Winmau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winmau (pronounced "Win-more") is a British manufacturer of dartboards, other darts equipment and a sponsor of the oldest darts tournament still running, the Winmau World Masters.
In 2002, the company was acquired by rival dartboard manufacturer, Nodor although both brands are still operated due to their heritage. The company is based in Bridgend, Mid-Glamorgan although manufacturing of the boards takes place in Kenya.
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[edit] Origins
Winmau was originally "H.A. Kicks" - named after its creator, Harry Kicks - who formed the company in 1945 using his demob money. The original elm boards were hand-painted, but by 1952 graphic transfers were used for the numbers and segments.
Kicks then begin manufacturing paper-coil dartboards under the brand name Keep Dry as they did not require soaking, unlike the elm dartboards. By 1960, the Keep Dry brand name was sold to Scotts Dartboards of Southend, a specialist manufacturer of paper boards.
Two of Kicks sons (Harry junior and Ian) joined the company in the early 1960s and they were able to start manufacturing bristle dartboards once the patent of Nodor had expired. The company name evolved into H.A. Kicks and Sons.
In 1973, Harry Kicks Senior achieved a major breakthrough deal with Olly Croft of the British Darts Organisation (BDO) which had just been formed. From then on, the H.A.Kicks dartboards would be the official dartboards of the BDO and be allowed to carry its logo at many international darts tournaments.
By the mid-seventies, Kicks changed the company name to Winmau (pronounced Win More) using the first three letters of his wife’s first two names, Winifred Maud.
[edit] Financial Difficulties
During the late 1980s, the popularity of darts as a televised sport began to plunge as did the profitability of Winmau. Kicks senior died in 1984 and with his five sons now running the company, they suffered several years of financial losses and the company was struggling.
They were also forced to move in 1989 because of a compulsory purchase order, to make way for a block of high rise flats to be built. The company relocated to Haverhill, Suffolk.
In 1993, the brothers approached their U.S. distributor, Accudart, Inc., for financial support, attempting to keep the company afloat. Ron Kurtz, the owner of Accudart, Inc., agreed and became the majority shareholder in the company. Within two years of appointing specialists in the business of turning companies around, the business was back to making profits.
One of the technical developments which helped with their recovery was the manufacture of the most technically advanced bristle dartboard in the world. By 1997, The Blade dartboard was launched as the ultimate "no-bounce out" dartboard.
[edit] Nodor Rivalry
Nodor was a company which was started in 1919 by a chemist, Ted Leggatt, as a manufacturer of modelling clay. The name came from the fact that the clay had "No Odour". Like Winmau it was founded in the East End of London. In 1923, Leggatt produced a clay dartboard. It wasn't as popular as the traditional elm dart boards that were used at the time so a year later, Nodor began to produce elm boards. They added brass darts to their output in 1928.
During 1931, Frank Dabbs, a Kent publican, approached Leggatt with an idea for a new dartboard construction, namely short pieces of rope laced vertically and bound to form a circular playing surface. Leggatt refined the idea and filed for a patent along with Dabbs. By 1935, the Nodor Original Bristle dartboard was launched. At about the same time, the present day ‘clock’ pattern was adopted as the standard for dartboards worldwide.
There have been several relocations for Nodor down the years. They moved out of London to Devon during World War II, but returned after the war. They relocated again in 1968 - this time to Cardiff before finally settling in Bridgend in 1983.
Nodor also introduced revolutionary technology, when in 1984 they produced the Supabull board, which the first board to have a staple-free bullseye - making the target easier to hit.
[edit] Takeover
In 2002, after nearly three decades of competition, Nodor successfully acquired Winmau. Nodor had already moved their dartboard production to Kenya in 1999, and within a year of the takeover Winmau moved theirs too.
Both brand names continue to be at the forefront of darts equipment manufacturing. They also support players, including Andy Fordham and Trina Gulliver, and tournaments such as The Lakeside World Championship and Winmau World Masters with sponsorship deals.
