252: The Rise and Fall of Bladon Lines | ‘Parrots in the Snow’

In this special episode we look at the rise and fall of Bladon Lines – a British chalet company who in the mid-80s were the biggest ski company in the UK, but by the mid-90s had completely disappeared.

It’s the story of two young men, who met at university and were sure that they could do ski holidays better. It’s about how their company rode the 80s boom and grew exponentially to become ‘the’ name in British skiing. Then new competitors came in and the market changed.

The last glass of ‘Parrot Claret’ was served over 30 years ago now, but the Bladon Lines continues to hold a special place in the hearts of British skiers…

SHOW NOTES

Mark Lines died in a car crash in 1990 (2:00)
Simon Bladon met Mark Lines on his first day at Exeter University in 1971 (3:15)
In July 1978 Simon was sacked from his job, leading to the start of ‘Bladon Lines’ (6:00)
In year three, the company made a profit of £80,000 (9:00)
Listen to Iain’s interview with John Yates Smith in Episode 231 (9:30)
The famous red, yellow and blue Bladon Lines jackets led to the parrot logo (11:00)
Bladon Lines offered ‘Parrot Claret’ and ‘Parrot Vin’ wines in their chalets (12:00)
Alastair Scott from the Sunday Times, found the jackets ‘hideously recognisable’ (12:30)
Amin Momen founded Momentum Ski – a corporate ski specialist (12:45)
The dotted Ski West jackets were also famous (13:30)
Ed Mannix is now owner of the Zermatt specialist, Matterhorn Chalets (13:40)
Nick Morgan founded the chalet company Le Ski in 1982 (15:15)
What are ‘Sloane Rangers’?
John Yates-Smith: “It was the days of glorious amateurishness” (17:30)
‘The Bladon Lines Chalet Girls Cookbook’ is occasionally available on ebay (22:00)
The standard of chalets in the 80s… (22:45)
Simon Hoskyns worked for Bladon Lines before going on to co-found Alpine Answers (24:00)
There were no mobile phones in the 80s… (23:30)
Gareth Crump is now Sales and Marketing Director at VIP Ski (26:30)
The days of the Telex… (27:00)
Ed Mannix was the only member of staff with a ‘mobile phone’ (28:15)
Simon Bladon sold his 50% share to family friend Christopher Needler (29:00)
Christopher Needler kept Bladon Lines afloat as the market changed (29:45)
Crystal Ski were an aggressive new competitor (32:00)
Chalet rents went ‘out of control’ (32:30)
In 1991, the company sacked Fiona Easdale as managing director (33:15)
John Yates-Smith and Easdale formed their own chalet company, YSE Ski (33:30)
Inghams bought Bladon Lines in 1995 (36:00)
Simon Bladon offered to come back to help run the new Bladon Lines division of Inghams (37:15)
The skills you develop when working ski seasons… (38:30)
The Bladon Lines community… (42:00)
In 2020 Crystal Ski announced it was cancelling its entire chalet programme (44:00)
Seasonal Businesses in Travel report a 50% reduction in chalet capacity this decade (44:00)
The Bladon Lines ‘Chalet Girl’ races (45:00)

Credits

This episode was written, narrated and edited by Iain Martin.

Thanks go to Andy Wadsworth for reading the additional clippings, quotes and excerpts and to everyone who contributed to this episode including Simon Bladon, John Yates-Smith, Amin Momen, Ed Mannix, Gareth Crump, Nick Morgan and Simon Hoskyns.

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If you enjoyed this episode and you know someone who worked or took holidays with Bladon Lines back in the 80s or 90s, or simply likes a good ski industry story, then I would really appreciate it if you shared this episode with them.

Feedback

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