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Richard Maude – the new Managing Director of Shimano UK – is a self-confessed fishing fanatic with a deep-rooted passion in the fight against the pollution of the UK’s waterways.
The former Sales and Marketing Manager has taken over from Ian Latham, who will be retiring after eight years in the role in June.
Maude doesn’t just talk the talk when it comes to his love of fishing and the environment; he walks the walk and plays an active role in working behind the scenes to ensure a future for the next generation of anglers.
He has worked with the Angling Trust – the body that represents fishermen in England and Wales – on projects that include Anglers Against Pollution and Anglers Against Litter.
And since moving down to the south of England from his home county of Derbyshire, he has joined the army of anglers who are fighting back in the battle against pollution. He can often be seen throwing a little white bucket into the water to collect samples from his local River Lodden for scrutiny.
Reductions in testing by the UK’s Environment Agency means that many sites are not regularly assessed, making it impossible to know the true state of sewage pollution in England.
“The state of rivers and waterways in the UK has been a big problem for years and that is not just from a fishing point of view,” said Maude. “It had been fairly well documented for a while the pollution that has been pumped into my local river, so under the watchful eye of the Angling Trust, myself and other local anglers decided to do what we could to help the situation.
“That meant coming down here to collect samples and becoming the first team of ‘civil scientists’ in the country.
“Fishermen are custodians of the waterways and without us, our hobby would be exploited. It is important that the big, privatised water companies are held accountable for decades of neglect.
“The damage to our waterways is not irreparable, but needs the right things to be done now. It is about doing the right thing for the environment. Damage is a generational thing and it is going to take a generation to improve the situation through work, accountability and awareness.”
Maude told Angling International that he is excited by the huge opportunity before him at Shimano as he takes on what he describes as a ‘boyhood dream’.
“Fishing is in a great space in the UK now. There has never been so much media coverage of the sport thanks to fishing shows on the television and YouTube. And as angling was one of the only pastimes that could be practiced during COVID, it raised the profile of the sport and demonstrated the joys of nature and its benefit to mental health. Participation is among the highest in the UK across all sports.
“The concerns facing fishing are from the outside that we do not have control of – including pollution, the threat from animal rights groups and fishing bans that have been introduced in Europe but have not yet filtered down to the UK.
“Those are big problems that need to be solved at government level and through organisations like the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) and the Angling Trust.
“It is our task to fish responsibly, sustainably and to educate and inform.”
Maude says that it will be business as usual for Shimano UK following his appointment. “We are where we want to be. During COVID it went bananas due to unprecedented demand. However, what goes up must come down and the situation became problematic with more product than was needed – a situation that was reflected in fewer sales.
“The industry has now recovered from a really heavy pandemic hangover and we are seeing steady growth across all aspects of the business. Dealing with that is what we at Shimano are best at.”
Main picture: The Guardian.
