Thriving Ullcatch angling for further growth

FOR many, one of life’s greatest career dreams is to work in a area that excites their passion and determination.

A lucky few find this prize through a carefully plotted career path, while others make their way there through the necessity of circumstances.

Eugene Farrelly and Martin McGowan, co-directors of Ullcatch, fall into the latter category. “Both myself and Martin were working in the building industry, and found ourselves, like many others, needing to reassess where we were going,” Eugene Farrelly explained of the sea change they both encountered. “As the downturn of the past five years continued, circumstances dictated that we had to re-invent ourselves to survive. The two of us were good friends through a shared love of angling, so three years ago we started to seriously look at the possibility of turning our passion into a business.”

Like all anglers, Eugene and Martin were always on the lookout for new products to better equip themselves for their sport, and ideas began to emerge. “We were always designing our own bits of kit for fishing, small innovations to help the angler better enjoy and succeed in the sport. We were keenly aware of just how huge the angling market is, both here in Ireland and abroad, so we started to look at getting backing to take the idea a step closer reality.”

With some early funding from the Kerry Enterprise Board, they undertook a number of business modules as well as setting up a website. “We never had any doubts about the worth of the idea, our problem was finding a suitable investor to come on board with us on the venture,” he adds.

Well known in angling circles for their expertise and experience, Eugene and Martin established an income stream by offering day and night fishing trips, catering for tourists and locals alike.

“The fact that we are experienced anglers and have been fishing here in Kerry for 20 years or more certainly gives us credibility,” he says. “We are both members of Tralee Bay and Waterville sea angling clubs, and are very keen match anglers who love specimen hunting. We have a lot to give the visitors with our expertise in angling around the coast for specimen bass, stingray and painted ray with bespoke packages from shore and rock to boat.”

The main aim of Ullcatch is to develop the scope of the business towards own brand manufactured accessories for the extensive angling products market. Ullcatch has already developed a number of patent pending products intended for market at the earliest opportunity.

“It is very much about developing tools for anglers, devices to make the sport of fishing more productive and enjoyable. We are very aware of what anglers actually want, small innovations that will make the sport more interesting and exciting,” he says. “Our products will differ significantly from our competitors because of our novel and innovative designs. These have been designed by anglers and not by engineers,” he says. “We have already validated the prototypes with anglers, both Irish and Europeans, to define the features and the value they see in this product over our competitor’s products.” Fashioning a premium design look and functionality are critical, he believes. “Ullcatch will offer lifestyle accessories that portray what type of angler you are.”

Angling tourism is worth over €100m to the Irish economy annually, with approximately 142,000 visitors to the country engaging in aspect of the sport. 33% opt for either sea or game fishing, with 19% favouring coarse fishing, and the remainder divided into other areas of angling. Well over half — 58% — of visiting anglers come from Britain, with the remaining 42% divided between France, Germany, and Holland.

“Martin and myself were always being asked by other anglers about the products we designed ourselves, and where they could be bought,” Eugene recalls. “These were local and visiting anglers, so we knew we were on to a part of the market with obvious potential. We both do a lot of beach and boat angling, so we mainly design around products anglers will need in these areas of the sport. By their nature, fishing people are very demanding, but when they tell you you’ve got a good product, you can take it as a solid endorsement that you’ve got something decent,” he says.

As a member of the Irish angling team that won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Holland in 2012, Eugene’s public profile has benefited the fledgling business. Added to that, Eugene was selected last year by the National Geographic television channel to participate in a new show, Kingfisher, where he pitted his skills against 29 other anglers selected from around the world.

The series is set to air later this summer — another piece of helpful profile building that Eugene hopes will eventually benefit Ullcatch. “There are a lot of anglers in Ireland for such a small country, and we would see here as the first market for our products,” he says.

“Beyond Ireland, the global market for angling equipment and supplies is simply enormous. There is an estimated $300bn spent worldwide every year on angling, which demonstrates just how massive this market is. One good product in a market that big is enough to make any company successful.”

Having personally financed the development of their first product, Eugene and Martin are in search of a suitable investor to enable Ullcatch market itself to as wide a market as possible.

“We have had a great deal of interest in the company so far, and, ideally, we are looking for an investor with €100,000 to help us better market this first product, and also allow us to begin development of a number of other angling products we want to get out into that global market,” he says.

“The angling sector has survived and even thrived during the downturn, and that really underlines its potential going forward. This market will grow with every passing year, and we are convinced that Ullcatch is perfectly positioned to capitalise on that,” he added.

Name: Eugene Farrelly

Occupation: Co-founder, Ullcatch

Background: Ullcatch was recently established at Fenit, Co. Kerry. The emphasis is own-brand manufactured accessories for the Irish and international angling market. Ullcatch has developed its first patent pending product which it hopes to market shortly.