Hunger Games creates sales surge at UK longbow maker

These 6ft medieval bows were famously used in the battles of Agincourt, Crecy, and Poitiers.

“We battered the French in these massive battles,” says Powell. “There’s a lot of romanticism about longbows in this country. It’s a big part of our heritage.”

The Longbow Shop operates a 3,000 sq ft showroom where visitors from all over the world come to buy its handmade longbows. Exports currently make up more than 60pc of revenues, and the Longbow Shop regularly ships as far afield as the US and Uzbekistan.

Exporting longbows is no simple task. “They are a nightmare to post,” admits Powell. “We have to get thick cardboard tubes specially made so they arrive in one piece. That was a real growing pain when we first started selling abroad.”

The firm also runs an event company, offering “have a go” archery days to corporates and consumers, and a beginner’s course for anyone looking to take up the sport professionally.

The courses are increasingly popular, claims Powell. “People are fed up with technology and looking for ways to unwind,” he says. “After a long day, there’s nothing more relaxing than plonking a few arrows away.”

In addition to the retail business, the Longbow Shop provides products to TV and film companies. Its arrows have appeared on BBC series The White Queen, they have been used by the Royal Shakespeare Company for its productions at the Globe Theatre, and yesterday’s episode of Doctor Who, The Robots of Sherwood, also featured its arrows.

Powell first tried his hand at longbow archery 14 years ago, and was immediately smitten with the sport. “There are many different kinds of bows but I love the traditional English longbow,” he says. “I’ve shot one almost every day since.”

After completely an archery course, he began making his own arrows and selling them through an eBay shop. When he saw that he had a six-month waiting list, he knew he had a solid business model. “No one was selling these things in the UK, you had to import from the US and Europe,” he says.

Powell no longer has time to handmake his own arrows. Instead, he draws on the services of seven UK-based “bowyers”, who fashion the arrows and bows. “They are master craftsmen,” he says. “No two bows are the same. Each piece of wood has its own unique characteristics; it’s not like working with steel. It takes real knowledge of ballistics and carpentry to make these.”

The original English longbows were made from yew, but English yew is too weak for modern bows. Instead, the artisans use purpleheart, Bloodwood, Paduke, Pau amarilo, greenheart, hickory and maple.

The business has grown organically since inception. Powell was given the opportunity to pitch for angel investment by Dragons’ Den star – and keen archer – Theo Paphitis as part of his Small Business Sunday Twitter competition. “We won the first stage of the competition but we decided that we’d rather grow the business on our own, so we pulled out,” says Powell.

Powell has built the Longbow Shop into a family enterprise: father-in-law Mike O’Sullivan and brother-in-law Graham Higgs are both directors in the business. All three are keen archers and coach Archery GB as well as competing nationally. “We’ve won quite a lot of silverware,” says Powell.

The archery community is very close knit. Once a bow is strung with an arrow, it becomes a weapon. While there are no laws governing the sale of these items, the industry self-regulates carefully, according to Powell. “Crossbows tend to get all the bad press,” he says. “With archery, we all know what we’re doing.

“We wouldn’t sell a bow to just anyone. They have to prove that they have done a beginner’s course and we’re trained to spot dodgy characters.”

The archery industry is still in its nascent stages in the UK, claims Powell, and revenues at the company are set to grow exponentially over the next 18 months. “We went from three people to 10 in the last year and a half,” he says. “We’re already the largest archery shop in the UK and it’s only getting bigger.”

But while the Hunger Games effect may have generated a sales surge at Longbow Shop, Powell remains unimpressed by the films. “Jennifer Lawrence cannot hold a bow,” he says. “She’s doing it completely wrong. I cringe whenever I see the stills.”

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