Fairline - any news?

Indeed, if they do go bust, it's the staff I will feel sorry for, not just because of the loss of their livelihoods but also because some poor management has contributed to the demise of a company that hand made more than 20,000 boats over a period of 50 years.
 
Last edited:
Maybe you guys who Buy and enjoy and love your Fairlines should email and hound Mr Ayaz and tell him what you want and expect. Shine a light into the dark.If WB genuinely want to make it work he will take the lead. And follow.tech is not the way, good house keeping and quality flowing bespoke desighn is the way forward. You guys don't want the same boat with a different top, you want to walk on board and feel special...the industry on the whole has lost its way...the older hulls and super structures should be the cost saving..look at Rolls and Bentley.they don't look the sportiest but inside its quality,quality, quality. You know when you see a Bentley or Rolls you have a standard..you need no more. We all love to have our space and unique....tell WB what you expect..do NOT pay for a Rolls and pick up a cavalier..you guys buy..you guys have the power to control the whole gambit..sensible profit, sensible pay, quality bespoke RECOGNISABLE boat..
 
rudder said:
Maybe you guys who Buy and enjoy and love your Fairlines should email and hound Mr Ayaz and tell him what you want and expect. Shine a light into the dark.If WB genuinely want to make it work he will take the lead. And follow.tech is not the way, good house keeping and quality flowing bespoke desighn is the way forward. You guys don't want the same boat with a different top, you want to walk on board and feel special...the industry on the whole has lost its way...the older hulls and super structures should be the cost saving..look at Rolls and Bentley.they don't look the sportiest but inside its quality,quality, quality. You know when you see a Bentley or Rolls you have a standard..you need no more. We all love to have our space and unique....tell WB what you expect..do NOT pay for a Rolls and pick up a cavalier..you guys buy..you guys have the power to control the whole gambit..sensible profit, sensible pay, quality bespoke RECOGNISABLE boat..
Click to expand...

Rudder, If WB were anything other than a diffuser for Betcap they would have had Mr Millington, JFM, J Rudge, JTB, Petem and even Henry :) et al in a room a long way back. Would have been the best focus group and network of brand ambassadors that you could possibly imagine. It's very sad that they had no appetite or mandate for that and that things have gone this way.

Like everyone here, I sincerely wish the best for all affected and while there is even a chink of light at the end of the tunnel, I will keep my fingers crossed.
 
Last edited:
THE CCJs are piling in at Fairline
[TABLE="class: gridview, width: 100%"]
[TR="class: gridvieweHeaderCss"]
[TH]Date[/TH]
[TH]Court[/TH]
[TH]Amount[/TH]
[TH]Status[/TH]
[TH]Case Number[/TH]
[TH]Date Paid[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: gridvieweItem"]
[TD]23/11/2015[/TD]
[TD]COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE[/TD]
[TD]£5,073[/TD]
[TD]Judgment[/TD]
[TD]B1FJ5D2H[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: gridvieweAlternatingCss"]
[TD]19/11/2015[/TD]
[TD]COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE[/TD]
[TD]£6,903[/TD]
[TD]Judgment[/TD]
[TD]B1QZ0D4A[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: gridvieweItem"]
[TD]06/11/2015[/TD]
[TD]COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE[/TD]
[TD]£33,669[/TD]
[TD]Judgment[/TD]
[TD]B7AA9Y29[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
 
That's the tip of the iceberg mate..poor old Mr tax payer gets the sour sweet to suck once again..stick to buying from small bespoke and trustworthy yards..they deserve the buiseness and are what will keep the industry alive
admillington said:
THE CCJs are piling in at Fairline
[TABLE="class: gridview, width: 100%"]
[TR="class: gridvieweHeaderCss"]
[TH]Date[/TH]
[TH]Court[/TH]
[TH]Amount[/TH]
[TH]Status[/TH]
[TH]Case Number[/TH]
[TH]Date Paid[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: gridvieweItem"]
[TD]23/11/2015[/TD]
[TD]COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE[/TD]
[TD]£5,073[/TD]
[TD]Judgment[/TD]
[TD]B1FJ5D2H[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: gridvieweAlternatingCss"]
[TD]19/11/2015[/TD]
[TD]COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE[/TD]
[TD]£6,903[/TD]
[TD]Judgment[/TD]
[TD]B1QZ0D4A[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: gridvieweItem"]
[TD]06/11/2015[/TD]
[TD]COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE[/TD]
[TD]£33,669[/TD]
[TD]Judgment[/TD]
[TD]B7AA9Y29[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Click to expand...
 
I worked for receivers for a few years back in the early 90's and don't believe that this really changes much as far as the longer term future (or lack of) is concerned. IMO, this will have been the intention of WB from the beginning - taking a business losing £17M and carrying on as before was never an option. If the company (or more likely a slimmed down variation of) could be made profitable by shedding costs and debts, then that's what they will aim to do - it will come down to whether or not they have a credible proposal that convinces someone that part of the business is viable. If they can take forward or sell the business with a maybe a third of the workforce then although hard for those made redundant, it will mean less of them seeking re-employment elsewhere - and thus less pressure on the local jobs market. This is where union sabre rattling is often very unhelpful and discrediting the new owners before they've made public their intentions was never going to help anyone. Keeping quiet was the only real option during the assessment of the books and remember that WB didn't make the mess, but perhaps might just be able to salvage something from it if given a chance? I don't know any more about them than anyone here, but from my short time inside the insolvency world, cooperation works better than obstruction. When it folds, nobody gains - except perhaps a few preferential creditors like HM Treasury and banks... Oh and the receiver who always get their fee! :( Unlike most posters here, I wouldn't see it as all over until WB's plans are made public as I've seen a good few businesses turned around after most, or remnants of, has been sold on to new owners - less the liabilities and debts of course... I can't imagine WB would have taken it on just to do the dirty work for BC, so they have surely seen something in the way of potential?
 
Whitelighter said:
Fair line will continue as the brand has value.

Will it be a British builder on the scale of old? That is doubtful.

In effect airline in name only.
Click to expand...

Long term perhaps, but the skills and knowledge of the workforce are to some degree assets. We had a large micro-electronics business near here that changed hands quite regularly as although innovative and leader in their field, they were not competitive. Eventually the facility was transferred to China, but took around a year/18M with UK employees being flown out to train and hand over. My view would be a slimmed down, custom build to order operation would suit better than simply transferring manufacture overseas - with all the skills shortfalls that would bring. The exception to this would be if an overseas boat builder has the skills and a nice complimentary business...

Fletcher changed from a mass producer under Hornby to a custom builder when SBS purchased and I still find it odd that WB have purchased 2 UK boat builders at opposite ends of the scale within 6 months. They either have a plan or someone just likes boats... Can't see a link/crossover, but then I don't work in the industry! ;)

P.S. The two facilities are also only 90miles apart... (and lack of coastline seems the only common factor)
 
Last edited:
The skills of.The workforce? The workforce have been given the golden ticket.they walk away with the redundancy payment of many years of LOYAL service.sorry but the Better Grab It All...sorry my mistake Better Capitol see legacy,along with the sour taste of Wessex Bristol have destroyed any want to carry on.. We all have loved the job the company and the heritage. The customers the boats the whole Fairline dream..thank you Sam. Thank you guys thank you for so many great years..
 
petem said:
but also because some poor management has contributed to the demise of a company
Click to expand...
No Pete, it wasn't poor management just the result of a rapidly maturing market which got a good kick along the market cycle thanks to the global financial meltdown. None of the mainstream builders are exactly prospering at the moment; it was Fairline's misfortune to be owned by an owner whose pockets were shallower than the owners of other builders

If the Fairline management could be criticised it would be for not appreciating that the pre 2009 boom was just that, an unsustainable boom and for not foreseeing the decline in demand for expensive gas guzzling gin palaces and developing other products better suited to these more straitened times. But you could say that about many companies in many different industries
 
rudder said:
We all have loved the job the company and the heritage. The customers the boats the whole Fairline dream..thank you Sam. Thank you guys thank you for so many great years..
Click to expand...
Thank you guys for the boats. And boats aren't just boats - they are the fun of building them and they are platforms on which folks have fun and make great memories

This is very sad. I don't think we should call time on it just yet though. It is possible a new smaller Fairline of some sort will emerge from the administration. I'm not holding out great hopes but something could happen. The company has or will soon have some cash (when boats are finished) and I hope that means employees and suppliers get something useful in the short term. Fingers crossed.
 
Deleted User said:
If the Fairline management could be criticised it would be for not appreciating that the pre 2009 boom was just that, an unsustainable boom and for not foreseeing the decline in demand for expensive gas guzzling gin palaces and developing other products better suited to these more straitened times. But you could say that about many companies in many different industries
Click to expand...

Arguably lack of common foresight and overly optimistic market assumptions can also be categorized as poor management. Since many European builders without access to deep pockets are surviving under the prevailing market conditions and even turning out new models once in a while it could be said that Fairline's management has been at least under-performing. Too comfortable in the belief things would eventually return to the pre-crisis bonanza.
 
Deleted User said:
No Pete, it wasn't poor management just the result of a rapidly maturing market which got a good kick along the market cycle thanks to the global financial meltdown. None of the mainstream builders are exactly prospering at the moment; it was Fairline's misfortune to be owned by an owner whose pockets were shallower than the owners of other builders

If the Fairline management could be criticised it would be for not appreciating that the pre 2009 boom was just that, an unsustainable boom and for not foreseeing the decline in demand for expensive gas guzzling gin palaces and developing other products better suited to these more straitened times. But you could say that about many companies in many different industries
Click to expand...

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to recall that many moons ago, Fairline were rescued from a previous financial disaster by BA Peters buying all their stock boats, and in return were given semi exclusive selling rights to large chunks of this country and some of the Mediterranean. Whilst not perfect, like the House of Lords, this arrangement worked until so called whiz kid management arrived at Fairline and stopped it. We all know what happened to BA Peters who failed to replace the brand with a suitable alternative, and I do wonder what would have happened at Fairline if the arrangement had been allowed to stand, downturn not withstanding. And I fully accept the second paragraph of Deleted User's response above.

My sympathies and thoughts to the staff, lions led by donkeys is the phrase which springs to mind
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top