Fairline Yachts scales back operations due to Covid-19 pandemic

Boats in build at the Fairline Yachts factory in Oundle, Northamptonshire © Beki Sharman

Luxury British boatbuilder, Fairline Yachts, announces it is scaling back its operations due to the unprecedented situation arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Whilst the global situation continues to evolve quickly, the Oundle-UK based boatbuilder is closely following the advice of the World Health Organisation, Public Health England and the UK Government. Accordingly, 340 of Fairline's employees will be classified as furloughed for an initial period of three weeks, starting from April 1 2020. This will be reviewed and adjusted as the situation develops. All 340 furloughed employees are retained on Fairline's payroll and remain employed.

A skeleton team comprising of boat builders and a limited number of back office support roles will continue working on current boats in build.

All staff working at the factory are adhering to new safeguarding measures. These include implementing social distancing with employees working within their own workstations and keeping at least 2m away from others, breaks have been staggered to ensure maintaining safe distances is possible and Fairline's already strict cleaning procedures have been enhanced to ensure there is continuous deep cleaning of the factory in place at all times.

Peter McNulty, Chief Operating Officer at Fairline Yachts, comments, "We'd like to thank our staff for their continued support during this challenging period. Protecting their health and safety is our key concern, along with supporting our global dealer network and customers. By furloughing the majority of our team now, we can weather the storm and safeguard these skilled roles for the future - ensuring we are well prepared for the inevitable bounce-back once restrictions are lifted."