PROQUIP, the leading innovator of lightweight golf weatherwear, enjoyed one of its most successful years ever in 2006, increasing its market share in the UK by more than 18%.
According to the latest figures from golf industry analysts Sports Marketing Surveys, the Scottish-based manufacturer, which developed the award winning, virtually silent Silk Touch rain suit for Ian Woosnam and the 2006 European Ryder Cup Team, increases in domestic sales matched record exports to continental Europe and America.
And while price compression in the golf market has led to the average price of a waterproof suit falling for the past three years – 4.8% in 2006 alone – ProQuip bucked the trend among premium brands with an average price rise of 6.7%, maintaining healthy margins for retailers.
Richard Head, ProQuip’s managing director and chief designer, said the manufacturer’s success was down to award-winning innovation, global exposure from the Ryder Cup, and a high level of service to retailers.
“Silk Touch, with its unique, ultra-soft and virtually silent fabric, has proved a phenomenal success and has won two major golf consumer tests in the last four months [Today’s Golfer magazine, November 2006; Golf Monthly magazine, March 2007], outperforming existing waterproof technologies.
“Combined with the incredible exposure we gained from three-quarters of a billion television viewers worldwide watching Europe’s Ryder Cup Team beat the Americans in rain-soaked Ireland wearing our distinctive waterproofs, plus our proven track record of customer service, ProQuip’s business is looking as good as it ever has done in our 25-year history.”
ProQuip www.proquipgolf.com