The British history of dartboard manufacturing started in 1919 when Ted Leggatt, an industrial chemist invented then started manufacturing ‘Nodor’ modelling clay. Leggatt then went on to experiment with Nodor plasticine as a material for possible use in construction of dartboards.
The fist Nodor plasticine dartboard, marketed in 1923 was not generally popular because it lacked the ‘plonk’ sound as the dart struck the board. For that reason Leggatt added elm dartboards to Nodor production by 1924 and by 1928 brass darts were added to to the range.
In 1935, the Nodor Original Bristle Dartboard is launched, the clock pattern is adopted as the standard for dartboards worldwide, also at the same time Leggatt helps found the National Darts Association and becomes its first President.
Nodor’s first real competitor came about in 1945 when Harry Kicks Senior invested his demob money in establishing an elm dartboard company. Around 1952 he started to make dartboard cabinets by hand, soon afterwards manufacturing paper coil boards. After the Nodor bristle dartboard patent had expired, the Kicks business began to manufacture bristle dartboards from a stable block in the East End under the company name ‘H.A Kicks and Sons.’
Harry Kicks achieved a major breakthrough deal in 1973 with the ‘British Darts Organisation’. From then on, the H.A Kicks dartboards would be the official dartboards of the BDO, carrying its logo and appearing in many international darts tournaments.
It was in the mid-seventies when Kicks changed the name of the company to Winmau, and by 1993, after several years of financial losses the company was close to insolvency. Financial support was sought in their U.S distributor, Accudart Inc, who in turn became the majority shareholder in Winmau.
Development work began in 1995 on the most technically advanced bristle dartboard in the world. By 1997, The Blade dartboard was launched as the ultimate no-bounce out dartboard using sophisticated staple free technology. The same year, Winmau was voted Mid-Anglia Business of the Year, beating Ryanair.
During the last twenty-five years there has been bitter rivalry between Nodor and Winmau, with several unsuccessful attempts made for one to acquire the other. In 2002 after nearly three decades of competition Nodor successfully acquired Winmau. To date the company has sold over 40 million dartboards to over 50 different countries worldwide, and will continue doing so long into the future.
