27/09/2026
Angling Scotland Board Member and Administrator of the Salmon Fishing Club, Ken Reid, spent some time yesterday in conversation with Glasgow Angling Centre boss, Paul Delvin at the Open Weekend.
Paul has been a great advocate and supporter of Angling Scotland over the years and is currently supporting our drive to grow membership and give anglers a bigger voice by refunding members their £5.00 membership free in the form of reward points that can be spent in store or on line.
The following article by Ken is reproduced with the kind permission of the Salmon Fishing Club which aims to provide a worldwide community and forum for Salmon, Steelhead and Trout anglers.
—————————
🎣 SFC IN CONVERSATION — PAUL DEVLIN
From a market stall at The Barras to one of Europe’s biggest independent angling businesses.
It was a 5.00am start for me this morning and a drive from darkest Aberdeenshire to represent Angling Scotland at the Glasgow Angling Centre Open Weekend.
There were plenty of “weel kent” faces I wanted to catch up with, but one man was top of my list.
Paul Devlin — or “PD” to just about everyone who knows him.
I wanted to sit down with Paul and talk not just about tackle and business, but about 40 years in angling, family, the next generation and where he thinks our sport is heading.
🎣 “So Paul, where did all this start?”
Not in a shiny superstore.
It started with a market stall at Glasgow’s famous Barrowlands — The Barras — around 40 years ago.
From there came PD Fishing in Cumbernauld, where Paul developed not only a successful business but an extraordinary network of relationships with tackle manufacturers, agents and anglers.
Then came the really big gamble.
Around 24 years ago, Paul borrowed £1 million to develop Glasgow Angling Centre and its online retail operation.
It was some bet, but Paul is shrewd and canny.
Today the businesses proudly employs around 70 people, operating online alongside the retail operation and have grown into what Paul describes as the largest independent angling business of its kind in Europe.
But perhaps the most telling statistic isn’t financial. Well for me that is!
Paul’s longest-serving employee, Gary “Gaz” Wingate, has been with him for more than 35 years. Still looks like a bairn too. 😉
Spend a little time behind the scenes and you understand why. This feels less like a corporate operation and much more like a large, slightly mischievous fishing family.
👨👩👧👦 “What happens when PD eventually hangs up his waders?”
That succession is already taking shape.
Paul’s son Chris and daughter Ainsley are immersed in the business, but what struck me was that Paul hasn’t simply expected them to follow him. He’s encouraged their own development, choices and careers while mentoring them towards potentially taking responsibility for the family business.
They speak very warmly about their dad as a mentor, coach and sounding board.
Paul told me he has had numerous approaches from investors and others interested in the business.
He isn’t interested.
His ambition is different: to preserve what he has built as a respected family business and eventually hand it to the next generation.
Having spent time with Chris and Ainsley today, I’d say that legacy looks to be in pretty good hands.
❤️ “And what about giving something back?”
This was perhaps my favourite part of our conversation.
Paul supports Angling Scotland and its work to bring game, coarse and sea anglers together and make membership accessible.
He supports grassroots angling. He helps junior international teams. He donates equipment and supports clubs, schools, fisheries and community projects.
And then he pulled out something that perhaps says more about his kindness than any sponsorship announcement ever could.
A great bundle of thank-you letters.
Letters from fishing clubs, river charities, schools and organisations, you name it, that Paul and his team have helped.
No great fanfare. Just decades of quietly putting something back into the sport that created his livelihood and a passion for angling.
🎣 “So, after 40 years, how does PD see the future of angling?”
With optimism.
Paul believes the health and wellbeing benefits of getting outdoors and going fishing give angling an enduring relevance — and he’s particularly encouraged by seeing youngsters fishing canals, ponds, trout fisheries and the coastline.
He also had a characteristically forthright view about the political environment surrounding angling in Scotland, joking that the future looked healthy “as long as fishing isn’t banned by the SNP/Green alliance.”
That was PD speaking — nobody has ever accused him of being short of an opinion! 😂
But underneath the humour is a serious point: we need to keep creating opportunities for young people to discover fishing.
Paul backs competitions and grassroots participation too. He runs his own sea-fishing match for shop regulars — with a recent event producing more than 380 fish from the Granton shoreline — and supports a winter shore league for Edinburgh sea anglers.
😂 And then there’s the other PD…
Those who know Paul will understand that no profile would be complete without mentioning his legendary practical jokes.
He is apparently capable of constructing schemes of such ingenuity that publishing the details might only encourage him. I should know as I’ve been on the receiving end !
And then there’s the karaoke.
Give PD a microphone and,the man can actually sing. Really sing. True Gold ! IFYKYK 😉🎤
🎪 Why do the Open Weekends work?
Twice a year, spring and autumn, Paul brings together some of the best-known people and brands in angling for the Glasgow Angling Centre Open Weekends.
Manufacturers demonstrate equipment. Experts teach. Anglers swap knowledge. Beginners can ask questions. There are genuine bargains and, above all, there’s an atmosphere that reminds you that angling is a community, not simply a marketplace.
Paul’s relationships across the industry mean people return year after year. Afterwards he’ll take perhaps 40 or 50 representatives and guests out for a gala dinner — his treat.
I’ve been fortunate enough to join them on several occasions.
It is always some night.
My takeaway?
Paul Devlin has certainly built an impressive business.
But after spending time with him today, I don’t think that’s his greatest achievement.
It’s the people.
Staff who stay for decades. Customers who become friends. Manufacturers who keep coming back. Young anglers receiving their first equipment. Clubs and charities getting a helping hand. And two children being prepared to carry a family business into another generation.
Forty years after a wee stall at The Barras, PD is still selling fishing tackle.
He’s just selling rather more of it these days. 😉
On behalf of Angling Scotland — and from all of us at Salmon Fishing Club — thank you Paul, Chris, Ainsley, Gaz and the whole team for what you continue to put back into angling.
Our sport needs successful businesses.
It needs new anglers.
It needs people willing to put something back.
And it certainly needs the good guys.
Paul Devlin is one of them. 🎣
SFC — In Conversation today.
