Proper Job Pop Ups

UKMA: Can you explain briefly how you got into angling?

Kevin Heal (KH): I was born and lived within 100 metres of the Bristol Avon and as a  young boy I spent much of my spare time turning over stones on the river bed to see if I could catch the odd Millers Thumb or Stone Loach (which hide under the stones) with my bare hands. I was five years old  when my uncle first introduced me to a rod & line and it was under his guidance that I landed my first fish, which was a perch who took a 
fancy to my Blackbirds Delight hook bait (that was 1965). It was from  this point onwards that anything that swam in the local river was fair  game.

UKMA: How did you start in the angling trade?

KH: Proper job pop ups is my first involvement in the angling trade.

UKMA: What made you decide to start your own business within the angling industry?

KH: I started making my pop ups available to the angling fraternity because I thought there was a hole in the market crying out for a pop ups in small sizes (10mm-14mm) which stayed popped up, as the vast majority of pop ups available today would not hold a rig up for more than a few hours. Given the present trend for anglers using chod and stiff hinge rigs whose construction normally incorporate ring swivels and large heavy gauge hooks need a buoyant long lasting pop up to enable the rig mechanics of these presentation to work properly.

UKMA: How long has the company been running?

KH:The website went live at the end of May 2009, but having said that, I have been making pop ups for myself and friends for many years.

UKMA: How do you see the future with regards to company expansion over the forthcoming years?

KH: I would like to see the business grow very slowly and in a controlled way in the forth coming years. I think, because potential customers cannot smell and inspect my products (as they would be able to in a retail shop scenario) I have to rely on them taking a leap of faith in making their first purchase, but I believe that word of mouth is the best long term seller of any product.

I have been approached by many bait companies (at home and from abroad) asking if I would produce a range of pop ups for them and shops (at home and abroad) asking if they could stock my pop ups and to date I have refused all of their offers. Basically, this is because of the quality of the ingredients involved in the makeup of the pop ups do not lend themselves to any form of mass production, hence the reason why I would like the business to grow in a slow and controlled manner.