http://www.bowlsinternational.com November 2017 November 2017 BOWLS INTERNATIONALBOWLS INTERNATIONAL 2525in continuing to grow this knowledge and
to applying it to develop bowls profiles
that meet the demands of players for
conditions in all bowling regions of the
world.
Our aim is not to be the cheapest, but to
continue to produce products that perform
exactly as players require and which we
are proud to manufacture.What sets Drakes Pride apart from
other manufacturers?
Our significant advantage is our
experience in the computer aided design
of bowls profiles for CNC production.
The combination of our historical
knowledge and understanding of bowls
biasing and testing combined with our
unrivaled experience in CNC bowls
production gives us a
real head start when
developing models for
specific conditions.
We are respected by
the sports governing
bodies and within
the trade for our
expertise in the
testing of bowls
with our Head of
Production, Rob
Curran, having
overseen the
installation of 12
World Bowls official
testing tables around
the world.What does the company give back to
the sport?
Our company sponsors and supports many
tournaments and club fundraising events
in both flat and crown green disciplines.
We are keen that a portion of the support
we give is used to attract new players
to the game so we also support many
junior coaching schemes and sponsor
competitions such as EBA Club of the
Year, which rewards clubs who attract
new members.
We have continued to support our Team
Drakes players, the team continues to
grow and it is great to see their great
success using our products.
We are also dedicated to supporting the
superb network of bowls stockists who
distribute all of our products and who are
so important to the future of our sport.
Our stockists offer expert advice,
promote the sport and give great service
to both players and clubs.How has bowls changed in the last
decade?
There has been a definite increase
in demand for bespoke made bowls,
customers now take advantage of the fact
that they can design their own bowl onlineand choose the model, size, weight,
colour, grip, emblem and personalised
lettering then order them through their
local stockist and usually receive them
within three to four weeks.
The increasing popularity of coloured
bowls has been another change, with a
current range of 24 colours to choose
from, bowling greens are certainly more
colourful than they were.
A decade ago there was a popular belief
that there was an advantage to playing
with the largest bowl you could handle
and the bowl most popular size of bowl
was size five.
Over recent years however, smaller
bowls have become much more popular,
our best selling size now being a size
three.What is the future
for the company?
We see our future
in offering an even
larger range of
premium quality
bowls merchandise
distributed through
our network of loyal
stockists.
Whilst the bowls
we manufacture
are our primary
product we intend to
continue to expand
and develop our
range of bowling
accessories by working with our Team
Drakes players.
We also believe that our bowlswear
will play an increasingly important part
in our future.
We recently launched the first wave of
our new bowlswear and the response has
been very positive.
The garments utilise the very latest
technology with moisture wicking
and breathable properties and even
some windproof materials resulting in
bowling garments of a quality akin to
that of premium brand golfwear.
As a result of the success of the initial
styles a large range of additional
bowlswear is currently in the later
stages of development.What are the proudest
achievements of Drakes?
Drakes Pride bowls have won pretty much all
the major bowling tournaments wordwide, but
watching Rob Weale win the Commonweath
Gold Medal using our bowls in 2010 is hard to
top!
We are also very proud to have been selected
as bowls equipment suppliers for the last five
Commonwealth Games.Above: The
Darlington's
price list“We have continued
to support our Team
Drakes players, the
team continues to
grow and it is great to
see their great success
using our products.”
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