Princess Yachts International - Reduce Employee Hours

Princess to introduce shorter working week

By IBI Magazine

Princess Yachts International, one of the UK's largest boatbuilders, is to reduce employee working hours at its yard in Plymouth, Devon. The changes will take effect from January 5, 2009 across a large number of departments. Earlier this week, employees voted to support the plans.

According to a statement issued today, the move will enable the yard to increase production of larger vessels — which are not thought to be as affected by the current economic crisis as the smaller boat market — and allow a significant increase to the number of people working on new products to bring forward launch plans.

"We take our responsibility as one of the area's main employers very seriously and we hope that by adjusting production in this way we will be able to cope with a softening market without the need to reduce the team," says Chris Gates, managing director at Princess Yachts. "Also, stimulating the market with new and exciting products is especially important in these conditions and so increasing focus on these is essential and will help us to react quickly once the market improves.

"It is of course impossible to predict how long this market condition will continue for," says Gates, "or indeed whether it will worsen before improving again but we are optimistic that these measures will help protect our position during this difficult period."

(5 December 2008)

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