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SALES AND PROFITS RISE FOR ANGLING DIRECT

26/2/2021

Angling Direct, which has shops at Halesowen and Willenhall, saw sales rise 21 per cent to £32.1 million in the six months to the end of July.
The specialist fishing tackle and equipment retailer has grown during the Covid-19 pandemic

despite temporary closure of its shops for 12 weeks.

Sales across all channels from June 15 when the shops reopened are up 95 per cent.

Pre-tax profit for the six months has risen by 250 per cent to £1.4m

In the UK revenue is up 62 per cent to £14.8m and website visitors are ahead 54 per cent to 3.7 million.

Executive chairman Martyn Page said: "The group's first-half performance demonstrates considerable resilience, with strong growth achieved through our online business at a time when Covid-19 has posed significant challenges.

"The like-for-like sale growth of our store network since reopening has also been hugely encouraging. Importantly our focus on our core UK and European territories with a refined trading strategy, as well as further enhancements made to customer experience, has lifted margins and driven greater profitability.

"Whilst the broader economic outlook and the risks associated with the ongoing pandemic remain uncertain over the coming months, based on the group's performance so far and its strong start to the second half of the financial year, the board believes it is on track to meet market expectations for the current financial year. With a strong balance sheet we are also well positioned to withstand any further challenges that may arise."

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IS THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY FAILING ANGLERS AND OUR FISHERIES?

2/2/2021

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Critics claim the Environment Agency needs calling to account for its alleged inaction over illegal angling and poaching.

The man who helped launch the Voluntary Bailiff Service (VBS) has denounced it as "a pointless waste" of millions of pounds of

public cash because, he says, the Environment Agency rarely acts on the intelligence gathered.

Dilip Sarkar resigned in frustration as the Angling Trust's national enforcement support manager last summer after eight years in the post. He's meeting junior Defra minister Rebecca Pow next week to seek an independent review into the allocation of £6m of rod-licence money.

'WASTED INTELLIGENCE'

Dilip says the VBS, which began in 2012 and trains unpaid anglers to provide 'eyes and ears' on the bank, is a successful model copied by police forces to combat other areas of rural crime. But he claims the EA – which funds the scheme through rod-licence sales - has failed to act on reports, rendering the VBS toothless.

He said: "Unless the EA delivers the required end result, which is co-operating, engaging and acting upon intelligence received, the whole thing - through no fault of either the Trust's Fisheries Enforcement Support Service (FESS) or the VBS - is a pointless waste of substantial public funds. The EA must be called to account:'

LOCKDOWN INACTION

Dilip said his disappointment peaked during the first lockdown when the EA kept its fishery enforcement officers (FEOs) at home despite the Home Office calling for partner agencies to take pressure off police. With angling banned the VBS received reports of fisheries remaining open.

He said: "It was suggested to the EA that as their FEOs were at home, on full pay - not furloughed – they should be provided details of errant fisheries to contact and hopefully resolve these issues without the police service involved.

"The attitude of the Environment Agency was that the matter wasn't its responsibility, and nor was it for the EA to become a 'substitute for the police service'. This, frankly, beggared belief:'

During initial lockdown, 154 voluntary bailiffs completed 1,791 patrols and reported 255 incidents of illegal fishing, generating 91 intelligence logs. Dilip added: "The EA's dismal performance crystallised everything that's wrong with the whole set-up:'

FUNDING MODEL

Between August 2015 and October 2020 the EA paid the Angling Trust just over £6m of rod-licence cash to run the National Angling Strategic Services (NASS) contract, of which the VBS is part. That money also covered the Trust's Fisheries Enforcement Support Service (FESS), which uses paid staff to oversee the VBS network.

The EA said it estimates around £1.3m of rod-licence money has been spent directly on the VBS as part of the NASS between May 2012 and October 2020. "Clearly, the total spent on VBS and FESS would be a substantial proportion of the overall cost [of the £6m awarded];' said Dilip. "This is a great concern because the EA is not capitalising on the demonstrable benefits the FESS and VBS provide. The EA, despite financing the exercise, has consistently obstructed progress and failed to cooperate:'

VBS RESIGNATIONS

The strained relationship between the VBS and EA has led to resignations from the Trust's paid regional enforcement managers (REMs) and, Dilip claims, a downing of tools by many disillusioned volunteer bailiffs.

Chris Wood of Shrewsbury Anglers Club was a VBS area co-ordinator until resigning last year. He said: "In four years I never once had a FEO attend an incident I'd reported. No matter how many reports you posted, you would never, ever get an officer to come out:'

Mr Wood praised the VBS concept and said he would return to the service if the EA issues were resolved.

A former Trust REM who resigned added: "The FESS and VBS are a superb resource.

The AT, VBS and angling public are doing their bit by reporting matters. The sad truth is the EA are institutionally hostile to the VBS and don't see the benefit volunteers and their intelligence can bring. It's time for the EA to resolve these issues or pass fisheries enforcement to an agency that will improve things for the benefit of all?'

AGENCY RESPONSE

The EA were asked if it was satisfied with the proportion of VBS-reported incidents its officers respond to. "Yes;' said a spokesman. "Incident response, patrols and operations as a result of intelligence analysis are separate issues. Intelligence logs from the trust are sent to the EA's National Intelligence Team.

Most of these are included within a monthly intelligence report, which is used to help influence where and when patrols are best deployed to combat the illegal activity reported. We could do more if we had more resources available?'

Trust CEO Jamie Cook said he wished he could have worked with Dilip to address his concerns, adding Mr Sarkar should be proud of what he created, making it "all the more bizarre he should be seeking to trash his own work and argue the team he led was ineffective".

He added: "The Trust has pressed the EA at every level to increase its enforcement activity. During the last lockdown we wrote to Sir James Bevan [EA CEO] on this subject making it clear that we expect EA enforcement services to continue to operate alongside the country's other frontline public and enforcement services?'

VBS EXPANSION?

The Angling Trust seeks to recruit 200 more VBS bailiffs this year. Dilip says this makes "no-long term difference ... because confidence in the EA has evaporated. You can have 7,000 volunteers, it won't make any difference unless the EA gets its act together."

A Trust spokesman said: ''There's considerable demand among the angling community to become VBS bailiffs. Volunteers spent over 25,000 hours on the bank in 2020, working with the police, the EA and clubs in an organisation that spans England. That does not suggest confidence in the EA has evaporated."

Volunteers spent over 25,000 hours on the bank in 2020"

Dilip Sarkar resigned in frustration over what he saw as the EA’s failures to at on reports.

Source: Angling Times

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ANGLING DIRECT DELIVERS MAJOR BOOST TO ANGLING TRUST’S GET FISHING CAMPAIGN WITH NEW PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

1/2/2021

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Angling Direct partnership agreement with the Angling Trust

Angling Trust and Angling Direct have announced a new partnership to encourage more people to take up angling for the first time or to get back into the sport. This exciting new partnership will deliver major investment into bringing the health and wellbeing benefits of fishing to a wider audience, across all age groups.

Angling Direct, the UK’s largest specialist fishing tackle and equipment retailer through its network of 38 stores and leading online presence, has entered into a new arrangement to support the Angling Trust’s Get Fishing campaign, which aims to boost participation and encourage more anglers into the community through coaching, education and grass roots initiatives.

Over the past year, the popularity of angling has increased significantly as people turn to the sport for its health and wellbeing benefits. This partnership will see the Angling Trust’s Get Fishing campaign benefit from a massive expansion of its reach into both the angling community – and importantly – a brand new audience of people who are keen to try fishing as one of the safe activities that can be carried out by families and friends together outdoors during lockdown.

Widening access to angling for everyone is one of Angling Direct’s core values. Since this latest lockdown period, the Company has invested, along with the Environment Agency through fishing licence income, in training 80 of its colleagues to become Angling Trust qualified and licenced angling coaches, empowering them to share their passion for angling, whilst offering trusted advice and support to more customers and communities alike across the Group’s stores. These coaches will now form a vital part of the Get Fishing initiative by helping to deliver the very best angling experience to new and existing anglers alike.

Each year the Angling Trust’s Get Fishing campaign introduces thousands of new anglers to the sport, encourages returning anglers to get back into fishing and focuses on establishing a lifelong angling habit, with all its associated benefits. The investment provided by Angling Direct will strengthen the programmes run in association with the Environment Agency, by expanding a whole range of participation initiatives.

Angling Trust CEO Jamie Cook commented:

“The boom in participation and publicity around fishing and corresponding spike in participation numbers has been reflected not only by sales of over 100,000 new fishing licences, we’ve also seen a massive increase in angling’s visibility in media, social media and numbers on the bank. Fishing is now known to be an ideal way to enjoy the outdoors safely, within Government guidelines. We are delighted to have partnered with Angling Direct to progress and expand our existing plans and initiate exciting new projects that will help snowball this new growth in the sport so that many more people ‘Get Fishing’!”

Andy Torrance, CEO at Angling Direct added:

“Bringing the joys of angling to as many people as possible has formed the DNA of Angling Direct’s core purpose since the Company was founded. We are therefore pleased to be partnering with the Angling Trust to help further these values by widening participation and promoting the many health and wellbeing benefits of fishing to a broader community. As the leading omni-channel fishing tackle retailer in the UK, we already have some of the most passionate angling colleagues in the country and indeed have so far given away over 12,000 free angling starter kits to young people. Thanks to our investment and training programme which has enabled 80 of them to become qualified angling coaches, they will now be able to inspire even more people to discover the benefits of fishing.”

Coach bursaries are to be funded equally by the Environment Agency Angling Improvement Fund and Angling Direct. Several hundred coaching sessions will be delivered by Angling Trust staff as a result of this investment in the Get Fishing campaign. This will mean Angling Direct stores become the go-to place for surrounding communities to learn how to get the most out of the fishing near to home – ideal for beginners and returners to find bespoke “local knowledge”, catch more fish and get a lifetime full of fantastic angling adventures.

Source: Angling Trust

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SALES AND PROFITS RISE FOR ANGLING DIRECT

IS THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY FAILING ANGLERS AND OUR FISHERIES?

ANGLING DIRECT DELIVERS MAJOR BOOST TO ANGLING TRUST’S GET FISHING CAMPAIGN WITH NEW PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

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