Meet the Buyer - London Boat Show 2010

Meet the Buyer returns to London in 2010

By IBI Magazine

The British Marine Federation's (BMF) annual Meet the Buyer programme returns to the London International Boat Show next year on January 12-13, 2010.

Held in association with the department of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the two-day event aims to provide international and UK suppliers a platform to liaise with buyers via a series of one-to-one meetings.

Last year's event involved 23 overseas buyers and 58 UK suppliers, resulting in over 300 one-to-one meetings and the generation of significant levels of new business. This year, 25 global buyers — including boatbuilders, superyacht yards and distributors — will be taking part.

"The London International Boat Show — a showcase of our industry's excellence — provides the perfect location for the UKTI-supported Meet the Buyer event," says Christopher Uniacke, International Trade Adviser - Marine for UKTI South East. "Year on year, we successfully attract a large number of suppliers and buyers who benefit equally from the experience. Feedback we receive is always very positive, with suppliers recording a significant number of sales as a result of their participation."

The 2010 Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show will be held from January 8-17 at the ExCel exhibition centre in London's Docklands. The show normally attracts around 400 exhibitors and 122,000 visitors from around the world.


(22 December 2009)

Finnish boatyard changes ownership

By IBI Magazine

Finnish motorboat producer Finn-Marin has been recapitalised after the company's former owners, Osmo Roukala and Jarmo Kinnunen, bought back all the shares in the company.

In 2006, Roukala and Kinnunen sold the majority of the Finnish glassfibre boat manufacturer's shares to a domestic group of venture capital investors.

"By purchasing all the shares we wanted to ensure the continuation of our operations in Kokkola during the hard times presently facing the boating industry. We have established our company in 1990 and now we want to take the company through the recession and to new growth. We believe we have the assets to further strengthen our already well-positioned brands," says Roukala and Kinnunen.

"Of course succeeding requires that we will be able to convince our customers, suppliers and other cooperation partners with our work, and to re-build a cooperation concept which was so successful previously. It will require cooperation and faith," say the new owners.

Finn-Marin's range of glassfibre boats includes two well-positioned brands — FinnMaster family boats and the Grandezza premium collection. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Kokkola.

According to a group statement, Osmo Roukala will now act as managing director of Finn-Marin and Jarmo Kinnunen will be chairman of the Board of Directors.

(22 December 2009)