BREAK
HOW MANDALE TURNED THE TABLES
TO CREATE A PROPERTY GIANT
“Ey up!” – Mandale estates director
Joe Darragh has become well-known
for his friendly greeting.
Joe Darragh tells
Michael McGeary
how Mandale’s big
break made them
hot property
A
dramatic decline in the popularity
of snooker was the cue for a
change of direction that helped
Mandale Group become the
North-East’s largest privately-
owned property developer.
The Tees-based company began life as
the Pool and Snooker Centre, manufacturing
snooker tables in a factory off Bowesfield
Lane, Stockton, to cater for the sport’s
spectacular boom in the 1980s.
“Former bingo halls all over the country
were being converted into snooker clubs
with 20 or more full-sized tables,” recalls
estates director Joe Darragh. “Steve Davis
was world number one for six years running
and we were kept extremely busy.
“But everyone wanted to see Davis get
beaten and as soon as he finally lost his
crown – bang! Interest in snooker started to
decline dramatically.”
Many of the snooker halls were turned
into roller skating rinks or nightclubs and the
company knew they also had to find a new
direction.
“We converted our factory into offices and
industrial units and found we were able to let
them quite easily,” recalls Joe.
It was quickly clear they were onto
a winner. They came up with the name
Mandale because the company owned a
showroom on Mandale Road in Thornaby,
while the nearby Victoria Bridge in Stockton
was adopted for its logo.
“We built offices on Teesdale Business
Park during the Teesside Development
Corporation days when Margaret Thatcher
took her famous walk in the wilderness, >>