Tackle Trade World - January 2023

DBW...
the UK
i n d u s t r y V I E W s
Ann Kitchener, CEO Semperfli Fly Tying Materials Ltd, established 2010
Semperfli is a UK based
manufacturer of fly tying
materials selling trade only
to a global market. Winner of
the Queen’s Award for Export
due to the high amounts of
international trade we do,
we absolutely value our home
market most highly.
With all of our products being
produced at our Yorkshire base
in the north of England, with
our own staff we are passionate
about what we do.
Our social media analysis
shows that internationally
the age of our end user is
predominantly 35 to 44 and
based outside of the UK.
Whereas our British market
age range is mainly 60 plus.
Consequently we see huge
differences between our
markets.
We do see that the UK market
does seems to lag behind the
international markets in
adoption of new products by
one to two years.
With Covid we have seen
a lot of change in the market.
During lockdown people were
at home and spent their money
on their hobbies so fly tying
grew massively. Our dealers
in the UK were doing massive
sales at that time and have
continued to do so. There were
also supply issues from a lot of
overseas manufacturers so a lot
of stores converted to Semperfli
as our factory didn’t close
and we had stock to delivery
promptly.
As the economic climate is
biting, feedback we are getting
from our dealers is that less
spend is happening on capital
gear such as rods but still
consumable fly tying materials
is strong. People appear
understandably timid of the
oncoming recession but want
to maintain contact with their
hobbies where they can do so at
a low cost. Tying materials are
affordable. Tying is a relaxing
pastime that people can enjoy
at home.
The past years we have seen
a decrease in the materials in
the UK for salmon flies for
example, possibly related to the
Scottish salmon farm issues
and decreases in natural stock.
Simultaneously we are seeing
increases in trout, predator
and saltwater materials.
What is most interesting is
these trends are not reflected
in our international markets.
The climate change affecting
fishing and sewerage problems
appear to be driving fly tyers
to stocked reservoirs and new
species, for example pike and
saltwater. These are trends that
we see less of in our USA and
Canadian markets probably
due to the highly diverse nature
of species targeted and the fact
these countries are so vast. Here
fishing is much more accessible
without the restrictions we see
in the UK with private waters
etc.
Patrick MacInnes, Marketing Manager, Leeda UK, established 1980s
Leeda is one of the longestrunning
companies in the
UK angling sector, with own
brands such as MAP, Wychwood
and ICON sitting alongside
wholesale distribution brands
such as Mustad, Maxima, Petzl,
and Lowrance.
We have a long history in
servicing the many sectors of
angling in the UK and are one of
the few companies who still cover
all disciplines under one portfolio.
Since the 1980s, Leeda has
always had a place in UK tackle
shops, with an increasing export
business that now accounts for
a significant proportion of its
turnover. However, we have
always focused on our local
market first and foremost, which
has given us the opportunity to
really fine-tune what our inhouse
brands are all about.
MAP is our key matchoriented
brand and continues
to go from strength to strength;
pole sales continue to be a major
part of the brand’s appeal – our
TKS series is one of the most
popular in Europe – but we are
really biting into the popularity
of feeder fishing both here in the
UK, and abroad with ranges such
as Parabolix and DUAL.
Wychwood is our specimen/
carp/game brand and again, is
firmly established. Carp sales are
predictably strong because of the
bias towards carping here in the
UK, but we continue to offer an
extensive game fishing portfolio
and are investing in it. We’re
also expanding our predator
range – Agitator – which we feel
will be a huge growth area for
us in 2023. Specimen fishing (ie
non-carp) is also an area we are
aiming to target once again.
The UK is a hugely varied
market; carp fishing dominates
but in certain regions, match
fishing is very strong. With
thousands of miles of coastline,
sea fishing is still a large market
but one that is not the focus for
many companies.
Brexit was a major hurdle
for the whole industry and the
pandemic further highlighted
to us the importance of having
really strong relationships with
our manufacturing partners to
ensure throughput of product
remained fluid; the uncertainty
of Covid threw the industry into
turmoil but we have ridden the
storm well because we have been
able to react quickly to events as
they unfolded. Retailers have
had confidence in working with
us not only because we offer such
a wide portfolio, but also because
our ability to warehouse on
behalf of retailers is received well
by the trade – we’re not about
forcing high levels of stock into
our retailers via extended credit.
The future is really bright
for our brands; our wholesale
business is as strong and focused
as ever, thanks to having really
trusted, popular brands on board.
Our in-house brands are also
well cemented into retailers and
over the next two years we will
be working hard to diversify
both MAP and Wychwood to not
only keep offering really unique,
innovative products, but also to
stay ahead of trends and cater
for a wider variety of end user
types as budgets and angling
preferences evolve.
www.tackletradeworld.com
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