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=nade. The upshot was
that David joined the
company and is now the
third director.
"To have him here on
the staff is such a bonus
to us. It was David in fact
who designed the 'Space
Shuttle. '
Now a British company
beating America at its
own game and building a
better 'Space Shuttle' and
selling it successfully on
the American market is
sensational.
However, there is no
need for NASA to feel
concern as this particular
'Space Shuttle' is a Kiddie
Ride. But, the American
manufacturers of chil-
dren's rides need be con-
cerned because Bafco ,
following
the New
Orleans Parks Show
broke into the American
domestic market with a
Grand Prix racing car, a
motor cycle, a bulldozer
and the 'Space Shuttle '.
Children's Choice
1
1----------•-S_p_a_ce_S_h_u_tt_i_e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -+
Jim Barry said: "During
1980 we decided to evalu-
ate the market for
children ' s rides in a
number of countries ,
America being just one of
many, and following the
exhibition the orders just
flowed in.
"We continue to sell
orders now through con-
tacts made at that first
exhibition, " said Mike
Collins.
I expressed my amaze-
ment that they could have
given up such solid
careers to set up their
own company.
• Road Racer
"Well. .. said Mike, " it. s
bound to happen if you
are ambitious . You have
your own ideas on the
industry and various
products and you just
can't sit back. You have to
make it happen. Take a
positive step to see your
ideas come to fruition. "
When I remarked on
the high quality of the
Kiddie Rides they were
producing Jim Barry said:
"We are very conscious
of the quality required.
We know what the opera-
tor wants. the type of ride
he requires and we can
produce it.
Le isure Play - Novemb er
• Speedway
" With the large amount
of exporting you are
doing, does it not present
you with a problem in
supplying spares or repla-
cing defective parts'?" I
asked them.
" Actually we've not
had to send many out, just
the odd one or two," said
Jim. " Our rides are vir-
tually hand built," he
continued, " so everything
is checked stage by stage.
After all, it is our name on
the goods, it is up to us to
ensure they are reliable.
" We inspect each individ-
ual ride before it leaves
the factory. "
''Packaging for export
must present you with
some problems, " I re-
marked.
" No! " said Mike.
' 'When we decided to
exhibit in New Orleans
the exhibits had to be
ready ten days in advance
in order to catch the last
possible sailing date. We
contacted Lin Pac Corru-
gated Cases with an
urgent request for strong
packaging which would
be cheap enough to keep
our product down to a
competitive price. That
company," said Mike,
"pulled out all the stops
and delivered the contain-
ers within five days of the
contract being placed.
" Since then of course
our exports have in-
creased considerably and
despite the weights in-
volved, the containers
stack very well and have
proved to remain intact
during shipment to our
customers. "
Mike Collins and Jim
Barry, two very ebullient
characters, are an exam-
ple of what hard work,
confidence. ambition and
sheer guts can achieve.
"We've never had a
holida y since we started
,he company.' ' said Jim
Barry. "we haven't the
,ime. We will always be
working directors but at
least we now have the
sa tisfa ction that we are
working for ourselves and
we are now seeing all our
ideas and ambitions ful-
filled . It is very satis-
fying ...
MIKE NEWTON
Page Fifty-Nine