Category Archives: News

I have teamed up with a  Local Nottingham / Derby based  firm that custom manufactures on site Bespoke  Garden rooms
So let Dean Selby of Cosy Garden rooms Quote you for a Garden Room and GCL billiards for your Pool or Snooker cue sports table .
Just let Dean Know that Geoff at GCL billiards sent you to him .
I have today re-clothed Deans own table and once he informed me he had this garden room business , I informed him I often get asked to recommend a Firm that manufactures these rooms

I would not  just recommend something that I thought was not up to scratch but having seen Deans room and his extension room to his main house I was impressed .
Now Deans is an extra long Room with fitted Bar , Pool table large TV screen and WC room .
and I was informed including base this room would come in at around £22000 to £25000 depending on inner fitments and Electrics  and extent of drainage connection required .
I would like to say the finish of the room is very nice with custom made paneling and a fitted Bar .

Just two thirds of the room here

and the rest of the room to the left , plus as an extra he had a hot tub covered and deck area .
the room is heated very economically by a diesel heater .

another one of Cosy Garden Rooms build’s


From medium sized to the same size as Deans own room , and for snooker tables even larger , although you may need planning for a full size snooker table room .

Dean decorated his room in the peaky blinders Edwardian  style of decoration looking for older style furnishings like the repro ball and claw American type pool table which Dean sourced himself .

Plenty of room around this 7ft by 4ft table to use a full size cue all the way around .
the cloth Dean chose , was Hainsworth Elite Pro in Black .

So if you are in the market for a Bespoke made Garden room contact Geoff at GCL Billiards for more information
or go direct to Dean

dean@cosygardenrooms.co.uk

www.cosygardenrooms.co.uk

This week we had the pleasure of re-clothing a 12ft snooker table in Hainsworth Smart Royal blue cloth near Ashbourne Derbyshire for our client Colin .
I tried to order my normal fit Strachan 6811 Tournament in blue but both my cloth stockists had run out and had none arriving soon to complete this job .
my Client fully understood this and went with my other suggestion of Hainsworth Smart  in royal blue .
I was only just in time ordering this cloth in because Hainsworth also had a rush on this Blue cloth and only had a small supply left in stock and not to be put back on machines for at least another month for production in Royal blue .

My clients table stripped down and fitting the cushion cloth one by one .
He wanted to try a different colour and settled on royal Blue .

nice tight fit around centre pockets .

Bed cloth fitted and marked out .

Table finished and ready for play

Hainsworth smart is available in many different colours , it is a long lasting not too thick not too thin cloth 90/10 wool blend .
and has a very short fine nap enabling this cloth to actually play fast is kept well and brushed and ironed every 10 hours of use .
My client had a few issues with some cushion bolts missing which I replaced , and also nailed in cushion cloth retaining slips , so again replaced these with tighter fitting slips .
the Room has very hot underfloor heating and this transmits upwards and into the slate ,a t first I thought the slates where heated but they are not , it was just heat rising up from the floor and into the slate .

My client was over the moon with the transformation of his table   , that he kindly took the time to write me a letter of recommendation .

Once the covid restrictions are lifted and Pubs and clubs are back to normal business
How about a Brand new Supreme Winner Pool table fully maintained to announce to your clients you are back open for business .
If you have  an old pool table on site and are thinking of refurbishing it …STOP
look at what Rental of tables has to offer fully maintained .

Having had our pool table rental business ripped apart by Covid restrictions and pub opening and restriction times .
many Pub site’s  requesting we take our tables off site to free the space up for more seating and eating tables , as it was becoming impossible for them to carry on offering pool tables for use under the strict covid ruling of mixing leisure sport pastimes in close quarters .
a few clients just pushed the tables to one side and we will recommission these tables , when the Restrictions are lifted and they are allowed to use the pool tables again .

Photo above at supreme tables Factory loading new tables onto our van .
We have sold a lot of our used stock off , but I have invested that money along with an investment added to it to replenish our rental stock with Brand new Supreme winner coin op tables .
All Brand new tables now come with a new colour badge …gone is the old green one and replaced with a new Blue design one .

Our Rental terms are as follows

First year

Sign up for the first year at £95 per month no vat will be added , you will get a re-cloth every 6 months in Hainsworth Match cloth in Green
the cloth that comes on it for the first 6 months is Strachan 6811 , once that is worn out at 6 months every re-cloth will be done in Hainsworth match  .

After the First year .

Then the rolling contract is for 6 months after the first year , once re-clothed you are committed to a 6 month contract until the next re-cloth time .
You will get two sets of standard reds and yellows  balls from new , one for general use one for match use .
4 cues and chalk .
This will be replaced by a set of balls every 12 months and 2 cues and chalk .
any coin op breakdowns is covered by our contract .
Most pool, tables take at least £40 a week some take much more , I have Clients who take over £100 per week on pool tables .
as each Rental client has the keys all that is taken into the cash box is your takings , all we require is our monthly rent .
all our pool tables are Black pearls cabinet , we do not operate any other colour cabinet .
As you may know Each re-cloth in Hainsworth match can be around the £300 price mark so take that yearly  £600 just in re-clothing into account that you do not have to pay for a re-cloth every 6 months it is all included in your rental price .
Your pool, table is maintained well with a 6 monthly re-cloth , and your clients will flock to play on a decent clothed table .
Rental prices will only increase if we have higher overheads , we did not put our prices up for the last 8 years until now , it used to be £90 a month
but I am sure you will agree after 8 years costs of tables and cloth and accessories  have increased .
We still feel this is the best Value Rental contract offered out there by any Rental operator  of pool tables .
we never had one complaint in 8 years in the way we operate our rental business . but plenty of praise .
and with Geoff Large having over 47 years experience in the snooker and pool table maintenance side of the cue sports business as a time served Billiards fitter you are in no better hands .

2020 the year we where restricted in what we could do work wise .
some work was not possible to do because of the covid restrictions , and other work was OK to do  , but we where never near our normal quota of work that we turn over this year .
the Government Grants helped us self employed small firms survive , and we are extremely grateful for that help .
work picked up a bit towards the end of the year , but we are left with a lot of unused cloth stock ,  regarding cloth ordered in for jobs that where cancelled , plus the replacement of our sold pool tables  that came in off site .
We lost a lot of our Pool Table Rental site income due to Covid , in fact you could say down to Zero takings with many pubs asking for the tables to be taken out .

So we look forward to 2021 the year we hope that covid gets kicked into touch , and in the hope that we can improve and our lost rental business , and is allowed to restart also .
Because we had to sell off a lot of our ex rental pool tables off site , we have replaced some stock ready to go once the restrictions allow licensed premises to operate fully again .

Brand New rental pool tables coming into stock ready for 2021 replacements .
we have had some expense this year  and I am using my own cash reserves to buy in the new tables and make up the deficit of the S/H to new replacements .
this will unfortunately mean we are going to increase our Licensed site rentals by a £10 increase of the last 5 years rate , but we are upgrading the two re-cloths per year to match cloth to offset this
they would have normally be re-clothed in strachan 6811 .
we still think we are the best value Pool table rental firm operating in our area for Brand new tables .
the replacement tables are costing us more and so is the cloth .

My van is now three years old and I would normally be looking to PX for a newer model , and with the No deal scenario .
I have bit the bullet to avoid price increases on a new van , and also any import duty raise in the chance of a No deal scenario , which could have put a few thousand pounds on the cost of a replacement if i did not go for a VAN CHANGE NOW .
All though I could have done without the expense of a new van in these Covid times  it had to be done now .
And have put an order in for a new van to be delivered 2nd week of January 2021 , I have always stated that reliability is must for any firm to operate , by changing our van every three to four years it will give us some reliability in making and keeping those appointments of work and commitments we make  .
Having spent  Seven years working for a firm that ran vans into the ground with many lost days due to breakdown or leaking oil over clients drives  , I made my mind up when I started GCL Billiards not to go down the same route , and refresh the image and reputation of the firm by changing vans every 3 to 4 years .
Fresh new vans are the face of a company , clients see a nice modern newish van arrive with their prized possessions or for maintenance work , and they feel more at ease knowing they have a company that cares about their image and reputation .
This does cost a bit to afford which is why we charge a mileage fee to not so local destinations for a round trip .

And last but not least , we wish all our clients past present and of the future , a very merry Christmas and prosperous and happy new Year .
Lets hope that 2021 is the year we sorted not only Covid out but also the uncertainty of Brexit , which in my opinion was dragged out far too long .
Lets hope that the EU do not hold anything against the British People or it’s Government who wish to start off on a venture of regaining a variety of world wide trade deals that will make us all busy , with  plenty of work and be prosperous .

Right having read and taken in the governments guidelines on covid lockdown from 5th of November 2020
We can only install or work on Snooker or pool table if the room is empty of personnel , and some conditions met

outdoor separate rooms are preferred and we will give those sort of job’s priority over working inside someone’s house which in realty is not going to be possible in some cases unless some strict conditions are met .

Working in Garage conversions and outdoor sheds or log cabins is going to be the type of places we can work under the current guidelines .
and many of our job’s do take us to that type of premises .
no contact with householder within the room , and toilets and wash room facilities pointed out for access on arrival .

some clients who are booking a re-rubber and re-cloth of their table , it may be possible to start part of your work by delivering the cushions to me so I can rubber and cloth the cushions and maybe replace the nets and leathers , to save time or maybe a two day overnight stay over which cannot be done during lock down .
no Hotels or B&Bs are allowed guests during lock down so any work which requires this overnight stay over is out of bounds at the moment until the lock down is lifted on these stop over accommodation premises .
I am doing a couple of these this month , where the owners are delivering the cushions to me for working on , then clearing the room for me only to work on the table and refit the cushions to save time and reduce time spent on their property .
we are doing our bit to make it safe to carry on working , be it only in a limited capacity and to keep the economy going .
and at the same time adhering to the rules of Lockdown .

And yes the Restrictions and lock down is effecting my trade , nearly all our pub rental tables are earning nothing  many have been removed and sold as pub’s asked for them to be taken out , ironically to increase more sitting down table space , then what does the Government do shut down the pub’s .
I decided to sell them off , and when these pub’s are ready for another table I will be buying brand new ones to replace the ones we have sold off .
I have to comply with regulations and this effects trade and business , also some of our supplies are not available due to the supplier not being able to get stock in on a regular basis , which means cancelled work due to not being able to get hold of certain spares , or having to wait for them longer to arrive due to demand outstripping supplies .
this photo for example empty shelves at Supreme Pool tables warehouse Heywood near Manchester .

Above empty racking
and below Normally like this during normal supply before Covid19

SOLD through EBAY .

TABLE has now had a first bid on Ebay so the seller is going to let it run it’s course on there please feel free to bid on the table at this link

selling number if you wish to search that way on Ebay UK  is …………..   224179038130

just copy and paste this number into top search bar on Ebay .

I have a client who wishes to sell their 8ft snooker table .
located near Nuneaton /Coventry .

the table is in all round good condition .
cloth is faded but playable .
and is priced to sell at around £350

it is on Ebay at £250 start price or buy me now at £450 .

legs look very nice . polish too in good condition and a very  nice piece of furniture .
it is a genuine old table close onto Antique age , but has the modern pocket plates and not the old fashioned top finger plate .

all inquiries to Geoff  or Carol at GCL billiards

c.large@btinternet.com

As we have left the EU and we start trading on our own , I have started to recommend some BUY BRITISH Cue sports suppliers .
First one to kick start it off is DAVE COUTTS CUES based in Lincoln but ships all over the world .

Dave Coutts for hand spliced cues , based in Lincolnshire .
A local master craftsman of the art of Hand spliced cue making .
One of the leading cue makers in the UK .
BUY BRITISH & SUPPORT BRITISH INDUSTRY 🇬🇧

contact web site …. https://www.couttscues.co.uk/

See how hand spliced cues are made by Dave on  made on Youtube link below .

When the pub’s & clubs closed under Covid 19 regulations in mid March . ( 22nd March )
We where very quick off the mark to stop charging for our pool tables that we have in many venues around Nottingham & Derby .
we have not charged any rental income  in our none opening venues for the last 4 months .
Now the Government has issued the guidelines of certain sports games including POOL TABLES  being ALLOWED to be PLAYED ON as the pub’s are also allowed to re-open  .
under strict Covid 19 preventative measures , we are now restarting the rentals on our tables from Friday the 17th of July onward’s .

As you can appreciate we have not been earning any money off our rentals side of the business and had a very rough time on the fitting side of the Snooker & Pool table maintenance
It was always going to be a difficult decision on when we start to charge again .
So we will charge half a month for July as we did in March when we only charged half a month for that month when we issued the none charging during closed down of business .
add the full months of  April /May and June and you can see we have not taken any rentals income for 4 full months .
We feel we have been very fair with what we have done , we did not wait to be told by our clients we acted because we thought it was the correct thing to do .
We hope all our rental clients see it the other way around as start to charge again .
I know from personal experience of being around the clubs pubs and private dwellings and Facebook pages and snooker and Pool table social media pages ,  that Pool players are chomping at the bit to get back playing in the pubs and clubs .
which is good news for the Pub trade and good news for us pool table rental operators .
We hope the landlords play their part in keeping the equipment and table surround disinfected on a regular basis as in guidelines laid down by the Government .
and we will be around to start the re-clothing process if you are due a re-cloth .

Do not overcrowd the tables or stand close together .

But here are a few pointer s on what could be done to stay within the guidelines
Try and play in threes with one designated ball racker and cue ball retriever , while the others 2 are the players .
there is no need for players to touch the balls this way .
After each game disinfect the cue ball and wipe the top flat surface of the table surround down .
at the end of the night disinfect all the balls and the table playing cushion surround and chrome corner pockets .
all cues rests too disinfect .
Players to play with own cues where possible
If using pub rack cues wipe down each time a change over of player is done .
use your own chalk .
Disinfect the coin mech after each coin inserted .
stay away from each other by at least the length or width of the table , and do not shake hands .
Hopefully when we find a preventative measure all will get back to normal in our pubs & clubs , if you need anything just contact Geoff at GCL billiards .