Tag Archives: pool

Posted in News

It has been a busy week + Pool table rental information

Just about a full week, with fitting adjustable muntins on Monday in Beeston.

Tuesday stretch two bed cloths and relevel at Beeston, plus sold my old small van on Ebay. Buyer collected in the evening.

Wednesday picked new larger van up at Dealers in Long Eaton.  Meeting with Bank in Arnold then deliver leaflets to clubs around Arnold and Nottingham and start workshop clear out.

Thursday, finish off workshop and get ready for pool table rental stock coming in.

Friday, recover full size snooker table at Moira near Ashby De La Zouch.  Relevel fit one net. I was really pleased to get this job as it came from a recommendation by a club that I did work for the previous week.  Around 40% to 50% of work is through recommendations in the Billiard cue sport trade.  Do a good job and you will always get repeat work, that is what Mick Robb used to preach to me when I was learning the trade 37 years ago, and it is what I preach to any person that works with me .

Saturday, I have to go over to look at a local club’s pool tables to see what work they require.  The tables are old with rock hard cushions, and they may want to rent or buy new tables, or they may try and get another years use out of them …we will see.  Whatever the choice, I will not push them into a sale but give them the choice and price structure of each option.  I may get Saturday afternoon off? , but the phone is ringing and enquiries are coming in and in this recession I am not moaning.

I carry a stock of table cloth packs for recovering snooker and pool tables and also rubber for full size and small sized tables, nets and leathers plus pool pockets so I am always ready to go, even at short notice .

I do have spare days in August still so if anyone requires any maintenance like recovering  re rubber or table moves etc then please get in touch. If anyone requires a pool table rental within my area of Nottingham Derby Leicester Newark and Lincoln then also call for details.  I only use the Winner Supreme pool tables as used by the Top pro players here in the UK.  It is the ideal table for inter pub league pool. I always maintain the tables to a high standard and fit the top cloth strachan 6811 every year or six monthly depending on contract . I also call and service the tables within the contract so your rental table is always maintained to the highest degree.  The level of the table is something I realy strive to get correct, as there is nothing worse than having a pool table out of level during a league season.

By only using the winner supreme I only have to carry one stock of spares such as cushions pockets and runners , plus trims etc. Some rental firms have a mixture of tables this can cause problems when maintaining.  The winner supreme is in my opinion the best table on the market for the player and the Rental sales operator .

Remember if you cannot get me on the Business phone 01159725355 then try my mobile 07753466064 if no answer please leave a message I will get back to you. Or email me at mail@gclbilliards.com

Many thanks

Geoff Large ( time Served Billiards fitter ) NBSA approved .

reading this through a link to my blog page ?  please visit our web address http://www.gclbilliards.com

 

Posted in News

POOL TABLE RECOVERING Sales and rentals

I have been giving this a bit of thought , GCL Billiards is a traditional name for snooker   tables  although the words Cue sports is often used to describe all type’s of tables , some customers that have a pool table think , well we don’t want to go down the route of getting a billiards or snooker firm in to recover our table , they will charge too much , and Clients with snooker tables may think steer clear of that firm they do Pool tables , we don’t want a pool table fitter working on our table , we only want a fully qualified time served billiards fitter . that is not to say that Pool tables are inferior to Snooker tables  , it is just that they are Recovered in differant methods and skills , A snooker table for instance should have it’s bed cloth tacked on , this will enable restretching at a later date , a pool table cloth is glued on unless it is an american pool table then it is stapled on , they do not require restretching , my method of glueing a bed cloth on a pool table is second to none , you will not have any issue’s with cloth coming off around the pocket falls, or even coming all off the slate due to very bad spray on glue being used , or a fittter being in too much of a hurry to wait for the glue to go off . A fitter should not use the same methods of recovering a pool table on a snooker table and thats where the divide come’s from , Club secreterys have made the mistake of not having a time served billiards fitter on the snooker table and the fitter has covered it the same way he recovers a pool table , and I have seen this over the years stapled and glued on bed cloths on a snooker table ? , Pool and snooker have their own way of maintenance schedule .

For this reason I am about to open a sepperate web site for pool table recovers ,sales and rental only , I will link the site to this one and vice versa , this way I am sure to capture both markets of which I am experienced in , I do not charge over the rates of a normal pool table recover just because I am a fully time served billiards fitter , I do not lower my standards for maintaining Snooker tables just because I also work on pool tables , through experience working in Pool and Snooker I know there is a bit of a divide when it comes down to the games .

What you can be sure of is that after 37 years experience of working on both Pool and snooker tables ,GCL Billiards will always do reputable work to the highest standard for both parties , I will update news of the new web site as soon as it is up and running .

 

Posted in News

Geoff Large: time served billiards fitter

I first became interested in the art of Billiard fitting in 1975.  I had just left the Army and was looking for work.  My uncle Ron Hume had started a business a few years earlier trading in Pool tables and Snooker tables using a skilled Billiards fitter subcontractor named Mick Robb who had a firm called Belvoir Billiards based in Watton near Grantham.  I really admired Mick as I could see he was a skilled craftsman and cabinet maker.  He quickly took me under his wing and trained me and my cousin Gary for the next 5 years.

In 1980 Mick advised me to join an old established billiards / snooker firm in Nottingham called Elston and Hopkin Billiards Ltd in order to further my career.

I followed Mick’s advice and I joined Elston and Hopkin the same year.  I could not have wished for a better company to work for and I rapidly improved my skills as a billiards fitter.  Although I had by that time been in the trade for 5 years, I did not class myself as fully skilled until a further 3 years had passed.  My work partner at Elston and Hopkin was Roger Percyzhinski.  We clicked immediately working extremely well together and I also learnt a lot from him.

I must also say that our boss John Hopkin was without doubt the best boss I have ever worked for.  He never had a bad word to say about anyone and he always treated us well with bonus schemes and extra Holidays.  We repaid his kindness by working extremely hard for him.

By 2004 the company was struggling and John Hopkin was well beyond retirement age.  He sold the name and goodwill of the company to Universal Logic who still use the trading name Elston & Hopkin.  However the limited company (Elston & Hopkin Billiards Ltd) was closed down and ceased trading.

Roger left after just 6 months working for Universal Logic and he set himself up on his own.  I stayed for a further 8 years but in 2012 I decided it was time to go it alone and work for myself.  All of the training and experience I gained over the previous 37 years stood me well in my trade.

I have just about worked on every cue sports table in the industry from the early Reni Pierre and Rutigliani ring pocket pool tables to steel block  full size snooker match tables.  There have been some oddities too.  I have worked for famous sportsmen, people in the entertainment business, snooker professionals, rock stars and working class people such as coal miners.

I treat every client on a level basis.  I strive to do an excellent job and I have gained very good feedback from many happy customers.

If you require any work on your cue sports table, whether it be pool, snooker, bagatelle, bar billiards or anything else then do not hesitate to get in touch.

ADVICE IS ALWAYS FREE.