Shooting stars: how Promatic went from specialist engineering to global leader

As the UK’s only manufacturer of clay target launchers, Promatic International has grown from a specialist engineering business into a global leader supplying major international competitions. Strategic acquisitions, export growth and continued innovation are driving the company’s next phase of expansion. The Manufacturer paid a visit to find out more.

Promatic International has been serving the clay shooting industry since 1985, manufacturing its comprehensive range of clay target launchers and shooting ground technology. The company’s traps are used in major sporting events, including the World Cup of the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) and the World Shooting Para Sport Championships.

Based in Hooton in the Wirral since 1996, Promatic’s former managing director Brian Jardine, an engineer at heart, began designing and manufacturing high-quality traps, growing the company’s reputation in the UK and Europe, and expanding into the US in the early 2000s.

The Promatic group has installed competition standard layouts at high-profile ranges in Dubai, Greece and the US. The company also sponsors Team GB athletes, including Nathan Hales, Olympic Gold Medallist and record holder, men’s trap shooting.

“Shooting has always been a very mature market, predominantly in North America, the UK and Europe,” said Gary Jones, Group Chief Executive Officer. “And even though it’s quite an expensive sport we have grown significantly over the last 15 years and the demand for traps is still as strong as ever. It’s a niche market, but until you’re actually in it, it’s hard to understand exactly how big it is.”

Promatic’s range of traps – which are mostly named after birds including Kestrel, Hobby, Pigeon and Peregrine – number over 100 models of machines, covering every discipline and budget; from the simple and easy to use for personal use and beginners, through to small clubs and commercial grounds and on to competition shooting which prioritises precision and reliability.

The company has also spearheaded the transition from mechanical traps to wireless release systems that have increased safety on shooting grounds. The Claymate system provides cutting edge technology for clay counting and release systems.

Grounds have reported revenues increasing by up to 40% thanks to Claymate’s ability to control and record clay usage. Claymate allows the shooter to take a valid encoded Wi ‘contactless’ card, place the card on the stand controller, set the target and shoot, eliminating the need for coin and token systems.

Flying the flag

Promatic has its own design facility and manufactures in the UK, purely inhouse, conducting its own fabrication, machining, welding, assembly, testing and then packaging for export.

The company is the only UK-based manufacturer in its field and builds two to three times as many traps as its nearest competitor. “What competitors we have are mainly overseas,” added Gary. “There were others based in the UK in the past, but over the years they’ve stopped manufacturing and Promatic has become the go-to brand due to our quality and reliability.”

No ground owner wants to have a trap machine that’s breaking clays, as every broken clay represents lost revenue, so launch reliability is vital, with minimal breakdowns and less maintenance. As such Promatic offer a service on its traps to enhance the value to customers, using CAD technology to determine whether a piece of equipment is experiencing issues in the field, and whether there is stress points on the trap itself.

Not only that but Promatic have made significant moves over the last few years to become a onestop- shop for the industry. In 2022 the business purchased Italian company Electronica Progetti, which specialises in the scoring systems and scoreboards for shooting ranges, aiding in Promatic’s long-term goal of becoming the official provider to the Olympic Games.

“This purchase has enabled us to present a truly collective offering. If a customer wants to design a championship course and hold major events, we can offer a one-stop-shop solution, and manage everything ourselves,” added Gary.

“It is also beneficial for the governing bodies to deal with one company. For example, we are one of only four platinum sponsors of the ISSF, who are the international federation body for shooting.”

This holistic approach was also demonstrated in Promatic’s partnership with a company called Travision. The company’s ClayTracer system delivers a live video feed and operates as a VARstyle review system, bringing elite-level technology to competitive shooting which has also been approved by the ISSF.

This was brought about following controversy at the last Olympics in Paris when Team GB shooter Amber Rutter was denied a gold medal in the women’s skeet final when judges ruled she missed a target during a sudden-death shoot-off, despite slow-motion replays clearly showing a successful hit.

Despite Rutter appealing the call, the judges upheld their decision, and due to the absence of any approved referee assisted technology at the time, the call was final.

Gary continued: “The Travision system is going to make its debut in competition in December at the World Cup in Rome, and we’ve been working with them on the design and manufacture. So this gives us another arm to our offering and enables us to give the governing bodies of the spot the solutions they’re asking for, so it’s more reliable and consistent.

“This will help with our long-term strategy of becoming the equipment supplier for future Olympic games and strengthen our reputation and reliability with federations and governing bodies in the sport. Along with quality and reliability, our USP is that we offer more to the market than our competitors.”

Exports and growth

Gary explained that a sport like shooting doesn’t experience explosive growth, rather there are pockets of gradual development. Mature markets in North America, Europe and the UK are very well established and still growing, but there are also emerging markets elsewhere, for example, the company has just completed a significant project in Egypt.

However, because of the nature of the business, the length of time equipment spends in the field and the reliability of Promatic’s products, growth can be quite cyclical.

Traps can spend over a decade in the field so if a particular region decides to open a number of shooting grounds – following that initial growth where kit has been purchased, installed and commissioned – that region will then be in a maintenance zone for the next ten years, where they will take advantage of Promatic’s additional service until such time as the traps and equipment need replacing or upgrading.

We have grown significantly over the last 15 years and the demand for traps is still as strong as ever. It’s a niche market, but until you’re actually in it, it’s hard to understand exactly how big it is.

We want to continue and grow our relationships with the governing bodies of the sport, and strengthen our hold as the world leading manufacturer, but we also want to be the provider that people go to for integrated ground technology solutions.
Gary Jones, Group Chief Executive Officer, Promatic Group

“We’re getting more enquiries elsewhere internationally,” continued Gary. “It’s helping the business, and we export to 41 countries currently. We’re here to help anybody who wants to put in a shooting facility, and to give them the integrated solutions that they’re looking for in terms of the traps, scoring systems and scoreboards.

“We always try to make sure that we’re price competitive. That doesn’t mean that we forsake quality, as that is paramount to our business. So, we might not have the economies of scale of some of our international competitors, but we’ve remained competitive in the market, and that’s why we’re still the leading trap manufacturer in the world.”

Earlier in the year, Promatic secured a £1m trade credit facility from HSBC UK to support the growth of these export volumes, with the financing guaranteed by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the government’s export credit agency.

Promatic’s Olympic Trap has definitely helped me train for gold success in terms of accuracy and all aspects of shooting preparation for the Olympic Games.
Nathan Hales, Olympic Gold Medallist and record holder, men’s trap shooting

The company’s year-on-year growth of export clientele grew orders but also placed pressure on working capital so the company’s bank – HSBC UK – worked with UKEF to arrange a £1m finance package backed by a General Export Facility (GEF) – a guarantee designed by UKEF to enable SMEs to export.

This support has enabled Promatic to purchase materials in larger quantities, allowing the business to fulfil orders across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. This export growth supports 58 staff at Promatic’s headquarters and a network of Wirralbased suppliers who provide steel processing, coating and packaging services.

Gary added: “The support from UKEF and HSBC UK has been transformative for our business. Thanks to GEF, we were able to access the working capital to take on bigger international projects and meet growing demand from clients and sporting venues worldwide.

“It’s also helped secure long-term jobs. We have an established local supply chain, and as we grow, they grow, and this helps the wider area in terms of the engineering excellence that it brings to the region, with the hope of further investments and opportunities for the Wirral and Cheshire area.

“We want to sustain our position as the market leader within the trap equipment market, but through our other business, Electronica Progetti, we also want to be the market leader within integrated technical solutions, for both established and new shooting grounds.

“We of course want to continue and grow our relationships with the governing bodies of the sport, and strengthen our hold as the world leading manufacturer, but we also want to be the provider that people go to for integrated ground technology solutions.”

Shooting for the stars

As Promatic looks to the future, it’s clear the company’s ambitions extend well beyond manufacturing world-class clay target launchers. While the business has built its reputation on engineering quality, reliability and British manufacturing, it is increasingly positioning itself as a technology partner capable of delivering complete, integrated solutions for shooting grounds around the world, becoming a one-stop-shop for the sport.

From wireless release systems and digital scoring technology to video review systems designed to improve fairness in elite competition, Promatic is investing in technologies that enhance every aspect of the shooting experience. Combined with its acquisition of Electronica Progetti and partnerships with businesses such as Travision, the company is assembling a portfolio that few competitors can match.

The business also remains firmly rooted in its Wirral headquarters, where skilled manufacturing and a strong local supply chain continue to underpin its global success. As export demand grows across established and emerging markets alike, that commitment to UK manufacturing is creating jobs and supporting a wider engineering ecosystem in the region.

The company’s long-term objective of becoming the official technology provider to the Olympic Games is undoubtedly ambitious, but its growing international presence, expanding product portfolio and close relationships with the sport’s governing bodies suggest it is well placed to achieve it.

In a niche industry where precision, reliability and trust are everything, Promatic has demonstrated that British engineering can continue to set the global standard.