The downs and ups of the diving business

Now in the winter of our discontent it may be hard to believe that water sports have been rapidly growing in popularity here in recent years. This popularity has filtered through to diving, the traditional Cinderella of sea sports. We already have about 2.500 enthusiasts and 53 sub-aqua clubs.

But the market for sub-aqua equipment has been unresponsive, with one of the biggest retailers going bust last year. In spite of this the consensus is that there are still unplumbed depths in the diving equipment trade.

Twelve months ago Marine Sales, one of the country's biggest diving equipment - retailers, closed down its Dalkey operation and moved to a smaller premises in Dun Laoghaire. Co Dublin. Within six months it was forced to close that outlet too. What embitters managing director Willie Siddal is that the closure could have been avoided.

Dalkey has always been the prime site for divers in Dublin Bay. Every Sunday during the summer season inflatables can be seen shimming towards the Muglins lighthouse laden with divers, while winter finds snorkellers battling the tide as they swim round the island.

For the past 15 years Marine Sales stood close to the diving site, ready with diving equipment, air refills, maintenance and safety checks. Nobody could have asked for a better location. But with UK prices at nearly half those of current Irish retail prices many divers began crossing the Irish Sea to buy their gear. With over 70.000 divers in the UK the discount houses have ongoing price wars that keep UK prices very low.

And there are few problems getting the equipment back into this country because the diving gear is easily concealed. Fins, gauges, knives, gloves and boots can all be packed into the bottom of a carrybag.

Breathing regulators can be stripped and made inconspicuous, while new air tanks can be scraped and plastered with decals to look worn. It is widely known which UK shops will class the purchase as an export sale and give an immediate VAT refund: Others will quite readily split the sale into two receipts and even disassemble the equipment. With a bit of hunting a diver can easily pick up a high quality breathing regulator for about IRE150, while he can expect to pay at least IR£200 for its equivalent in Ireland.

Siddal went to the Irish Customs to put his case for introducing tighter controls but their response was not comforting. While cameras and other familiar portables were regularly stopped, diving equipment could easily escape their attention because of its unusual nature. Siddal says he "must accept some of the blame for not seeing the danger signals in time." After spending months on the books of almost every auctioneer in Dublin," Marine Sales ended up in Dun Laoghaire. It could hardly have been described as an optimum location.

General trade in the area was already falling and it was unlikely that divers who were not prepared to travel as far as Dalkey would find Dun Laoghaire any more convenient They did not, and Marine Sales closed last May. The introduction of VAT at the point of entry was a contributing factor.

Meanwhile on Dublin's north sid, miles from the sea and less than two years in business, Watts Sports, anoher sports equipment retailer, has gone from strength to strength. Owned by Johnnie Watts Senior and Johnnie Watts Junior, the shop was set up when they sold their interest in the famous Watts gunshop at Ormond Quay, Dublin to finance the new Venture.

They reckoned it would take at least five years to move out of a breakeven situation. But since the opening in May 1983 turnover has exceeded their most optimistic projections, according to Watts Jnr. He is coy about offering precise figure however.

The success is the result of specialising in three basic seasonal activities - fishing. shooting and diving (with a small line in survival gear and tennis/badminton equipment) - so that each section shoulders the lean months of the others.'

The months of January and February are propped up by the carryover from the shooting season in December. March sees the beginning of the trout fishing season. Diving supports the April - June period.

The mid-summer season sees outdoor sports taking over with the shotgun trade swelling in August. followed by pheasant shooting in November. Pike and sea fishing is carried on throughout the year.

Then there are the regular sales of survival equipment (waterproof matches. thermal blankets etc) in conjunction with the servicing of guns and diving equipment Unlike Marine Sales, the Watts have managed to survive by not being overly dependent on one type of sport

Although there are less than ten suppliers in the diving equipment trade Watts Jan feels that there are ten too many. "We are hampered by the black economy operators. They simply offer goods free of the 35% VAT. So they can sell a £239 cylinder for £177. We cannot compete with that But he argues that black economy buying can lead to problems when the buyer goes looking for spare parts or service. "The cowboys do not concern themselves with parts because profit margins on them are too low. And they are not interested in the service end of the business."

In the manufacturing end of the trade, O'Dare (Ireland) is one Irish company producing for the wetsuit market both here and abroad. This year 0' Dare won a £10,000 order from Norway for diving suits for use in the freezing fjords, while at home it is currently completing a large naval order. But managing director Aidan Kelly says that the home market can be measured in terms of hundreds rather than thousands of suits per annum.

The company is now based in a 6,000 sq ft plant in Bray and is exporting over 70% of its produce. While the company's first venture was into the supply of suits for divers, it has moved on to producing wetsuits for windsurfing as well as various accessories for watersports.

Recently it designed a much-improved diving suit which offers more resistance to the rigours of underwater pressure.