Lets face it we all enjoy a game of Pool and this is an interest shared by many. However these days even the most relaxing of games provides market research companies with opportunities to draw conclusions from our day to day activities. Take a look at the facts below and see what you think of current research , do you fit the profile ?

• Pool Table operators supply over 20,000 individual sites with Pool tables.

Pool Players :-

• Average age of 32
• Earn over 17k
• 60% are married or with a partner
• Over 80% drive and 60% own their home
• There are over 2 million regular players
• 64% visit the pub/club over three times a week
• 88% of the sites have satellite TV
• 97% of players would ask for the TV to be switched on if present

A male dominated sport -

• Cuesport players are from all Socio-Economic groups
• Scotland has the lowest interest in Cuesports in UK
• Twice as many people play Pool once a week as play Snooker
• Pool players less predominantly male than Snooker
• Those who play Pool exclusively (no Snooker) tend to be working women aged 20 -24

Locations -

• 51% of players play in a Pub or Bar
• 47% of players play in a club
• 35% play in a specialist cuesports bar or club
• 40% of those surveyed knew where to play Snooker locally
• 33% knew where to play Pool locally
• 10% knew where to play American Pool locally

Source - Mintel

So next time you pop out for a frame and a few beers - remember Big Brother is watching  you !!!!!!!!

 We always like to pick up on some of the more bizarre and interesting stories in the snooker world.

Therefore we found one listing on Ebay particularly intriguing. It appears that Eric Clapton’s Snooker Table is for sale. The Table is being sold on behalf of Patti Boyd (Eric’s ex) and once good friend of a certain George Harrison.

The table is listed at £600 (cheaper than his guitars) and currently has not attracted a bid. The table comes with a hand written letter of authenticity from Patti Boyd.

Lets be honest its more interesting to tell friends that Eric Clapton owned your table as opposed to telling them Steve Davis once played on it.

If your interested the link is as follows - Item number: 230211302767

 We have just been informed by one of our advertisers that there table has sold after a mere 48 hours on our Snooker Mart.

This is very encouraging for us and clearly demonstrates the benefit of advertising a product at a targeted audience. We are very encouraged by this and look forward to seeing our listings grow in all subject areas.

 Due to the difficulties we have experienced with space in the last six months we have been unable to display our Antique Tables in our old premises.

We have today in our new unit started to build a full size Palmer and Son in a very attractive mahogany finish. Over the next couple of weeks will be added a very special Orme & Son table which has been magnificently restored by true craftsmen. Finally we will have two special full size George Wright tables also on display.

None of these tables is currently advertised on our website but soon will be. Watch this space !

                                  It was all going so well. We had an excellent crossing from Hull To Rotterdam. It was upon leaving Rotterdam that we realised that someone (me) forgot the map and that we did not have a european Sat Nav. However driving from memory we negotiated Holland , Belgium , Luxembourg and France without difficulty. Our only problems occured within a few miles of our destination.

Last year when we delivered to Lausanne we had a two hour wait at German/Swiss customs (Basel) attempting to get into Switzerland as we queued with what appeared to be hundreds of stationary articulated lorrys. Thus it was decided that this year we would attempt to cross via French customs into Basel.

This was a big mistake as the French had decided that import/export ended at 6pm. We were told that they could not do anything until 8am and we had to stay in the car park. On the basis that we had already booked accomodation in Switzerland this was more than mildly inconvenient. We therefore took the decision to try and find the German border without Sat Nav or indeed a map.

Eventually we found a backstreet border crossing which we got through without stopping - Hurray  Germany 1 France 0.

The next working day started at 8.30am sharp and by 3pm we had installed upstairs a beautiful 10ft table. We then started our journey to our second location on the shores of Lake Zurich. The second installation was completed by 9pm and we stayed at a local inn ”The Gasthof zur Metzg “ in Stafa. Apparently Tina Turner lives in the village , not surprisingly she didnt turn up for a few beers. No matter ,the welcome, accomodation and especially the food were first class. Our trip back across Europe was without hitch until we ran into the mother of all traffic jams on the Brussels ring road. We were sure this was going to mean we would miss the Ferry as we arrived only 45 mins before sailing. Thankfully they were awaiting other vehicles which had also been held up and we managed to get onboard.

Another interesting but hard working trip completed in Europe. If you require a table anywhere in Europe or Scandinavia please do not hesitate to get in touch. The photos show the inn and the wonderful view on a cloudy day from a bedroom window.

 Apologies for the gap between Blogs !. We have had a manic time throughout the month of December. We worked solidly delivering , installing or completing recovers upto and including Christmas Eve.

Additionally we have moved premises from Brigg In North Lincolnshire to Gainsborough on the Lincolnshire / Nottinghamshire border. This could not have occurred at a worse time for us but had to happen due to the availability of the unit we wanted and the benefit of someone wanting our unit from January 1st.

Our base in Brigg was suitable for our purpose a few years ago but of late we simply have not been able to operate in an appropriate manner. Due to this we have had to store tables in different locations , utilise an additional lock up and workshop tables elsewhere.

We will within two more weeks have our showroom , workshop and long term storage tables all under one roof which will make the operation and administration of our business much simpler and more cost effective. It will also allow us to display some of the Antique tables that have been in storage during this period.

Our new phone number is 01427 839271 but our email and website addresses remain the same.

We continue to offer a wide range of services across the UK and to give you an idea of what we have completed in the five weeks. Here goes -

Snooker Table installations in

Welshpool 9Ft table , Nottingham 2 Steel Block Full size Tables , Enfield 9Ft table , Rugby 7Ft Table , Zurich (CH) 10 Ft table , Basel (Ch) 10ft table.

Pool table Installations in

Gainsborough x2 , Southwell , Heckington x 2 , Sleaford , Driffield , Market Weighton , Nottingham

Snooker Table Moves from

Morecambe to Ipswich , Stamford to Peterborough , Maidenhead to Gainsborough (storage) - awaiting delivery to Aberdeen , Navenby to Lincoln , Barnsley to Gainsborough

Snooker Table Recovers

Belper , Mansfield , Ipswich , Wycombe , Nottingham , Bournemouth

Snooker table Rerubbers

Bournemouth

American Pool Recovers

Manchester x 8 , Acton x 4

Pool Table Recovers

Bayswater .

Club Service Visits

15 service visits throughout Notts , Lincs , Derbys.

Please do not think that this has been a month without difficulties - it has at times been fraught , difficult and tense. If it was not for the professionalism of our fitters  we would have had a doubly difficult time.

As per usual we had enquiries three days before xmas looking for Snooker Diners that were not in stock either with ourselves or the manufacturers. It is a huge task for manufacturers to deliver tables across the UK during this period and inevitably mistakes occur. Lets hope next year is as busy but with a little less stress for the boss!