Tony Tillbrook began making repairs wetsuits in a small orange shop located on the narrow street Hartington Road Bruce Grove, in north London, in 1958.
– “When I visited the store in 1960 to take measures to buy a wetsuit, their business was growing strongly.”
In the mid-60s most divers in southern UK used wetsuits “SPARTAN”.
The company, in the same time, began to add in its business equipment from Aqualung, and imported US regulators (Sportsways) and regulators from France (France Star).
The Nemrod manufactured regulators type Snark III with brand Spartan. It was a double regulator hose two stages upstream unbalanced, with the same characteristics of the Snark III but with custom label for the company: the Trident MK II.
Regulators imported from Spain (from Nemrod), in some cases, brought the shark and diver on the label, which was the label SPARTAN.
In the early 1970s, the company moved for larger installations in Cheshunt, also in north London. His clothes now had higher quality and began appearing in TV shows and movies with divers.
The double hose regulators were being replaced by single hose two stages regulators. Tillbrook had added the GSD manufacturer of Italy in its product line, with the single hose regulator Spinnaker and Spinnaker “B”.
In the mid-80s, due to huge commercial competition, the company now has more inclination to surf market and Tony Tillbrook left the company that manufactured clothes in the hands of his son John.
The brand remains strong in www.spartanwetsuits.com
Reference:
- John Salsbury