UK boat builders feel the stress

by Media Services on 1 Jun 2009
In the UK, coinciding with a report in The Daily Mail that stated the Lloyds Banking Group is to sell off stakes in more than 60 businesses, including Sunseeker, Princess Yachts announced it would lay off 300 workers.

The announcement came 22 May and is around 150 less than was anticipated by Princess back in March. The company said it had been able to retain staff via a series of measures including reducing work with sub-contractors and pressing ahead with developing larger vessels.

'We've been able to mitigate a lot of the job losses,' MD Chris Gates told the Plymouth Herald. 'It's a blow, but not as bad as it could have been, that's for sure.'

The company, which quotes its largest boat as the 95MY, says it will be building bigger boats and is putting more people into development of that larger range. The day before announcing the redundancies, Princess Yachts opened an office in Grosvenor Street in London’s Mayfair to expand its new sales, brokerage and charter network.

More at www.princess.co.uk