As I once said somewhere, the best thing about paintball is the friends you make and one such friend of mine is Billy Ceranski who I’ve known for well over 20 years after playing alongside him on Aftershock, the 6-time world champions back in the day.
Billy’s an honest bloke not prone to bullsh!tting and so, we can pretty much trust whatever he says about what’s going on concerning Paintball’s biggest concern, Gi.
Billy has just taken over the number one seat at Gi, it’s a huge responsibility as well as being a huge opportunity for him.
It’ll be interesting to see what he has to say for himself as he sits in the highest seat of all, President of Gi Sports.
Myself, Billy Ceranski and Jackie Sosta
Here we go:-
Robbo: Billy, thanks for taking the time-out to have this little talk upon your recent appointment as the top dog at Gi.
Billy: No problem, where do you want to start?
Robbo: Probably best to start with this - Did the appointment as President of the largest paintball company in the world surprise you in any way?
Billy: Yes, I suppose it did - Richmond [Part owner and previous President of Gi] asked if I could have a ‘talk’ with him and I could sense it was something serious.
I’ve got to say, it crossed my mind I was about to be given the sideways nudge into the unemployed dead-box but I soon discovered it wasn’t that at all - My fears proved groundless it seemed as I was asked if I’d consider accepting the role as President of Gi.
Robbo: No sh!t, can you tell us about the background to this appointment in the sense that, was there a specific set of circumstances that conspired to bring you to this point?
Billy: Sure, I suppose there was - looking back over the last few months I think it’s fair to say there were a few things that maybe played a part in me being asked if I’d want the job but it wasn’t a slam-dunk in that respect – I honestly had no idea he was going to ask me but he did it in a rather unconventional way.
I’ll have to qualify that last remark:-
Firstly, the guy in the hot seat before me, Ken D’Arcy, he didn’t last the course I’m afraid and so Gi and he, parted company.
This left a gaping hole at the top of the pyramid and so we all knew there was change coming but I certainly didn’t know who’d been earmarked for the top job if indeed I had been, at that time.
I just assumed, like everybody did, that Richmond would slide back into the hot-seat.
The first half of this year has been really challenging for all of us in the US industry but I’ll come to the reasons for that, a bit later on.
And as you know Pete, we [Gi] have a board that we all have to answer to – we knew there might be financial cuts coming and so it was just a matter of waiting it out to see what was decided.
I think we were all preparing to duck should any redundancy notices start flying around but as you know, that’s the way business works sometimes.
As well as the board, we have to factor in the banks - they have a considerable interest in Gi just like a lot of other large concerns and it’s always possible they could pull the plug on us at any time just like they did with Smart Parts years ago.
Thankfully, the banks have stayed tight with us but as things stand, the board felt we needed a shift in direction, and it was because of all those events mentioned that I ended up being considered for the big seat but even then, it wasn’t straightforward.
I’ll park up my humility for minute and say, a lot of things had to fall into place for me to be offered the job but I’d worked hard for Gi and I must have done a pretty good job because Richmond is no fool, he wouldn’t have offered me the job if I hadn’t earned that rite.
Robbo: To be fair Billy, I’d always thought you were being groomed to take over – whenever I spoke to Richmond and your name came up, he was always full of positives which led me to think you were always going to take over at some stage.
My memory’s pretty crap these days but I do seem to remember, Richmond saying you’d be his successor several times.
Billy: He must have been in a good mood those days when you talked to him Pete because we’ve had our differences, and at times we’ve gone for each other but beneath all that crap, I think we respect each other which might explain why I’ve ended up in this position.
Robbo: Did the board suggest Gi needed a change of direction ?
Billy: I suppose so, ‘yes’, the problem I touched on earlier was affecting all of us in the industry.
The problem that’s been undermining bottom-line turnovers in the paintball industry this year has been primarily due to the weather.
Paintball participation in the US, leastwise at the site level, is profoundly affected by bad weather, and if we have too much bad weather, it can have a detrimental effect on what the industry can generate, cash-wise.
Bottom line is, people aren’t as eager to get up off their asses from the sofa and go play paintball when it’s raining stair-rods.
And for as long as I’ve been in paintball, I’ve never known a start to the year as we’ve recently seen in the US.
Robbo: Can you flesh those numbers out?
Billy: It’s no secret Pete, everyone this side of the Atlantic are well aware the weather has had a detrimental effect on our respective turnovers, it’s hard to ignore - we basically all took about a 15% hit on our revenues for the first six months or so of the year.
And the thing is, there’s nothing we can do to claw back that lost revenue; or so we believed because even though our whole industry had been so adversely affected, there was one glaring exception to this - And I’ll come to that/him later.
I think the board took all this into account and they decided we needed to shift direction or at least, come up with a revised strategy of some description for the remainder of the year.
Richmond realised something different was needed and so, out of the blue, he asked me if I could come up with a new plan as to what I’d do if I was in charge.
I realised, of course, the significance of Richmond’s request and so I set about collating the figures and the plans I’d adopt if I was in charge.
Richmond obviously liked my proposal, as did the board, and so he consequently appointed me as the president - It was as seamless as that, Pete.
Robbo: Can you tell us what was in your proposal?
Billy: Well, there wasn’t anything too revolutionary going on, it was just a common-sense package of things we needed to do - but of course, Richmond had to know I’d carry them out ….. and I will.
Robbo: Now, I’m no business whizz Bill but when markets downturn like you guys have endured this year then cuts have to be made - did the spotlight focus on jobs as the automatic ‘Get out of Jail’ free card as is the norm in such circumstances ?
Billy: Well, not necessarily no, there are a lot of things I’m looking at to help streamline our business and I shall roll these out in due course.
Robbo: Generally speaking though, middle-management positions are normally the ones in the firing-line.
And come to think of it Bill, I remember how accurate your shooting was when we played on Aftershock together, if middle-management positions are in your firing-line then they ain’t got too much to worry about.
Billy: Pete, go procreate thine-self !
Robbo: Seems to me this recent downturn has hurt a lot of people, is it really that widespread in the US?
Billy: Previously, in paintball’s heyday years, people started up paintball companies, and growth was almost automatically assured as turnovers increased by 20-30 % year on year.
The problem was, you didn’t have to be Warren Buffet to make money from a paintball site and so even though a lot of the people who had gotten into paintball sites were blatantly underqualified to run a bath let alone a business, they ended up making money.
They weren’t successful because of the way they ran the business, they were successful in spite of the way they ran it.
And so a lot of these site owners truly believed they were nailing it as they watched their bank balances trend upward but that financial inertia was bound to slow down at some point.
And when the inevitable happened around 10-15 years ago, it meant people had to work their asses off to keep their heads above the waterline instead of just sitting back and expecting to maintain their glide path upward.
Robbo: It sounds a bit depressing Bill, give me some good news FFS !
Billy: Actually, I can - that 15% downturn I previously mentioned in this interview, it was felt across the whole marketplace …… but for one glaring exception !
Do you remember Giovanni at Hollywood Sports?
Pete: Affirmative, I do have knowledge of his existence on planet earth.
Billy: Giovanni just wouldn’t/couldn’t accept that first half-year 15% loss.
Robbo: Well, I doubt he had much choice in the matter, he could hardly un-ding that bell.
Billy: Correct, he couldn’t but he did something just as effective, if not moreso.
That man is a lunatic when it comes to working, he really was like a man possessed.
He went and opened up his site every day of the week and marketed the living crap out of his business as if his life depended on it.
Giovanni might not have been academically honed for the paintball business but that guy tore up the rule-book and worked his nuts off until the problem had been dealt with.
It was a masterclass in how plain hard work can achieve results in such a toxic marketplace as it was back then.
He was relentless Pete, he just wouldn’t allow himself to accept that first half-year loss.
I’d never really seen a response like that in all my years in paintball - it was a blueprint for everyone to adopt if things start to slide …
But the amazing thing is, he’d not only clawed back his shortfall back from that first 6 months of the year, that man went and generated an increase for that same period over the previous year, that was over and above the money he'd clawed back for the initial loss.
Robbo: Fuhk’n ‘ell !!!
Are you kidding me, that’s no BS ???
Billy: Seriously, that’s what he did Pete, the man’s a maniacal genius.
Robbo: Hold on a minute here ….. I can’t let that slide….. this implies there’s customers out there who aren't being accessed - if he managed to reclaim that initial 15% loss which in itself is remarkable …… and he then went onto generate even more cash for that same period, this has to mean there’s an untapped market out there in the US that’s not being addressed by the US industry, and is independent of any downturn.
And from what you’ve said, it would suggest that ‘extra’ turnover can be accessed by nothing more than through sheer hard work.
Surely, our industry in the US can see this Bill, I’m amazed this has flown under the radar until now.
It begs the question, was this untapped part of the market always there?
If so, is that not an indictment of our industry in that you guys hadn’t been working hard enough?
Bill: Pete, I can’t speak for everyone else in the US but I’ll say this much, we are going to work harder, smarter and longer than we’ve done before – I’ve produced
the spec-sheet for that recovery plan – All I have to do now is to put it into practice, and as President, I’m in the perfect place to do just that.
If we can consolidate our market-share, and then grow in accordance with what we saw with Giovani, then I’ll be a happy man, and I’ll have a happy board.
We’re doing our best to - we’re trying to take a fresh look at the way we do business and one of the new ideas has been to provide a commercial route-map for people all over the world to start a paintball business.
In this age of Open-Source commerce, we believe we have a responsibility as market leaders and we’ve developed a strategy, a new paradigm for the paintball market that could potentially change our sport/industry for the better.
We’re spearheading this new initiative on www.trypaintball.com, go and have a look what we’re trying to do.
What was appropriate 15 or so years ago in terms of how we marketed our sport isn’t appropriate anymore, as Giovani has shown us.
It could well be that Giovani’s experience is an aberration but I think it’s more an indication of what we’ve been maybe overlooking.
We were so immersed in salvaging our respective market-shares that we never once dared to believe we’d failed to reach a whole slew of people just waiting to play our game.
Robbo: Well, that’s encouraging especially since you guys advertise with me, I can now sleep at night, thank fuhk for that.
I think for the first time in a long time, I feel encouraged after what you’ve just said.
It seems ironic that it took Giovani and his resolve to show us something that was right before our eyes all the time – that’s ironic !
It’s a strange day indeed when the Yanks get schooled on how to run their business, and it came in the guise of a lowly site owner from LA - Hats off to Giovani !
Bill: That’s how we see it Pete, www.trypaintball.com is our way of paving the way for others to get involved commercially in paintball - to show people how best to market our sport/industry.
Our business model had to change to accommodate this marketplace otherwise we’d be doomed to commit the same mistakes as we’d encountered before.
Robbo: Some bright spark once said, ‘if we ignore history, we’re condemned to repeat it’.
Come to think of it Bill, I think I was that bright spark who originally said that, I’m sure it was me.
Bill: It wasn’t you dumb-butt, it was George Santayana.
Robbo: I think he stole that line from me.
Bill: Really? - Pete, he died before you were even born, give it up pal.
Robbo: OK, to finish up, as I’m sure you are aware, we’ve enjoyed what seems like a renaissance in woodland tournaments on both sides of the pond - do you think it’s sufficiently resilient to assume the role of saviour to our sport/industry?
Billy: I’ve been reading some of the threads on your forum Pete and a lot of people seem to be getting behind this revival but as much as I would like to see that side of paintball resurrect itself, I just don’t believe it carries sufficient inertia to grow much past what it has done already.
Robbo: I’ve tried to keep an open mind concerning this ‘recovery’ and not allow nostalgia to cloud my judgement but, like you, I still remain unconvinced this resurgence has the legs to sustain extended growth.
Billy: That’s pretty much my take on it - Pete, do you remember Tommy Cole ?
Robbo: Of course, I remember shooting him many times.
Billy: He’s promoted his woodland revival events [UWL] over here in the US but I’m pretty sure that hit a ceiling and I think you’re going to see a similar set of circumstances over there with you guys, if indeed it hasn’t happened already, I don’t really know.
The player demographic who support this return to woodland tournaments are a limited resource and I just can’t think how it can grow within the confines of that particular demographic.
Of course, I could be wrong but Tommy’s events have been running a few years now and I’m not really seeing the growth that a lot of people were suggesting.
I’d love to see the market change so it could accommodate a huge influx of woodland tournament players but it’s just not there yet.
Whenever I’ve talked to people over there in the UK, it seems like a lot of them are saying it’s growing, it’s the future etc but I think they feel that if they keep talking about it then it will actually happen but as far as I can tell, it’s topped out just like it did here.
Robbo: OK, thanks a lot for your time Billy, it’s been emotional.
Good luck with your new job, I’m sure you’ll do fine.
By the way, have you got a new position available as head of European Sales based in London with a projected salary of around $250,000 - And of course, a new car, and 6 weeks holiday who would work from home?
Billy: For you?
Robbo: Erm, well, it did cross my mind mate, ya know, for old time’s sake and all that?
Billy: Do you mind if I get back to you on that one, Pete.
Pete: You’re not really going to consider it, are you Bill?
Billy: No, Pete, I’m not.
Billy’s an honest bloke not prone to bullsh!tting and so, we can pretty much trust whatever he says about what’s going on concerning Paintball’s biggest concern, Gi.
Billy has just taken over the number one seat at Gi, it’s a huge responsibility as well as being a huge opportunity for him.
It’ll be interesting to see what he has to say for himself as he sits in the highest seat of all, President of Gi Sports.
Myself, Billy Ceranski and Jackie Sosta
Here we go:-
Robbo: Billy, thanks for taking the time-out to have this little talk upon your recent appointment as the top dog at Gi.
Billy: No problem, where do you want to start?
Robbo: Probably best to start with this - Did the appointment as President of the largest paintball company in the world surprise you in any way?
Billy: Yes, I suppose it did - Richmond [Part owner and previous President of Gi] asked if I could have a ‘talk’ with him and I could sense it was something serious.
I’ve got to say, it crossed my mind I was about to be given the sideways nudge into the unemployed dead-box but I soon discovered it wasn’t that at all - My fears proved groundless it seemed as I was asked if I’d consider accepting the role as President of Gi.
Robbo: No sh!t, can you tell us about the background to this appointment in the sense that, was there a specific set of circumstances that conspired to bring you to this point?
Billy: Sure, I suppose there was - looking back over the last few months I think it’s fair to say there were a few things that maybe played a part in me being asked if I’d want the job but it wasn’t a slam-dunk in that respect – I honestly had no idea he was going to ask me but he did it in a rather unconventional way.
I’ll have to qualify that last remark:-
Firstly, the guy in the hot seat before me, Ken D’Arcy, he didn’t last the course I’m afraid and so Gi and he, parted company.
This left a gaping hole at the top of the pyramid and so we all knew there was change coming but I certainly didn’t know who’d been earmarked for the top job if indeed I had been, at that time.
I just assumed, like everybody did, that Richmond would slide back into the hot-seat.
The first half of this year has been really challenging for all of us in the US industry but I’ll come to the reasons for that, a bit later on.
And as you know Pete, we [Gi] have a board that we all have to answer to – we knew there might be financial cuts coming and so it was just a matter of waiting it out to see what was decided.
I think we were all preparing to duck should any redundancy notices start flying around but as you know, that’s the way business works sometimes.
As well as the board, we have to factor in the banks - they have a considerable interest in Gi just like a lot of other large concerns and it’s always possible they could pull the plug on us at any time just like they did with Smart Parts years ago.
Thankfully, the banks have stayed tight with us but as things stand, the board felt we needed a shift in direction, and it was because of all those events mentioned that I ended up being considered for the big seat but even then, it wasn’t straightforward.
I’ll park up my humility for minute and say, a lot of things had to fall into place for me to be offered the job but I’d worked hard for Gi and I must have done a pretty good job because Richmond is no fool, he wouldn’t have offered me the job if I hadn’t earned that rite.
Robbo: To be fair Billy, I’d always thought you were being groomed to take over – whenever I spoke to Richmond and your name came up, he was always full of positives which led me to think you were always going to take over at some stage.
My memory’s pretty crap these days but I do seem to remember, Richmond saying you’d be his successor several times.
Billy: He must have been in a good mood those days when you talked to him Pete because we’ve had our differences, and at times we’ve gone for each other but beneath all that crap, I think we respect each other which might explain why I’ve ended up in this position.
Robbo: Did the board suggest Gi needed a change of direction ?
Billy: I suppose so, ‘yes’, the problem I touched on earlier was affecting all of us in the industry.
The problem that’s been undermining bottom-line turnovers in the paintball industry this year has been primarily due to the weather.
Paintball participation in the US, leastwise at the site level, is profoundly affected by bad weather, and if we have too much bad weather, it can have a detrimental effect on what the industry can generate, cash-wise.
Bottom line is, people aren’t as eager to get up off their asses from the sofa and go play paintball when it’s raining stair-rods.
And for as long as I’ve been in paintball, I’ve never known a start to the year as we’ve recently seen in the US.
Robbo: Can you flesh those numbers out?
Billy: It’s no secret Pete, everyone this side of the Atlantic are well aware the weather has had a detrimental effect on our respective turnovers, it’s hard to ignore - we basically all took about a 15% hit on our revenues for the first six months or so of the year.
And the thing is, there’s nothing we can do to claw back that lost revenue; or so we believed because even though our whole industry had been so adversely affected, there was one glaring exception to this - And I’ll come to that/him later.
I think the board took all this into account and they decided we needed to shift direction or at least, come up with a revised strategy of some description for the remainder of the year.
Richmond realised something different was needed and so, out of the blue, he asked me if I could come up with a new plan as to what I’d do if I was in charge.
I realised, of course, the significance of Richmond’s request and so I set about collating the figures and the plans I’d adopt if I was in charge.
Richmond obviously liked my proposal, as did the board, and so he consequently appointed me as the president - It was as seamless as that, Pete.
Robbo: Can you tell us what was in your proposal?
Billy: Well, there wasn’t anything too revolutionary going on, it was just a common-sense package of things we needed to do - but of course, Richmond had to know I’d carry them out ….. and I will.
Robbo: Now, I’m no business whizz Bill but when markets downturn like you guys have endured this year then cuts have to be made - did the spotlight focus on jobs as the automatic ‘Get out of Jail’ free card as is the norm in such circumstances ?
Billy: Well, not necessarily no, there are a lot of things I’m looking at to help streamline our business and I shall roll these out in due course.
Robbo: Generally speaking though, middle-management positions are normally the ones in the firing-line.
And come to think of it Bill, I remember how accurate your shooting was when we played on Aftershock together, if middle-management positions are in your firing-line then they ain’t got too much to worry about.
Billy: Pete, go procreate thine-self !
Robbo: Seems to me this recent downturn has hurt a lot of people, is it really that widespread in the US?
Billy: Previously, in paintball’s heyday years, people started up paintball companies, and growth was almost automatically assured as turnovers increased by 20-30 % year on year.
The problem was, you didn’t have to be Warren Buffet to make money from a paintball site and so even though a lot of the people who had gotten into paintball sites were blatantly underqualified to run a bath let alone a business, they ended up making money.
They weren’t successful because of the way they ran the business, they were successful in spite of the way they ran it.
And so a lot of these site owners truly believed they were nailing it as they watched their bank balances trend upward but that financial inertia was bound to slow down at some point.
And when the inevitable happened around 10-15 years ago, it meant people had to work their asses off to keep their heads above the waterline instead of just sitting back and expecting to maintain their glide path upward.
Robbo: It sounds a bit depressing Bill, give me some good news FFS !
Billy: Actually, I can - that 15% downturn I previously mentioned in this interview, it was felt across the whole marketplace …… but for one glaring exception !
Do you remember Giovanni at Hollywood Sports?
Pete: Affirmative, I do have knowledge of his existence on planet earth.
Billy: Giovanni just wouldn’t/couldn’t accept that first half-year 15% loss.
Robbo: Well, I doubt he had much choice in the matter, he could hardly un-ding that bell.
Billy: Correct, he couldn’t but he did something just as effective, if not moreso.
That man is a lunatic when it comes to working, he really was like a man possessed.
He went and opened up his site every day of the week and marketed the living crap out of his business as if his life depended on it.
Giovanni might not have been academically honed for the paintball business but that guy tore up the rule-book and worked his nuts off until the problem had been dealt with.
It was a masterclass in how plain hard work can achieve results in such a toxic marketplace as it was back then.
He was relentless Pete, he just wouldn’t allow himself to accept that first half-year loss.
I’d never really seen a response like that in all my years in paintball - it was a blueprint for everyone to adopt if things start to slide …
But the amazing thing is, he’d not only clawed back his shortfall back from that first 6 months of the year, that man went and generated an increase for that same period over the previous year, that was over and above the money he'd clawed back for the initial loss.
Robbo: Fuhk’n ‘ell !!!
Are you kidding me, that’s no BS ???
Billy: Seriously, that’s what he did Pete, the man’s a maniacal genius.
Robbo: Hold on a minute here ….. I can’t let that slide….. this implies there’s customers out there who aren't being accessed - if he managed to reclaim that initial 15% loss which in itself is remarkable …… and he then went onto generate even more cash for that same period, this has to mean there’s an untapped market out there in the US that’s not being addressed by the US industry, and is independent of any downturn.
And from what you’ve said, it would suggest that ‘extra’ turnover can be accessed by nothing more than through sheer hard work.
Surely, our industry in the US can see this Bill, I’m amazed this has flown under the radar until now.
It begs the question, was this untapped part of the market always there?
If so, is that not an indictment of our industry in that you guys hadn’t been working hard enough?
Bill: Pete, I can’t speak for everyone else in the US but I’ll say this much, we are going to work harder, smarter and longer than we’ve done before – I’ve produced
the spec-sheet for that recovery plan – All I have to do now is to put it into practice, and as President, I’m in the perfect place to do just that.
If we can consolidate our market-share, and then grow in accordance with what we saw with Giovani, then I’ll be a happy man, and I’ll have a happy board.
We’re doing our best to - we’re trying to take a fresh look at the way we do business and one of the new ideas has been to provide a commercial route-map for people all over the world to start a paintball business.
In this age of Open-Source commerce, we believe we have a responsibility as market leaders and we’ve developed a strategy, a new paradigm for the paintball market that could potentially change our sport/industry for the better.
We’re spearheading this new initiative on www.trypaintball.com, go and have a look what we’re trying to do.
What was appropriate 15 or so years ago in terms of how we marketed our sport isn’t appropriate anymore, as Giovani has shown us.
It could well be that Giovani’s experience is an aberration but I think it’s more an indication of what we’ve been maybe overlooking.
We were so immersed in salvaging our respective market-shares that we never once dared to believe we’d failed to reach a whole slew of people just waiting to play our game.
Robbo: Well, that’s encouraging especially since you guys advertise with me, I can now sleep at night, thank fuhk for that.
I think for the first time in a long time, I feel encouraged after what you’ve just said.
It seems ironic that it took Giovani and his resolve to show us something that was right before our eyes all the time – that’s ironic !
It’s a strange day indeed when the Yanks get schooled on how to run their business, and it came in the guise of a lowly site owner from LA - Hats off to Giovani !
Bill: That’s how we see it Pete, www.trypaintball.com is our way of paving the way for others to get involved commercially in paintball - to show people how best to market our sport/industry.
Our business model had to change to accommodate this marketplace otherwise we’d be doomed to commit the same mistakes as we’d encountered before.
Robbo: Some bright spark once said, ‘if we ignore history, we’re condemned to repeat it’.
Come to think of it Bill, I think I was that bright spark who originally said that, I’m sure it was me.
Bill: It wasn’t you dumb-butt, it was George Santayana.
Robbo: I think he stole that line from me.
Bill: Really? - Pete, he died before you were even born, give it up pal.
Robbo: OK, to finish up, as I’m sure you are aware, we’ve enjoyed what seems like a renaissance in woodland tournaments on both sides of the pond - do you think it’s sufficiently resilient to assume the role of saviour to our sport/industry?
Billy: I’ve been reading some of the threads on your forum Pete and a lot of people seem to be getting behind this revival but as much as I would like to see that side of paintball resurrect itself, I just don’t believe it carries sufficient inertia to grow much past what it has done already.
Robbo: I’ve tried to keep an open mind concerning this ‘recovery’ and not allow nostalgia to cloud my judgement but, like you, I still remain unconvinced this resurgence has the legs to sustain extended growth.
Billy: That’s pretty much my take on it - Pete, do you remember Tommy Cole ?
Robbo: Of course, I remember shooting him many times.
Billy: He’s promoted his woodland revival events [UWL] over here in the US but I’m pretty sure that hit a ceiling and I think you’re going to see a similar set of circumstances over there with you guys, if indeed it hasn’t happened already, I don’t really know.
The player demographic who support this return to woodland tournaments are a limited resource and I just can’t think how it can grow within the confines of that particular demographic.
Of course, I could be wrong but Tommy’s events have been running a few years now and I’m not really seeing the growth that a lot of people were suggesting.
I’d love to see the market change so it could accommodate a huge influx of woodland tournament players but it’s just not there yet.
Whenever I’ve talked to people over there in the UK, it seems like a lot of them are saying it’s growing, it’s the future etc but I think they feel that if they keep talking about it then it will actually happen but as far as I can tell, it’s topped out just like it did here.
Robbo: OK, thanks a lot for your time Billy, it’s been emotional.
Good luck with your new job, I’m sure you’ll do fine.
By the way, have you got a new position available as head of European Sales based in London with a projected salary of around $250,000 - And of course, a new car, and 6 weeks holiday who would work from home?
Billy: For you?
Robbo: Erm, well, it did cross my mind mate, ya know, for old time’s sake and all that?
Billy: Do you mind if I get back to you on that one, Pete.
Pete: You’re not really going to consider it, are you Bill?
Billy: No, Pete, I’m not.
