There's no pegging them back

CLUE: outdoor leisure specialist slightly confused in Glasgow's South

Side. Any reader, crossword buff or not, who has spent some time under

canvas would easily figure out that the answer could only be Vango. The

name is no random choice.

When the Moodie family took over the Govan tent-making firm McIlwraith

in 1963, they searched around for a catchier name before coming up with

the anagram that has served them well for more than 30 years.

Alastair Moodie, managing director of what is now the UK's leading

supplier of lightweight tents, is the third generation to run the

company which is descended from Andrew Mitchell, a Glasgow canvas

merchant's founded 150 years ago.

His grandfather, originally from Orkney, joined Mitchell at the end of

the last century and worked his way up to become managing director.

His sons followed suit and by the early 1960s, when the present chief

executive became involved, the family had a controlling stake in the

firm. It prospered like never before as local authorities throughout the

UK poured millions of pounds into rural holiday schemes for city

youngsters.

''Scout, guide, school camps and so on sprung up all over the place

and we were soon selling about 10,000 tents a year, designed to be

light, sturdy and simple to erect,'' says Moodie.

Force Ten is probably the brand name most associated with Vango tents

though the Icelandic, which has barely changed since its design in the

1930s, is equally famous. Its incorporation into the company is more

complicated.

As the package holiday industry took off and the fad for camping

holidays lost its shine, trading for all the companies in the sector

became increasingly difficult by the early 1970s.

Owned by 23 scattered members of the Moodie clan, Vango was sold for

#2m in 1973 to the Black & Edginton group which also took in Blacks of

Greenock, Vango's main rival and manufacturer of the Icelandic tents.

Alastair and his brother Gary, the only two Moodies then actually

involved in running the family firm, remained on board and were able to

buy back the company when the parent group ran into problems about 10

years ago.

''They had made the mistake of focusing too much on the big frame

tent,'' says Mr Moodie. ''Meanwhile the paramilitary demand for tentage

was being quickly eroded by competiton from the Far East and recession

was in full swing.''

The purchase price was the same as the selling price had been, so the

deal was a profitable one when the high inflation rate of the era is

taken into account.

Vango, which also had the rights to the Black name, then moved to its

present home in Ladyburn overlooking the Clyde on the outskirts of

Greenock.

The unusual name still stirs interest, not least from the Polish

community, and Moodie still remembers the letter from a Mrs Vango of

London who was looking for distant relatives she now assumed had gone

into the tent business in Scotland.

More important, the name is now associated with what is recognised as

some of the finest lightweight equipment in the world and it is

extending into other areas such as sleeping bags, outdoor wear, and

boots.

Chris Bonnington, leader of a recent British expedition to Everest,

writes: ''We used 30 Force Ten Mark 5s as base camps up to 18,000 ft and

they stood up to everything the weather threw at them -- in fact one

team member described them as bullet-proof.''

Such endorsements -- and there are many from the mountaineering and

exploring world -- are manna from an advertising heaven for any company.

Comments from the experts are also used by Vango to introduce

innovations to their products and the company was among the first to

make the now familiar dome tents, best suited to relatively benign

weather conditions.

But Vango's research and development team, lead by Alastair junior,

has patented a Tension Band System for its Hurricane tents, providing an

internal bracing network which provides far greater stability and

strength in the fiercest of gales.

''It is only by constantly improving our products, whether tents,

sleeping bags, or rucksacks, that we can hope to compete against our

rivals, particularly in Europe,'' says sales director Richard Cotter.

Since the ''buy-back'' 10 years ago, sales have doubled to #6m and the

company has increased its payroll from 23 to 45.

The vast majority of sales go south of the Border, with about 10%

within Scotland and about 20% -- and rising -- destined for continental

Europe. Most of the tents, now normally synthetic mixtures rather than

canvas, are made abroad and sent to Greenock for final checking and

packaging.

''There are often slight differences in foreign tastes: for example

they tend to prefer down-filled sleeping bags or different pocket

systems in rucksacks and we take this into account,'' says Cotter.

Vango concentrates on the lightweight tent market, having decided the

market for family tents is limited both by the higher price and the

continuing popularity of cheap package holidays.

Tents make up about 28% of sales, with sleeping bags on 22% and

rucksacks 18%. Most of the rest comprises outdoor clothing and ski wear.

A designer recently joined from Pringle to work on the fashion side.

''Outdoor leisure is becoming more accessible to more people and we

see ourselves profiting from this growing mass market,'' says Cotter,

pointing to the example of Spain and Portugal where there has been a

dramatic increase in sales.

Europe is the main target and Mr Moodie, who praises Renfrewshire

Enterprise for its help in boosting exports, harbours no doubts that

Vango will continue to grow.

''At present there are about 50 companies like ourselves in Europe.

Probably only 10 or so will survive and we will be one of them.''