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BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)<br />
Pic: PhilYeomans/BNPS<br />
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Smashed it - The last tennis ball maker in the Western world is bouncing back...<br />
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Louise Price of tennis ball maker Price of Bath is leading the family business's fight back against far eastern competition than nearly wiped out the company a few decades ago.<br />
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And the company is now doing so well again that it will soon be moving to brand new larger factory in Box in Wiltshire.<br />
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Price of Bath was set up by her grandfather Joseph in the 1930's and after WW2 employed 120 people churning out 84,000 balls a week - nowadays it's the last tennis ball maker in the western world, and produces a much more modest 6000 balls a week from raw rubber from Malaysia to finished product.<br />
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Louise's father Derek, who invented the rubber tiles used on nuclear powered submarines as well as running the family business, still works full time in the dickensian factory at the age of 88.