Field sports company has growth in its sight

A SPECIALIST field sports holiday company is looking forward to a busy second year as bookings roll in for its 2009 trips.

Halstead and Bolton was launched in last year by Rainton-based professional fly fishing instructor Simon Britton and shotgun coach Jim Curry, who lives in Ilkley.

The company offers the ultimate in luxury fishing and shooting holidays in locations from Scotland to the Seychelles.

Successful trips in 2008 included a number of trips to Argentina for both fishing and shooting and two bone fishing holidays in the Bahamas, which proved highly successful.

Simon Britton said: “Halstead and Bolton was born out of our desire to provide the best possible sporting experiences. We accompany all trips to ensure that everything runs smoothly. We can’t control whether our clients catch their quarry but we can ensure everything else exceeds their expectations.”

Two more Bahamas trips are in the diary for this Spring, with places filling fast, and more shooting trips to Argentina are planned.

For those less experienced in the art of shooting, there is a residential game shooting course where guests are schooled in a range of skills, including quarry identification, gun safety, equipment and clothing and the etiquette of shooting.

They also offer “simulated” game shooting for corporate customers with challenging clay targets, professional instructors and the change to experience shooting “without the feathers”.

Mr Britton said: “We believe we are the first company in Yorkshire to offer top quality sporting holidays and we are delighted with the support we have already received in the region. We have great plans in the pipeline to expand the business.

“We already have a great client base in Yorkshire and word is already spreading outside our home territory, with our most popular holidays attracting rapid bookings.”