Severn Under, a new British firm controlled by Ray Hall, who made his fortune by selling slot machines for the gambling industry, announced today that it has become MacGregor Golf’s licensee for its Greg Norman Collection of golf apparel in the U.K. and Europe, to the exclusion of Italy and Spain. Tony Wilkinson, former European manager of Greg Norman, will take responsibility for brand development and sales as brand director, with a minority stake in the operation.
The new business has retained Greg Norman’s customer service team in Lancaster. It will use a new dedicated state-of-the-art warehouse in the U.K.and a new advanced embroidery and cresting facility operated by Severn Brow Holdings, the new controlling shareholder of Severn Under. Located at Bridgnorth in the Midlands, the company is also involved in other operations including stationary.
Peter Stollenwerk is in line to obtain the distribution of Greg Norman clothing for Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries through his German company, Green Grass Golf.
Stollenwerk is also about to finalize a deal to become the licensee for MacGregor Golf equipment throughout Continental Europe. Wilkinson had previously indicated that he would handle MacGregor Golf throughout Europe, but he could not be reached for comment on this issue.
Stollenwerk was previously the exclusive agent for Greg Norman in Germany and Austria and of MacGregor Golf for these countries and the Czech Republic. He says he had been able to generate more than half of the total European turnover for the two lines.
Green Grass Golf, which has its own warehouse, recently took on a contract to distribute the GPS system developed by Golf Body, a Korean company whose European manager is now John Ennis, former general manager of MacGregor Golf Europe.
