At the moment we are at the great Nottingham Goose Fair, supposedly one of this countries premier fairground events. In truth over the last few years it has become a shadow of its former self, with many of the smaller 'private' funfairs up and down the country providing a much better return on investment. Whilst stood at the front of our helter skelter I was approached by a young lady from Nottingham radio asking if I would be prepared to be interviewed live by Radio Nottingham. "That's not a problem!", I replied, and the interviewer (sadly not the aforementioned young lady), and I ascended the helter skelter to take advantage of the increased signal strength received from being 40 ft in the air.
The interview opened with the statement that a lot of local people feel the prices charged on the rides at Nottingham are expensive. Now they have a valid point here, however I explained that this particular fair is probably the most expensive in the country for an operator to attend. It's not just the rental for the space, but the charge for having a car present at the fair, plus towing vehicles, living accomodation etc. I think our next most expensive event costs us something like 20 percent of what Nottingham levy. The interviewer was quite reasonable with his questions and I think I put our point of view across fairly well. I am one of those people who believe that we are moving away from our roots with the prices we are charging, but at places like Nottingham we have very litle room to cut things without the council helping us out by lowering some of our expenses.
I am now just about to set off back to Nottingham to dismantle the helter skelter, its pouring it down with rain, is freezing cold and generally all round miserable. At times like this I wish Arthur wasn't afraid of heights and I could send him.
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The interview opened with the statement that a lot of local people feel the prices charged on the rides at Nottingham are expensive. Now they have a valid point here, however I explained that this particular fair is probably the most expensive in the country for an operator to attend. It's not just the rental for the space, but the charge for having a car present at the fair, plus towing vehicles, living accomodation etc. I think our next most expensive event costs us something like 20 percent of what Nottingham levy. The interviewer was quite reasonable with his questions and I think I put our point of view across fairly well. I am one of those people who believe that we are moving away from our roots with the prices we are charging, but at places like Nottingham we have very litle room to cut things without the council helping us out by lowering some of our expenses.
I am now just about to set off back to Nottingham to dismantle the helter skelter, its pouring it down with rain, is freezing cold and generally all round miserable. At times like this I wish Arthur wasn't afraid of heights and I could send him.
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