Feedback I’ve received has indicated that July,August and September can only be described as poor,while things picked up inOctober, fell back again inNovember and then headed further south in December. I know thatmany traders
couldn’t wait to see the end of 2012 and now take farmore notice of the weather reports than they ever did. Andrew was keen to stress that
he felt the 2013 CLAGame Fair would be seen as leading the fight to reignite the rural economy. I hope that it does have amassive positive effect on business, alongside all the other game and country fairs that take place during the show season. But, in all honesty, I don’t want
to be waiting untilMay, June or July.Te fightback needs to happen now and it’s imperative that everyone in the trade does what they can do to encourage anglers and shooters to pick up their guns and rods and get back to enjoying their country pursuits once again. We have always been known
for our robustness and now is the time to show itmore than ever. Here’s looking forward to a
positive year.
Is Scottish airgun licensing coming? p06
Howto keep your staff happy atwork p29
TACKLE &GUNS
Italian shotgun brand Sabatti in theUK p32
BRITAIN’S ONLY MONTHLY SHOOTING & FISHING TRADE PUBLICATION
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FEBRUARY 2013
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