Bowls International — November 2017

24 BOWLS INTERNATIONAL November 2017 http://www.bowlsinternational.com

BEHIND THE BRAND|Drakes Pride

A

s experts in the biasing of

wooden bowls, the business

of Drakes Pride thrived with

the production of new woods

and also the refurbishment of old woods.

In 1982 however, a number of years

before any competitor, Drakes Pride

invested in computer controlled lathes and

became the first company in the world to

offer extremely accurate and absolutely

identical CNC turned composition bowls.

The introduction of these next generation

bowls changed the game forever and gave

Drakes Pride a significant advantage over

their competitors. The consistency in the

performance was quickly appreciated by

bowlers around the world and Drakes

Pride soon became a leading brand in the

sport. In 2014 Drakes Pride introduced

their Bowls Wizard website (www.

bowlswizard.com), which enables the

user to design their own unique bowls

from scratch. For the first time their

customers could now design and see their

own bespoke made bowls before ordering

them through their local stockists.

Drakes Pride was established in 1820 when it was owned by a Liverpool company named

Darlingtons. The company were official bias testers for the International Bowling Board and were

also licensed to make standard jacks for the crown green game. It was Darlingtons who registered

the original Drakes Pride trademark of Sir Francis Drake, the most famous bowler in history.

When did the current owners become

involved? Who works for Drakes

Pride?

In the 1950's Darlingtons and Drakes

Pride were purchased by our Liverpool

based family business, formed in 1912.

Now trading as Drakes Pride both

the third and forth generations of our

company are working in the business

although Peter Clare, the grandson of

the founder is now semi-retired and his

nephew Mike Eggington has taken over

day to day control.

The company has vast experience in the

production of bowls and now employs

more than 50 staff, most of whom have

very long service within the business.

The company's Sales Manager, Eddie

Givens, has worked for the company

for 18 years and has established good,

friendly working relationships with

appointed Drakes Pride stockists and

distributors around the world.

The production team is headed up by

Rob Curran, who has 47 years service

and with 35 years experience is also the

most experienced CNC bowls maker in

the world.

Drakes Pride also work with many

top players including World Champions

to develop their products and also

benefit from the fact that one production

manager, Dave McDermott, is also a top

Crown Green bowler!

What is the ethos of Drakes?

Much of our success to date has been

as a result of our experience and

understanding of the science behind a

bowl's performance on the green, it is

our belief that our future success lies

Behind

the Brand:the Brand:the Brand:

Drakes Pride

Above: Bowls

testing in 1963

Below left: The

Bowls Wizard

software

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