Archery centre aiming to boss the market with innovative new product

AN archery centre in Warwickshire is literally on target for growth after developing an innovative new product.

Stratford Archery Centre has pioneered the use of new technologies to create an archery target, known as a boss, which is made from recycled materials.

The target provides an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional bosses, which are made from straw.

The recycled boss was the brainchild of Paul Hadley, a lifelong archer who gave up his career as a sound engineer to set up Stratford Archery Centre in 2012. He initially intended to capitalise on a surge of interest in the sport generated by hit movies The Hunger Games and Brave, and the London Olympics.

The archery centre is based in the grounds of Stratford Manor Hotel on the outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon. Its outdoor shooting range is used by around 3,500 people a year.

Hadley, now a qualified archery coach and instructor, started off with traditional straw targets but found them heavy and difficult to move as well as deteriorating rapidly and giving off an unpleasant odour.

He wanted to create a boss from recycled materials and experimented with a few ideas before hitting on foam that had been used in the automotive accessory manufacturing process. He found a local company that could supply waste foam materials destined for landfill.

The first prototypes, made at Hadley’s home near Wellesbourne, proved successful as they were more mobile and resilient, and so he stepped up development into a converted milking parlour on a nearby farm.

To enable him to get the product to market, he secured a £4,000 grant from Funding 4 Innovation, a scheme offering financial incentives to SMEs in rural Warwickshire.

This enabled him to purchase new equipment, which involved moving production into a unit at the Arden Forest Industrial Estate in Alcester and installing a bespoke press-compressor to squash layers of foam under intense pressure.  

“There is nobody on the market that has got the green credentials that we have.  Other bosses are constructed from products that are specifically made for the target whereas ours is a by-product of waste material,” said Hadley.

“The way the material works through friction and compression is completely different to any other technology being used.  We wouldn’t have been able to buy the new equipment or go through that scientific research process without Funding 4 Innovation.”

The sustainability of the boss stretches to its frame which is made from wood locally sourced from the Ragley Hall estate in Alcester.  

“The real buzz for me is the feedback from archers who say it performs really well and is kind to them and their arrows as it’s easier to remove them from the target.  It’s twice as durable as straw targets in terms of the number of shots it can take,” he added.

Funding 4 Innovation is managed by Coventry University Enterprises.  The scheme is part of the Warwickshire Rural Growth Network, funded by Defra and led by Warwickshire County Council on behalf of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Judy Lambourne, project manager for Funding 4 Innovation, said: “Stratford Archery Centre is among the first to benefit from Funding 4 Innovation, which offers grants of between £3,000 and £5,000 to SMEs in rural Warwickshire who are working with another local SME on a new product, process or service.

“The grant was critical in the development of such an innovative product and I would encourage other eligible SMEs in rural Warwickshire to apply for funding that could make a real difference to their business.”