Fairline at London Boat Show

Fairline CEO remains optimistic despite cutbacks

By IBI Magazine

Speaking candidly to journalists this morning on the opening day of the London International Boat Show, Fairline's Derek Carter gave a relatively optimistic forecast for the UK boatbuilder's year ahead despite announcing cutbacks to its workforce and capacity at the end of last year.

"The end of 2008 was challenging to say the least," Carter told journalists at the breakfast event to mark the world launch of its Fairline Squadron 70. "The first half of the year had gone very well with sales and profits up, and we went to Southampton (in September) feeling quite optimistic. We saw sales of 30 boats there and most of them stuck. Once Lehman Brothers went and the banking system faltered, that affected our dealers and in turn us." In September, Fairline announced 90 redundancies at its Oundle and Weldon facilities in Northamptonshire and subsequently put workers on a shorter working week with reduced wages.

A second wave of job cuts was announced in December, when the company revealed that it would cut 275 jobs in Oundle and Corby in March 2009, affecting around one-quarter of its remaining workforce. "As a business we're 35 per cent smaller in terms of capacity than we were last year," said Carter.

"That's in line with how much we envisaged the market would decline." So far Carter claims that those predictions have born out and its business is down by that percentage compared to the peak of 2008.

"That means we're operating at full capacity and we're not seeing any more deterioration at the moment.

" To emphasize the point that business was still holding up, he added that Fairline had sold 86 boats via its dealers around the world in the last four months alone."We should end up with sales of around £100m for 2009," he added. That compares to sales of around £140m in 2008. The first half of 2009 would be slower, Carter noted, as the builder looked to work with dealers to 'de-stock', but would pick up in the third and fourth quarters. "By then we will see some stability returning to the market and with it some confidence.

"Significantly Carter highlighted the fact that Fairline would be continuing its robust development programme, with six new launches planned over the following two years. The Southampton boat show in September last year saw the launch of the Squadron 55, and this year will see the arrival of a new Squadron 65 in May, a Targa 58 in November, as well as a smaller and as yet unnamed boat, along with the flagship Squadron 85 due for launch in mid-2010."We've taken our medicine these last four months and now we are fit for 2009," Carter concluded.

(9 January 2009)

Lombard Finance

Lombard reports strong growth in 2008

By IBI Magazine


Lombard Marine Finance, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, has reported a 14 per cent increase in business over the last 12 months — despite a challenging year for many companies in the marine finance sector.

"We did notice some rationalisation of the marine finance market, with some banks either withdrawing from the sector or reducing their activities, but at Lombard we continue to invest in the business," says Ian Braham, head of Lombard Marine Finance. "Although we have noticed sales at the lower end of the market slowing, larger transactions are producing far higher volumes of business," he adds.

"In particular, Lombard has noticed an increase in applications for business over £1m where the volume lent in 2008 increased by 36 per cent on the previous year. Although Lombard has been funding these vessels for a considerable number of years it has seen a significant increase in the levels of demand over the last few years."

Lombard Marine Finance offers personalised packages to meet the needs of its customers, offering a wide variety of payment options and funding in sterling, euro or US dollar currencies. For more information, visit the company website at

www.lombard.co.uk/marine.

(8 January 2009

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Pendennis build new 54m 'secret' yacht

Cornish expedition yacht undergoes sea trials

By IBI Magazine/Michael Howorth


Featuring an unusually green coloured hull, topped off with a funnel and superstructure the colour of Cornish clotted cream and sporting a somewhat strange snub nosed bow, the steel-hulled superyacht Steel has been seen recently undertaking sea trials at the hands of its builder Pendennis, the Falmouth, UK-based shipyard.

The 54m (177ft) long range discovery yacht, originally codenamed Project 57, has been designed by Liebowitz & Pritchard Architecture and Yacht Design Ltd, the same team that worked with the builder to construct the 47.5m (156ft) motorsailor MitSeaAh.

Designed and built for somewhat secretive owners whose business interests are reflected in the yacht's name, she is powered by twin Caterpillar engines and is expected to be delivered during the first few weeks of 2009.

(5 January 2009)

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Discovery Yachts of Southampton bucks the trend

Discovery reports successful 2008

By IBI Magazine

Despite challenging market conditions, UK boatbuilder Discovery Yachts claims to have ended 2008 on a strong note. The sale of another Discovery 55 (pictured) this week completes the company's 2009 build programme at its Marchwood factory in Southampton, where the Discovery Spirit 50 catamaran, the Discovery 55 and Discovery 67 yachts are designed and built. The company now has a full order book into 2010.

"Discovery Yachts seems to be bucking the trend of gloomy news as we saw substantial growth in net profits for the year ended August 2008," says the company's founder and chairman John Charnley. "Although the market has obviously slowed slightly, interest remains strong, with the sale of another of our hugely popular Discovery 55 models this week. "

Sales director Mark Waterhouse adds: "This latest sale fills the yard's capacity for 2009 and shows that the market for high quality yachts endures even the toughest business climates. The introduction of our new 67 and the moulding of our first catamaran, which will be launched next spring, has attracted unprecedented interest with two 67s already in build, together with our first 50 Cat. We fully anticipate following this success into 2009 and attracting more owners into the Discovery style of yachting."

Founded by John Charnley in 1998, Discovery Yachts builds monohull and catamaran sailing cruisers in-house at a purpose-built factory by Southampton Water. The company has built around 30 cruising yachts to date.

(5 January 2009)