“Future shows? The potential is phenomenal”
We talk to Vince Davies, creator of The Big One tackle show, to see what’s involved in staging the event
CHANCES are that many of you will have visited The Big One at the weekend – but how did the UK’s biggest angling show all come together in the first place?
It’s now in its 27th year under the management of Vince Davies and began in a back room of a pub next door to his Davies Angling shop in Surrey. The show now takes in the biggest manufacturers across Europe and draws in well over 20,000 customers.
Next year will see the show move to bigger HQ, but that’ll mean logistical headaches and a fine balancing act to keep every exhibitor happy. Vince is relishing it, and with the dust still settling on this year’s show he’s already planning the next one…
Q: What makes a good show? A: Having a retail background, I look for what the customers want – a variety of products from the bottom all the way to the top. They certainly need to be able to buy products on the day and to be able to ask questions on each manufacturers’ stand. This is where sponsored anglers are so important – the average angler may not put their hand up in a seminar and ask a question but on a stand they can’t get enough! They basically want to see the kit, ask questions and then buy.
Q: How do you get the balance right between big exhibitors and retailers? A: This has always been the hardest part to get right. Manufacturers don’t want retailers selling the same products as they do because this results in a price war and we don’t want that culture. What tends to happen is that a certain product will be given by a manufacturer to certain retailers so things are shared around. They can then direct them to that stand to buy.
Q: Why has the Big One show endured when others haven’t? A: Passion and knowledge. Just two of us who run the event, so we don’t do extensive market research. Instead, we talk to people on the phone when they ring to book tickets and we ask them questions, listen to their gripes and make changes based around that. We tend to take a steady route to the show’s evolution each year.
Q: When did you first think ‘we’ve got this right’? A: Never, and I don’t think that will
happen! We have to get parking right, with more buses and buggies to ferry people to the building as the average age of anglers in the UK is getting older. We have over 23,000 people visiting, so we’ll never be at a point where we’ve got it all mastered.
Q: How is it all put together? A: From the moment we finish on Sunday night, we have exhibitors giving deposits for the following year. This allows us to start drawing up a floor plan and rebooking for 12 months time. In 2018 we’re moving to a brand new purpose-built £30 million venue. The floor plan will be very different and perhaps not everyone will be 100 per cent happy, so it’ll be a learning curve for us as well.
Q: What’s been the funniest moment in the 27 years you’ve been running the show? A: A couple of years back we had a call to get the paramedics after a guy suffered a heart attack. The ambulance took him off to Frimley Park Hospital and he looked a bit peaky. However, in his delirious state he wrote down a list of stuff he wanted his mate to get from the show because he was devastated that he was going to miss it all!
Q: How important are celebrities? A: It’s vital that I’m able to say well in advance that Tommy Pickering or Steve Ringer will be at the show. Visitors may see these guys fishing, but would never have the courage to talk to them in the way they do at the show.
Q: Would you start a show from scratch now? A: No! It would be near-impossible now because manufacturers have a limited budget to spend on shows and much of that goes on ourselves and the Northern Angling Show. To launch a new gig and get them to spend just wouldn’t happen.
Q: What can we expect to see from the show in future? A: Well, we’re moving venues next year but staying in Farnborough. It’s a great catchment area and relatively affluent, plus people love coming here. The new venue has conference rooms and loads more space and will let us add more features on to the show that we’ve been crying out for.
An example of this is having a bait boat pool for testing boats out, and other areas of the sport need that. Kayak fishing and lure fishing are massive but don’t have the space currently, and nor does sea fishing. We also want more auditoriums that will be a central focus of the show. The potential is phenomenal and we are currently just scratching the surface.