Riley (brand)

E.J. Riley, later Riley Leisure and just Riley, is a British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 by Edward John Riley,[1] an Irish expatriate living in Manchester, England.[3]

Riley
IndustrySporting goods
Founded1878[1]
FoundersEdward James Riley[1]
HeadquartersCaldicot, Wales[2]
Key people
Stuart Lacey (Director)[2]
ParentBCE Distributors[2]
Websiteriley-snooker-international.com

History

E.J. Riley started as a local chain of sports retail stores, before branching out into manufacturing in the 1880s.[1] The company first gained fame as a cricket equipment maker,[4] and has been described as the world's largest manufacturer of cricket bats at the time.[5]

From the 1890s, the brand expanded its range to a variety of sports and indoor games, including golf, tennis, lawn bowls, and billiards,[5] the latter becoming its main calling card around 1910.[1] It acquired rights to use Crystalate plastic in its early products,[6] and later marketed a proprietary compound called "Ri-leene".[1]

As its manufacturing business outgrew its retail division by a wide margin, E.J. Riley sold its shops in the early 1920s to focus on its Accrington factory.[1] Founder Riley died in 1926,[1] but the company kept expanding through various acquisitions, and eventually went public in 1977 amidst the British snooker boom of the era.[7]

In the 1990s, Riley's fortunes began to change and, despite exporting its products to 67 countries throughout the world,[8] the factory⁠—by then based in Hapton⁠—closed its doors in 2002.[9] Rights to the brand were acquired by competitor BCE (originally Bristol Coin Equipment, later rebranded as Billiard Cues of England), who continues to use the Riley name for one of their product lines.[7][2]

The Billiards Company, a Dublin-based company owned by former players John Benton and Darren Lennox, used to trade as E.J. Riley Ireland. It was formed in 1994 as a subsidiary of Riley, before going independent in 2002.[10]

Notable endorsers
A Riley table in Hong Kong.

Sports bar chain

As an outlet for its products, the company started a chain of pool halls called Rileys,[1] which is no longer part of the same group.[12]

References
  1. Clare, Peter N. (2018). "E.J. Riley". snookerheritage.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  2. "B.C.E.(Distributors) Limited". dnb.com. Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  3. "Five Greater Manchester Rileys clubs saved". manchestereveningnews.co.uk. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  4. Radford, Gordon (2007). "The EJR". thecuecollector.com. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  5. "Amazing Accrington: Industry and Art". mylearning.org. The Heritage Connection. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  6. Clare, Norman. "Billiard & Snooker Balls". snookerheritage.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  7. Calvert, Andrew (23 December 2002). "From a life of Riley to being snookered". lancashiretelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  8. "They're right on cue". dorsetecho.co.uk. 28 November 2000. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  9. Dee, John (14 December 2002). "Snooker: Henry mounts fightback as Doherty falters". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  10. "About Us". ejriley.ie. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  11. Rowe, Mark (1 November 2016). The Summer Field: A History of English Cricket Since 1840. Cardiff: Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. p. 31. ISBN 9781708165758. E.J.Riley of Accrington advertised the 'George Hirst Autograph bat' ('Every bat personally selected by Geo H Hirst').
  12. "Rileys Sports Bars". linkedin.com. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
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