29 replies to this topic

[maxman]

www.oliverbrown.co.uk It's a shame they are closing down considering the recognised status we now have! I always found the service and delivery very good  Not good

 

Rod

[fruitfulsteve]

Bit of a bummer !!!

 

Gonna have to find a new source for colour/effect fuse now

[maxman]

It is a shame and if you run your own business and want to close or diversify then you can do as you see fit. I find it hard to understand that with the diverse array of supplies that you sell,the restrictions on a couple of chems could bring the business to its knees though especially if it was as busy as you say. Are most of the sales kcl03 or 4 ?

Rod

Edited by maxman, 15 March 2015 - 11:56 AM.

[dannytsg]

It is a shame and if you run your own business and want to close or diversify then you can do as you see fit. I find it hard to understand that with the diverse array of supplies that you sell,the restrictions on a couple of chems could bring the business to its knees though especially if it was as busy as you say. Are most of the sales kcl03 or 4 ?

Rod

I assume that the decline also has a bit to do with the relevant licensing requirements that experimental pyro now specifically requires. Shame the OB is closing down though

[wayne]

Sorry guys we have no option but to close, myself and Alex met a few years back and between us we formed Oliver Brown my role was to source stock and suppliers I spent around two months solid researching for OB.

 

The company took off at an alarming rate and it was soon necessary to employ people to keep up with the demand and to keep the next day delivery promise in place.

 

As stated on the web site since the introduction of the new laws there has been a slow decline in sales in particular 2015 to date, so as a business it was necessary to diversify in to other things.

 

I would like to thank Alex for bringing the best one stop shop to the UK and I wish him luck with his new venture.

 

Because my own shop concentrated on the hardware side of things plus a few other odds and ends Pyro-Gear manly relied on the OB customer data base for sales so it is very likely I will have to close up as well.

 

Regards Ken 

 

It saddens me to see this.  We have spent a long time getting things official and above board, I honestly thought the pyro scene would take off and not rot away.  I still fail to see why people feel that travelling to buy their pyro supplies too much of a burden.  Where have all the customers gone??  I can only think that a lot of people must not want to be legal - but why?

 

I can only hope that this is a lull while people come to terms with the new regs and things begin bed in.

 

If anyone has any thoughts on this situation, please feel free to enlighten me!

[wayne]

I assume that the decline also has a bit to do with the relevant licensing requirements that experimental pyro now specifically requires. Shame the OB is closing down though

 

I can understand that, but apart from any individual competency issues, its cheap and easy to gain the required licences.

 

Also remember, that apart from the EEP, the regulations are no different than before.  MSER 2005 requirements in regards to explosives certificates were the same.

[maxman]

It boils down to two chemicals at the moment so I don't get it. All the other stuff surely makes up for that and surely someone could take orders for those and bring them to a meet once or twice a year??

 

Rod

[Arthur Brown]

No it boils down to Oliver Brown's decision not to allow face to face trading which the new law demands. 

[www.oliverbrown.co.uk]

It saddens me to see this.  We have spent a long time getting things official and above board, I honestly thought the pyro scene would take off and not rot away.  I still fail to see why people feel that travelling to buy their pyro supplies too much of a burden.  Where have all the customers gone??  I can only think that a lot of people must not want to be legal - but why?

 

I can only hope that this is a lull while people come to terms with the new regs and things begin bed in.

 

If anyone has any thoughts on this situation, please feel free to enlighten me!

We were happy to wait and see how things panned out but it was very clear straight after the new regs went in to play that things were different, we sold a fair bit to start with but as customers supplies of perc ran out so did other chemical orders, like Ken said, you need flour to make a cake, without perc you struggle to make coloured stars + effects, salutes (ground or aerial), just stop and have a think about how many chemicals are used in just those few effects, well over half of my stock and now nobody wants them.

I love the enthusiasm here but just talking about it does'nt pay the bills, this business has fed my family and Kens, employed two other staff but now there is not a market for our wares so it has to come to an end, one member of staff already gone and now my wife and I don't get all that involved just to make enough work for my remaining worker, not a great business plan.

 

I understand the need to regulate this type of hobby and it's great that you guys have made progress but it seems that you have shot yourself in the foot as the new stipulations have meant the masses just wont bother and have made the market so small it won't support a supplier, does anyone know how many licenses were issued, I would guess around 50/100 or so, if all of you bought from just one supplier it wouldn't amount to enough revenue to bother with thats why not just OB but all the other suppliers are shutting up shop or changing tact.

[www.oliverbrown.co.uk]

It boils down to two chemicals at the moment so I don't get it. All the other stuff surely makes up for that and surely someone could take orders for those and bring them to a meet once or twice a year??

 

Rod

Thats an interesting view, I would ask you to think about risk/reward ratio's.

OK, so lets say I import some perchlorate, I used to get mine from Nitroparis in Spain, the shipping cost is about £230 for a pallet so really the minimum you can ship is a quarter ton just so only a pound is added to each kilo, you can't add any other products on to the same pallet for obvious reasons.

So, now I have 250kg landed and ready to decant in to 1kg pots, cost of the pot, label and overheads adds another pound per KG + the room it takes up.

 

How many kilo's do you think I can sell if I were to attend a UKPS meeting, remember I can also only sell to the few people who hold the EEP?

[www.oliverbrown.co.uk]

No it boils down to Oliver Brown's decision not to allow face to face trading which the new law demands. 

You might think there was some weight to that statement but to be honest we have not been asked, Ken did one F2F and I have done 2 B2B in the last 6 months.

[wayne]

I understand the need to regulate this type of hobby and it's great that you guys have made progress but it seems that you have shot yourself in the foot as the new stipulations have meant the masses just wont bother and have made the market so small it won't support a supplier, does anyone know how many licenses were issued, I would guess around 50/100 or so, if all of you bought from just one supplier it wouldn't amount to enough revenue to bother with thats why not just OB but all the other suppliers are shutting up shop or changing tact.

 

Just for clarity, it worth mentioning that we have not shot anyone or anything in the foot.  The new regulations are dictated by government not the UKPS!  We are mearly assisting in clarifying what they mean to us and representing UK pyro in any consultation.  Without the involvement of the UKPS im not sure that the home office have allowed us to continuing purchasing any precursor chemicals.  At is stands, it still possible with a licence and travel to collect.

 

I can only assume that a vast number of pyro's are unwilling put in the small amount of effort to gain any lawful state.  Maybe as its been said with drugs, if they we're legalised, no one would want them...there no thrill!

Edited by wayne, 17 March 2015 - 02:29 PM.

[Arthur Brown]

From conversation with a different supplier, their sales were larger that typical in the month before the regs came into force, more indication that several pyros got stock in before the regs came into force, so the next year's trade will be short by that value of trade.

[Bob Twells]

It's a real shame to be losing one of the few well known suppliers for this hobby in the UK. The decision is perfectly understandable with sales dropping as badly as mentioned.

The UKPS has had nothing to do with the precursor regs at all, they came as a shock to us all, and at pretty short notice. Several members did get a chance to directly question and express their concerns to the Home Office at one of the AGMs, and many filled in the HO's online consultation to stress the impact the regs might have on this and other hobbies. However, it seemed the decisions had already been made and they would be coming into play despite the feedback.

Many thanks to Oliver Brown for helping enthusiastic pyro hobbyists for so long!

[Niall]

People think that UFO's are proof of aliens. So much so, that a government admission to such a sighting is an admission of Alien encounters.

Therefore, supreme and undeniable logic allows the idiot to be - rest assured - that Area 51 is an alien repository.

Nobody ever seems to wonder how aliens can traverse the Galaxy or maybe the Universe - yet still be limited to a crash landing on earth.

Then you go back to the source of the story, and remember that a UFO is an Unidentified Flying Object, it tells you nothing more than the letters it stands for. It means that the government bodies recognise a sighting of something weird, and that's where the definition stops.

It is so easy to discuss things to a point where any anchor to reality is lost, and listening to ideas has no bearing what was in question to begin with.

Read the law, ignore anything else.

I have watched this conversation for some time, and I'm struggling to follow the footprints back to where it started.

Now, either get a grip on the hobby you love, or walk away from it having talked yourself out of it.

It has become that simple.

Most of you will have read what I have said in the Pyro-Gear page. Join in the conversation. What is there to lose?

Stand together for the hobby you love, or divide and bicker where we actually agree - because that seems so much more betterer [!]

Incomprehensible rant finished.