 |
|
|
In 1976 a small Company called BCE was founded. This Company started life as a distributor to the coin operator sector, supplying cues, balls and table spares. By 1980 BCE had diversified into the manufacture of snooker tables. Within a short period the BCE Westbury snooker table was the table being used at all World professional snooker tournaments. From 1982-1992 the Westbury was the benchmark table in snooker and BCE had become the biggest name in snooker. Many of the sport’s leading professionals were happy to endorse BCE cues.
Cliff Thorburn
Kirk Stevens
Denis Taylor
Alex Hurricane Higgins
Tony Knowles
Tony Meo
Willie Thorne
Doug Mountjoy
Perry Mans
Jimmy White
Just to mention a few, supported the meteoric rise of BCE.
At the same time, Riley had gone down the route of flotation and had huge ambitions to take the sport and the Riley brand of clubs globally.
By the 1990’s snooker had lost the magic of the 80’s. Both Riley and BCE by 1992 had floated on the stock exchange and been taken back into private hands. This marked the beginning of a more difficult period for the cue sports industry in general.
All the personalities in the game had come to the end or were nearing the end of their glittering careers. There was a new breed of players emerging, leaner, meaner, and mentally tougher but with less popular appeal.