/24-7PressRelease/ - London, England, May 31, 2008 - According to the Met office in London, this May has been the second wettest on record since records began in 1766. During the month of May, rain fell almost everyday breaking the previous record of 21 rainfall days.
Though the sustained rain spells good news for a lucky few, the cost to the tourist economy in lost revenue, is causing concern among tourist attraction operators and cabinet ministers alike.
According to Rhodri Glyn Thomas, the Tourism Minister for Wales, last year's " appalling rain-hit summer...had adversely affected overall revenues and performance". The story was the same in London's Covent Garden, where restaurateur Giuseppe Conti blamed global warming for his "practically non-existent" terrace bookings.
With so much at stake, restaurateurs like Conti are being forced to seek out ever more innovative ways to protect their customers from the poor weather. "This year I will place an umbrella vending machine outside my restaurant so my customers and passing trade can stay dry".
Umbrolly, the UK's largest operator and supplier of umbrella vending machines said that it had been struggling to cope with recent demand for its machines, and was surprised by the types of businesses that now sought their service out. "We have had calls from hotels, retail chains, cinemas, and surprisingly a large number of bars and pubs, who it seems are particularly suceptible to loss of trade when it rains", said Charles Ejogo, Director of Business Development.
The machines which vend umbrellas for 2 (approx$4), featured on BCC2'S Dragons Den, and can now be found across the UK, where they are serviced exclusively under licence by Photo-Me international, the UK's largest vending machine operator.
While solutions like these may be novel, Conti's assertion that climate change is to blame for the recent weather while alarming may be correct. In fact, Conti's assertion is lent weight by the recent UN General Assembly meeting where General Secretary Ban Ki-moo stated that "greater variations of rainfall, combined with rising sea levels, will lead to more extreme weather".
Peter Scott, climate scientist at the Met Office Hadley Centre also seems to agree with Mr Ban's assertion: "With a warmer climate there could be an increase in extreme rainfall events despite the expected general trend toward drier summers."
Should Mr. Scott be right, demand for products such as Umbrolly's umbrella vending machine look set to grow, but does this trend mean I should start preparing my Dragons Den pitch for a vending machine for blow-up dinghys?
For additional information on umbrella vending machines, contact "Charles Ejogo" or visit http://www.umbrollys.com. Umbrolly is currently offering a free trial of its service to UK customers, and offering its machines for sale to overseas customers.
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ABOUT UMB UK VEND LIMITED - Umb UK Vend is the UK's largest operator of umbrella vending machines, operating the service within high footfall locations. The Umbrolly vending machine has won numerous awards including the DTI innovation of the year, and BT innovation of the year awards. The company and founder 'won' the first episode of BBC2's Dragons Den.
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