Sales Up at Collins Stewart London Boat Show

by Media PR on 16 Jan 2007 As the doors closed at the Collins Stewart London Boat Show Sunday, many exhibitors reported a fantastic ten days of business which saw a number of companies report record-breaking sales.

Coupled with this, exhibitors and visitors alike left the halls of ExCeL London with a renewed confidence in the Show having enjoyed the warm atmosphere and variety of interactive features on offer this year.

Visitors from across the UK and from overseas learnt how to anchor a boat and navigate their way through fog as well as picking up tips and advice from the many experts that appeared in the Sky Sports Theatre. 1,800 people have also hoisted sails and enjoyed the UKSA Deck Games attraction, supported by Dinghy Sailing and Laser.

It is believed that these new interactive additions to the Show led to an increase in attendance from traditional boating enthusiasts, and importantly for exhibitors - they were buying. Overall the attendance for the 2007 show exceeds 130,000* visitors.

Andrew Williams, Managing Director of National Boat Shows, said:

'This has been an exceptionally good Show for us, the exhibitors and visitors alike. We are pleased that our aim to promote boating across all sectors has been achieved, from the small boat section through to our largest ship, the Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans, which had a stunning 15,000 visitors aboard. We will now build from this position to further attract a wider audience in future years.'

Joel Plasco, Chief Executive of Collins Stewart, the Show’s sponsor, commented:

'The UK leisure marine industry is thriving and creating significant employment and wealth for the country, last year generating a total turnover of some £2.8 billion. Importantly, the success of this sector is evidence of the health of the UK economy more widely and Collins Stewart has been proud to be associated with the success of the Show in 2007.'

Success stories from exhibitors at this year’s show include:

Robert Braithwaite, Managing Director of Sunseeker, in Poole, Dorset said: 'This has been a landmark Show for us as we unveiled our largest ever yacht, the Sunseeker 37 Metre. We have had significant interest in the yacht which helped make this year’s Show our best ever.'

Claire Horsman, Marketing Manager of Northshore Yachts, in Chichester, Sussex said: 'We have had our best London Show ever, in fact our best Boat Show ever, with a 300 per cent increase on last year. The entertainers around the Show, as well as the new style designs, have provided a great atmosphere – as has the new design of the Guinness Bar!'

Brian Peters of Peters Opal, Europe’s largest distributor of motor and sailing yachts, announced: 'We have had retail sales in excess of 70 boats, for delivery this year. We’re pleased with the strong international presence on the stand and yesterday welcomed one client, a French customer, who wanted to buy an Italian boat, here at a British Show, to be kept in Spain.'

Michael Bollom, MD of A Glaze, from Sittingbourne in Kent, said: 'It has been a superb Show. We have seen quality visitors at the stand, and due to a growing market are up 300 per cent on sales at the 2006 Show.'

Carrickcraft’s John Morton, from Northern Ireland, added: 'As first time exhibitors we are delighted with the response, with quality visitors visiting the Show. We have great sales leads of which many will convert to hard sales.'

John Charnley, from Discovery Yachts in Southampton, commented: 'We have done very good business. The numbers have been good, we could not have coped with any more visitors.'

Icom UK’s Sales and Marketing Director, Bob Stockley, from Herne Bay in Kent said: 'We are really pleased with our new position. It’s been an excellent Show – we’re up on last year by 15 per cent - and are positive about the coming season.'

John Gardener, MD of chandlers Piplers of Poole, said: 'We have had a very good show and are 20 per cent up on 2006.'

Greg O’Brien at Purple Marine, in West Midlands, confirmed this view: 'We are very happy with Show with our sales exceeding targets set for the Show.'

Bryan Jones, Marketing Manager of Fairline Boats plc in Cambridgeshire, said: 'We are delighted to report record Boat Show sales in Fairline’s 40-year history. This, in part, is attributed to the quality of the showcase provided here at the Collins Stewart London boat Show which has further developed as one of Europe’s leading international Shows.'

Partners, the Daily Mail and Tanqueray, also had a successful Show with our media partner distributing 85,000 newspapers whilst 11,580 visitors enjoyed the Tanqueray sampling bar.

There has been far more happening behind the scenes with the British Marine Federation working tirelessly, using the Show as a platform to engage with Government, to promote the UK Leisure Marine industry – both domestically and abroad – and deliver other benefits that provide excellent value to its members.

The success of the Show and the industry has been underlined by visits from four Government Ministers – the Right Honourable Alistair Darling MP, Margaret Hodge MP, Barry Gardiner MP and Derek Twigg MP – as well as 18 other MPs, eight Lords and the CBI Director General, Richard Lambert.

We have seen yet another successful Buyers Mission this year with 515 meetings involving 25 buyers from 17 countries.

The Collins Stewart London Boat Show kicked-off in spectacular style on 5 January with three of the UK’s finest solo-sailors, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Alex Thomson and Mike Golding, competing in an impromptu ‘Extreme 40s’ catamaran race on ExCeL London’s dock. Fans keen to glimpse their heroes in action packed on to HMS St Albans to watch on in awe as the sailors controlled the catamaran along at high speeds whilst still managing tight manoeuvres.

With over 700 exhibitors, around 1000 world-class boats and masses of related equipment, the Collins Stewart London Boat Show was the event of the year for everyone with a passion for the water. The Show ran from 5 – 14 January 2007.

Plans now begin for the 2008 Show, which will take place from 11-20 January 2008.

* subject to ABC audit

The Collins Stewart London Boat Show is organised by National Boat Shows Ltd (NBS). NBS is a subsidiary of the British Marine Federation (BMF), the trade association for the UK boating industry.

Collins Stewart is the UK’s leading independent stockbroking, corporate advisory and wealth management business, with offices in London, New York, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Dublin and Paris.