Riley Leisure, one of the biggest names in billiard-table manufacture has collapsed with £3.5m of debt, and having been trading in administration since November. It is understood that rivals, BCE of Bristol, have now bought the company name, but the
works in Burnley, which employed 113 people, closed its doors for the last time in December.
The company began life in 1878 when Edward John Riley a keen sports enthusiast, left the bank where he was employed and started a shop retailing the goods which were the object of his passion. Mr.Riley was very fond of playing cricket and tennis, and was also regarded as one of the best amateur billiard players in the district. Shortly after taking over the retail business, Mr. Riley started manufacturing cricket bats, sports goods and toys, and in the 1890s expanded into the production of billiard tables. In 1896, the Company was incorporated as E. J. Riley Limited, with a capital of £10,000, and Mr. J. T. Kenyon was appointed Managing Director, with Mr. Riley acting as Secretary. Two years later the firm moved to the site in Accrington with which it would be long associated. The specially constructed Works had a production room which was 120 yards long, and a local professional sprinter, Max Whittenburgh, used the first floor of the
facilities to practise his 100 yards dash.
In 1902 they opened Showrooms at 147 Aldersgate Street, London
EC, and with it declared their intention of breaking the cartel which
had been established with the leading Table manufacturers in the
Capital. The turning point for the business came in 1903 when the
Billiard Association allowed the contenders for the professional
championship, Charles Dawson and W. H. Stevenson, the freedom to
select a table of their choice. To the great embarrassment of the
Association, which had strong links with the leading London firms,
the players selected a model made by Riley's. It is widely accepted
that the enterprising Riley's management had given considerable
financial encouragement to the two players to make this selection.
Prior to this only four manufacturers had supplied tables for Championship matches (Thurston's, Burroughes & Watts, Cox & Yeman, Geo. Wright & Co.) and the Association had never intended that the choice of table would go outside these companies. A meeting of the Billiard Association, held on 10th February 1903 while accepting the decision to use Riley's, ruled that the choice of table would in future be decided by the Association. Press comment on this decision was generally hostile to the Association being involved with the selection of tables while manufacturers were actively represented on the Committee. It was as a direct result of this controversy that the manufacturers withdrew their representation and the Billiard Association became a truly amateur body.
The publicity was priceless for Riley's who continued to grow and expand their business. By 1908 the capital was again increased to £60,000 and in 1910 they went into the Billiard Hall business, opening the Ardwick Hall, Manchester, with 40 fullsize tables. The move, perfectly timed, coincided with a billiards boom, was encouraged in no small part by the visit in 1910 of the phenomenal red-ball player, George Gray, from Australia. Riley's, again showing their entrepreneurial skill, were prominently involved in the arrangement of this tour, and once more the focus was on Riley billiard-tables.
In 1910 their sales were just over 4,000 tables per year, and three years later this figure had increased to 5,500. The fateful year of 1914 saw the capital increased to £120,000, but in August, the war started and the machines were turned over to war work, with Rifle Butts and Aeroplane Struts being made instead of billiard tables.
Edward John Riley, died in 1926 at the age of 70, having seen his company grow into one of the largest billiard table firms in Great Britain. The links with the company formation were completely severed when founding partner Mr. J. T. Kenyon also died in 1938. The commencement of the War shortly afterwards saw a sharp decline in the market and by 1951 it was decided to branch out into the occasional furniture trade, to use the surplus production capacity.
Without any significant improvement in their fortunes it was decided in 1967 to amalgamate their manufacturing and maintenance departments with those of Burroughes & Watts, becoming known as Riley Burwat Limited.
Just two years later this had become a full take-over of B&W and in conjunction with property developer, Hurst Park Syndicate, they increased their involvement in the running of billiard halls.
In 1979 Riley's became a public company, being re-christened E. J. Riley (Billiards) Ltd and during the same year they made further expansion by acquiring the business of John Bennett (Billiards and Sports) Ltd. A few years later they had moved into the Canadian market, taking a 50% shareholding in the Ontario Billiards Supply Co and by 1982 profits had risen to almost one million pounds. The snooker boom at this time resulted in the company turning out 1,820 new tables during the course of that year.
However, not all of Riley's acquisitions were beneficial and their purchase of Leisure Industries in Bideford, a miniature and toy table manufacturer, was a financial disaster. Bought for £7m it was sold soon afterwards for a substantial loss, causing the Riley share price to plummet and leaving them vulnerable to a take-over. This occurred in 1987, the purchaser being Midsummer Leisure, a group principally involved with ownership of pubs, nightclubs, discos, restaurants, venue bars.
Continuing to trade under the Riley name, they struck an important deal with the WPBSA in 1992 when their Riley Aristocrat Table became the official and exclusive table used for all World Snooker Ranking Tournaments. A situation which persisted to the current season.
Three years ago the Riley billiard-table business was the subject of a £2.2M management buy out and shortly afterwards the acquisition of pool table manufacturer Avante saw a new concentration on snooker and pool tables for the home. However the deal was quickly in trouble with blame being placed on restructuring costs of combining the businesses, together with lack of capital, resulting in the huge loss which caused the company failure.
Fittings and surplus stock were sold off by auction at the Burnley works on 16th January. Riley Snooker and Pool Clubs are unaffected, being owned and run by Georgica Cue Sports Ltd, an entirely separate company.
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