Broom Sold

[oceanfroggie]

End of an Era! 112 years in family. Will watch with interest.

Broom Boats sold to pair of Norfolk-based investors

"Sale brings to an end 112 years of family ownership for the Brundall firm"

Broom Boats has been sold to a pair of Norfolk-based investors, bringing to an end 112 years of family ownership for the Brundall firm.

The company was bought for a "significant sum" by entrepreneurs Mark Garner and Akis Chrisovelides, who will take up the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive respectively.

Martin Broom will stay on as President to advise the new owners, who say they are planning to launch new boats and grow the business.

"I am delighted to announce these changes. In this difficult climate and complex world, it is vital that the business has the best management team in place and I am confident that the changes made provide the business with the best possible opportunity to be successful in the future," Martin Broom said.

Broom has been in family hands since 1898, when it was started by Charles J Broom.

His grandson, Martin Broom, now in his 70s, took over the company in the 1960s and with no children willing to take up the reins, had no option but to sell outside the family.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

OF, whilst it's a little sad, I think it could be good for the brand. IMHO, Broom have been stuck in a rut producing the same style of boat for decades. Whilst I personally liked their designs, many buyers didn't so their market was limited. They also have a big problem in that aft cabin boats are just not suited to IPS/Zeus type pod drives and if the market eventually goes this way, they are stuffed. Basically they need an infusion of new ideas and, probably, capital.
On the plus side, Broom as a brand is still respected and they can use the brand to expand their range. IMHO, they should be moving into the bluewater cruising boat market more to take on the likes of Grand Banks, Fleming and Trader. Broom have the SD hull experience and this seems like a natural progression to me. What I hope they dont do is start producing flybridge designs to compete with FairPrinSeeker because they'll never do it as well

 

[oceanfroggie]

OF, whilst it's a little sad, I think it could be good for the brand. IMHO, Broom have been stuck in a rut producing the same style of boat for decades. Whilst I personally liked their designs, many buyers didn't so their market was limited. They also have a big problem in that aft cabin boats are just not suited to IPS/Zeus type pod drives and if the market eventually goes this way, they are stuffed. Basically they need an infusion of new ideas and, probably, capital.
On the plus side, Broom as a brand is still respected and they can use the brand to expand their range. IMHO, they should be moving into the bluewater cruising boat market more to take on the likes of Grand Banks, Fleming and Trader. Broom have the SD hull experience and this seems like a natural progression to me. What I hope they dont do is start producing flybridge designs to compete with FairPrinSeeker because they'll never do it as well

Hi Mike, I'd agree with much of that. Just hope they don't go too spartan 'bling' or MFI like some 'contemporary' styles. Don't think their marketing has been on the mark either, lots of adverts "Aft cabin cruisers - a different way of life" but NOT a single photo of the deal closing aft cabins in their adverts that SHMBOs like so much!

The design suits these coasts and the poor weather here, but if they are to expand outside UK and Scandanavian markets I suspect your right, a long range SD trawler yacht seems a logical progression and leave the med market to the incumbants. Problem is the "age" profile of their user base has a shorter brand shelf life, so they need to sell something to a younger 40yo market, and hence a product/design that finds a niche there.

 

[Bassplayer]

Oh no. I suddenly feel very old.... I don't think I am ready for a pipe and slippers boat yet With all due respect to Broom and their owners

 

[Greg2]

Quite surprised to hear this news. Sad in a way (we had a Broom and my lad did his work experience there) but as others have said may help them move to a broader market.

Great boats but one thing that will prevent us getting another is that they tend to be lacking in comfy seats in many cockpits (seats not deep enough). Seem to remember the owners of a 50 making the same comment in an magazine write up, which is surprising for such a large boat.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Oh no. I suddenly feel very old.... I don't think I am ready for a pipe and slippers boat yet With all due respect to Broom and their owners

Yes the old pipe and slippers slagging never really fit reality. Some of the most adventurous cruises written up in the mags over the past decade seem to have been undertaken on board Brooms. Adventurous bunch of sea men and women!!! Over the past decade I've met more UK based Brooms visiting Irish coastal waters than FairPrinSeekers. But it is true the age profile seems higher. There seem to be quite a few involved in mbm cruises too!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Hi Mike, I'd agree with much of that. Just hope they don't go too spartan 'bling' or MFI like some 'contemporary' styles. Don't think their marketing has been on the mark either, lots of adverts "Aft cabin cruisers - a different way of life" but NOT a single photo of the deal closing aft cabins in their adverts that SHMBOs like so much!

The design suits these coasts and the poor weather here, but if they are to expand outside UK and Scandanavian markets I suspect your right, a long range SD trawler yacht seems a logical progression and leave the med market to the incumbants. Problem is the "age" profile of their user base has a shorter brand shelf life, so they need to sell something to a younger 40yo market, and hence a product/design that finds a niche there.

Yup, I dont like the latest MFI style that everybody seems to have adopted either. I never understood though why their interiors remain so traditional given that one of their major competitors, Atlantic, do such beautiful but contemporary interiors. A styling update inside could attract a younger buyer. I dont know whether they need to expand their buyer age profile much though. Anything that appeals to a younger buyer is going to put them in direct competition with FairPrinSeeker. What I see in the market is a growing trend for more experienced buyers to go for long range motor yachts. I went to Dusseldorf this year and it was surprising to see, for example, how many Dutch builders are now offering blue water cruising boats as well as the known US/Far East makes, mostly displacement hulls of course but some now SD as well. Broom could easily move their brand into that market as Aquastar have done

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

I think it would be sad if Broom left what is the real British Motor Boat/Cruiser i.e the aft cabin design.

My take on this is they should reinvent their line, instead of following the band wagon and jump to produce Blue Water Explorer type boats.
I think aft cabin cruisers have a life left in them but they need to reinvent to suit todays taste. A redesign of the interior will surely help but thats just not it.
I think to see the future in this design one has to look at Pearl which I think are very good lookers, and Ferretti 690 Altura....

As for IPS, Zeus I think many builders are still sticking to their guns with shafts altough we are seeing Azimut with the 62S and Sunseeker with the 60 Predator and new 63 Manhattan jumping to the pods on their bigger models.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I think it would be sad if Broom left what is the real British Motor Boat/Cruiser i.e the aft cabin design.

My take on this is they should reinvent their line, instead of following the band wagon and jump to produce Blue Water Explorer type boats.
I think aft cabin cruisers have a life left in them but they need to reinvent to suit todays taste. A redesign of the interior will surely help but thats just not it.
I think to see the future in this design one has to look at Pearl which I think are very good lookers, and Ferretti 690 Altura....

As for IPS, Zeus I think many builders are still sticking to their guns with shafts altough we are seeing Azimut with the 62S and Sunseeker with the 60 Predator and new 63 Manhattan jumping to the pods on their bigger models.

Pearl may be good lookers but I know a little about the company and I doubt whether they have built as many as 25 boats during the whole life of the company which shows that the market for aft cabin boats is limited. As for the Altura 690, I dont think that has been a huge success for Ferretti either but that may have something to do with the orange brown hull colour! It doesnt seem to be on their website any more so maybe it's even been withdrawn?
I am a great fan of shaftdrive myself but IMHO, boat builders will be forced sooner or later, either through regulation or just the increasing cost of fuel, to massively improve the fuel efficiency of their products and since shaftdrive is very inefficient, builders might have to incorporate new drive systems like pods whether they like it or not. The problem with Broom is that their whole range is shaftdrive and because of the aft cabin configuration, pod drive or sterndrive is not an option for them. IMHO it is a strategic imperative for the company to develop models that can use modern drive systems otherwise the company may eventually die because they only make inefficient shaftdrive boats

 

[jfm]

Pearl ... I doubt whether they have built as many as 25 boats during the whole life of the company which shows that the market for aft cabin boats is limited.

I think that's correct. I think recently they had zero boats in build at the factory

IMHO it is a strategic imperative for the company to develop models that can use modern drive systems otherwise the company may eventually die because they only make inefficient shaftdrive boats

Agree, though the pace of change to pods is/will be so slow that any manufacturer can develop pod boats when the need arises. They don't have to do it now, and they have loads of time to think about it meantime, including whether they can make an aft cabin pod boat. It's 10-year time horizon thinking. (Perhaps it'll need 2 humps in the aft cabin floor for the jackshafts, like in the back of a car!)

Incidentally, and I don't want to thread drift but iirc Volvo ips has shown not much fuel efficiency improvement anyway!

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

Market to younger oweners?

Where do they get the money from? In this day and age its wrapped up in paying off the house/running kids etc. With increasing life expectancy inheritances are coming 10-15 years later than they did and even skipping generations. Not that many of my contemporaries from school, many of whom have "done better" than I, are in a position to find <£200K for a new Broom.

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

To my knowledge and what was written on the news Pearl sold one of the new 75s they have in project, which bling bling is not an aft cabin boat.

The Ferretti 690 Altura was stopped in production in 2009, after a a 4 year run. I think they sold about 20 of them. The orange hull was used for marketing purposes only. In fact I saw an orange one while navigating in 2007, a dark red wine, and a navy blue this year.
To JFM according to Sunseeker (you can see the video about the 63 on their website), and even if you speak to the Absolute guys or the Lazzara people they have.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Yup thats right although I heard that Pearl have picked up a couple of orders this year. I agree that the pace of technological change in the boating industry is slow but change tends to be driven by necessity and at the moment with fuel at about €1-1.20 per litre in Europe, there isn't the necessity. However it would only take some Eurotwat in Brussels to dream up some kind of emissions/economy regulations for power boats (as they have done for road vehicles) to change the game. The other game changer is of course fuel prices; oil is only going to get more expensive in the long term and with tax hungry govts looking for revenue, fuel prices could easily double in the next decade. All I'm saying is that mainstream boat builders should be preparing now for the market increasingly demanding more fuel efficient boats in the future and any builder that isn't thinking along these lines is making a big mistake.
Yes, it seems that IPS doesn't deliver the promised fuel efficiency improvements in some hulls but you know yourself, as an engineer, that performance improvements in most machines are achieved incrementally through continuing and exhaustive R & D. After all shaftdrive has had a century or more of R & D whereas IPS/Zeus has had less than a decade!