NEWS
3
began to grow as they were much better quality than the best the Far East could offer and more reasonably priced and better than the German versions. My father was a very good designer and designed the wheels for Thrust 2’s land speed world record attempt as well as the all Magnesium Minilite competition wheels used by BLMC and Ford’s competition department. He also designed the X-Ray tube which was used to discover DNA. This was all in his life before the mounts came to shape. The company was a one man band to start with, but has grown and now employees 10 people and has a 4000 sq ft factory.
Is it true you dabbled in rifles? Yes it is! In 1985 Sportsmatch began development of the GC2, a top-end precision pre charged air rifle. This went on to become the Rolls Royce of air rifles and is still arguably the best air rifle ever built. Production ceased in 1993. We wanted to concentrate all our resources on the mounts which the demand was growing for. The GC2 cost many hundreds of thousands to develop (once you start when do you stop?) and the rifles were only just about breaking even. Not a good financial move but we did make the best air rifle ever produced! We still get asked for them regularly and a 30-year old gun is still worth good money. The name and quality of the rifle also helped further strengthen the brand and encouraged sales of the mounts.
Tell us more about the growth of the company
As demand for air rifles grew and the use of a telescopic sight became
www.tandgmagazine.com
almost essential Sportsmatch also grew. People liked, and still do like a product that is totally manufactured in the UK. Interest began from overseas from markets such as USA Germany and Sweden and that started our export growth. Sportsmatch now exports to over 40 countries but the UK remains the major market. Another key decision was to heavily invest in the latest CNC (computer numerically controlled) automatic machinery. Firstly that was to keep up with demand, but also the accuracy is higher. We concentrated on mounts for .22 rimfire rifles and air rifles as we had the most knowledge in this area. We now however produce a range of mounts for centre fire rifles including the Tikka, Brno / CZ and as well as Picatinny models.
Have you thought about diversifying? Another key decision was to target the military and police markets with mounts for sniper rifles. This as all additional business which doesn’t interfere with the civilian markets. We also realised that we need to concentrate on being a manufacturer and not trying to be a wholesaler. There is more to managing several hundred accounts than some manufacturers realise! We have seen a few try selling to both the end-user and the trade and do a poor job of it. These days dealers want to be able to buy most of their everyday stock from as few sources as possible. Our most popular product is still the 2-piece double screw medium height to fit rimfire rifles and air rifles. It always has been. It just fits most of the scopes
and most of the rifles on the market. What are your plans for the future? Sportsmatch is constantly investing in new machinery to produce our products more efficiently with new ways of manufacturing. We also will continue to promote the Sportsmatch brand for everyone’s benefit and not leave it all to our distributors who have plenty of other products to market.
Are there any new products in the pipeline?
The latest addition to the Sportsmatch range is a QD 1-piece mount which Mark Ripley (260 RIPS on Youtube) had a hand in designing. There is no better way to field test a product than shooting crows at 800 yards! More variations of this model are due in the coming months = watch this space!
And finally, with so much doom in the media, how’s business now? We are always busy but since the Covid airgun boom started it has been absolutely nuts. It’s a good problem to have but we are not happy with our lead times and constantly working on ways to increase production. Over the last 50 years generally we have seen the gun trade get harder and it feels although we are constantly under fire with bad press and potential new legislation. But if you have a solid dependable brand and product range you can still grow every year.
SPORTSMATCH T 01525 381638 E
info@sportsmatch-uk.com W
www.sportsmatch-uk.com
3
The company founder, John Ford, designed the wheels for the record breaking Thrust 2 car before setting up Sportsmatch
Issue: 752 | Tackle & Guns | 35
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
