www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
Pool&SpaIndustry AUG 2012 SPN
31
A NICHE PRODUCT IN A NICHE MARKET
Surrey based Purley Pools came to life over 50 years ago on the back of a wood importing business and its wooden framed pools have succeeded in finding a long term market selling pools to schools
basis of the timber framed pools. The pools have a guaranteed structural life in excess of 20 years. Literally thousands of Purley Pool pools are in use today in schools, hotels, leisure complexes and in homes in the UK alone and there are also many overseas.
They have supplied and installed wooden framed pools from Kettering to Katmandu.
T
here was quite a bit of confusion around when Graham Wood went for his first job interview with Purley Pools. Graham, who now owns and runs the Surrey pool company which specialises in timber framed construction liner pools mainly for the schools market, thought he was going for a different sort of interview.
“I was terrified of water at the time and I thought it was a job like Vernon Pools, the football betting coupon business. I never linked the word pools with water at the time I went for the job. I got there and got the job and liked the work and the people and stayed on. I didn’t really know what I was getting into. That was 41 years ago!”
It all started with a business called Purley Timber, a wood importing business which was the origins of what is now a well known and highly respected specialist pool building business which have been members
of the SPATA trade association for 17 years.
“I was a trainee accountant to start with then worked in the warehouse and did a lot of general jobs around the place.” The move from a traditional timber business to a swimming pool company came when some lateral thinking ended up with the idea that scaffolding pools could be used as the structure for liner pools. That simple idea led off to a number of other directions to see the specialist swimming pool business established. So a business which started in 1958 from the origins of Ronnie Durrell’s wood importing business thrives today with very specialist products. For while Purley also supply self build kits for permanent structure in-ground pools and above-ground pools it’s the wooded frame products which win the business the most acclaim. The wood theme continues now as Purley Pools specialise in using impregnated wood as the structural
Graham now heads a staff of five full time staff who have found a niche product in a niche market. They are constantly on the road quoting and fitting pools. “It’s nonstop and it has always been that way.
“Our market is mainly the schools market, providing good quality reliable pools at prices which the schools know they can afford. We do an awful lot of work with schools and have done so over the years,” adds Graham.
often with around just 80 pupils but they are interested in providing swimming pool facilities and we have won ourselves a reputation for doing a top job in this market with a really superior product which lasts and there’s a lot to be said for that.” The pools often last 35 to 40 years before they start to show any sign of decline. Instead of getting involved in refurbishment the solution is more than often just providing a new pool which costs in the region of £20,000.
“The costs aren’t excessive. The schools get a quality pool and they are satisfying the desire to own and run a pool,” adds Graham. The Purley pool has all the looks, advantages and luxury of traditionally built pools. Due to the unique method of modular construction, the pools cost less to install than concrete pools of similar size and capacity.
“Our market is mainly the schools market, providing good quality
reliable pools at prices which the schools know they can afford”
It’s a different market, he adds. “I think because we have been dealing just with schools we have been a bit isolated from any downturn. It hasn’t affected us one iota. We are not like other pools who deal in the heavy commercial market. We remain very focused. Many of the schools are very small
And that’s where Purley Pools have found a long term market opportunity. spn
i FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
F PURLEY POOLS (UK) LTD ( 020 8668 1322 :
www.purleypools.co.uk
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