Fairline Boats purchased

[crustysailor321]

Nobody doubts that we have a large manufacturing sector. Equally, nobody doubts that a significant amount of it is foreign-owned.

Yes, absolutely. But my point was that a healthy manufacturing industry in UK can be even much larger and mostly British owned. I don't think it was necessarily the case where we have to see so much loss of manufacturing and foreign ownership. Obviously the manufacturing for basic products is unlikely to be sustainable in the UK given the cost reality, but other types I don't think we have to give up. I think we missed an opportunity during the Thatcher era to identify the manufacturing areas Britain could be really competitive in. For example, the UK ship building industry completely missed the boat on the cruise ship building sector, which boomed in the 90's and 00's.

Th only exception I thought was the boating industry, they were doing fine...but ultimately they do have to fall under foreign ownership.

In any case, I'm just glad Fairline is still around. Let's hope these Russian owners, whoever they are, have the firm's best interest at heart.

 

[petem]

I've just been informed that production resumed last Tuesday.

Great news!

 

[admillington]

I've just been informed that production resumed last Tuesday.

Great news!

Great, hopefully we can get to the interesting bit about what the model range is going to look like rather than the state of British manufacturing.

 

[rafiki_]

I've just been informed that production resumed last Tuesday.

Great news!

Excellent news. Does this mean your factory visit is back on?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I've just been informed that production resumed last Tuesday.

Good news indeed. Any idea which models are currently under construction?

 

[petem]

Sorry Mike, I don't know at the moment but hope to find out soon.

 

[rbcoomer]

Great news that they're up and running already - that has to be good news for all concerned. Perhaps they'll buy Fletcher too...

 

[petem]

Great news that they're up and running already - that has to be good news for all concerned. Perhaps they'll buy Fletcher too...

The thought had occurred to me but I suspect the new Fairline owners have got enough on their plate. Would be great if someone saved Fletcher and developed / built some good value boats in the 24ft / 29ft / 34ft size points.

 

[Beyondhelp]

Great news that they're up and running already - that has to be good news for all concerned. Perhaps they'll buy Fletcher too...

If that idiot has not already wrecked it beyond repair!

 

[rafiki_]

The thought had occurred to me but I suspect the new Fairline owners have got enough on their plate. Would be great if someone saved Fletcher and developed / built some good value boats in the 24ft / 29ft / 34ft size points.

Not really Fletchers sweet spot. They have been best at trailer boats below 20'. Will SBS have another go?

 

[petem]

Not really Fletchers sweet spot. They have been best at trailer boats below 20'.

I know they've traditionally stopped at 22 feet but I wonder if there's still a market for boats in the 19-22ft rabge. If I owned Fletcher I'd be trying to fill the gap left by the S23 and S28.

 

[rbcoomer]

Fletcher have actually made boats up to 28' in the past (Google Fletcher Zingaro) and did have fairly advanced plans a few years back for new 24' and 28' hulls. The problem as I understand it was funding - SBS owners always took the view (probably wisely) that the boat building operation needed to stand on it's own and not drain the funds of SBS etc. They made quite a lot of third party fibreglass mouldings for others too.

Given the broad experience and skills, I still think that the Fairline/Fletcher combination probably would have a made a nice fit - the gap between Fletcher's current largest and Fairline's smallest could quite easily have been bridged with some new models. Look around any marina and the 20-40' makes up reasonable share. I do agree however that a solid p/x operation has a lot of merit in terms of selling new stock and moving customers up the range and yet I doubt either company were in a cash position to be able to do this. The 'approved used' type operation has worked well in the automotive sector and seems to work for some other larger boat builders, but you have to be able to afford to park large sums of cash in stock...

 

[Bigplumbs]

I think it is a great sadness that Fletcher has probably gone for good. I think the problem is that small Fletchers seem to last forever and there is a very large second hand market of excellent boats.
I recall at the boat show about 3 years ago when I had just bought my second hand low hours 17 foot Arrow Streak for £5,500. On the fletcher stand they basically had the same boat new with a few tweaks and a 4 stroke engine for £22,500. I simply could not see the added value of the new boat

Dennis

 

[crustysailor321]

Any guesses how Fairline will now do under these owners?

 

[Shirley Knot]

I think it is a great sadness that Fletcher has probably gone for good. I think the problem is that small Fletchers seem to last forever and there is a very large second hand market of excellent boats.
I recall at the boat show about 3 years ago when I had just bought my second hand low hours 17 foot Arrow Streak for £5,500. On the fletcher stand they basically had the same boat new with a few tweaks and a 4 stroke engine for £22,500. I simply could not see the added value of the new boat

Dennis

That hit the nail on the head. We started out years ago in a small Fletcher, and it was ancient even then. Sealine were successful for a while by having a model range that took people from where Fletcher left off, but it seems everyone has focussed on bigger and bigger models, and left the small boat market to the high volume US builders. Shame, really.

 

[MapisM]

Fairline makes boat show comeback in Miami

Well, this is good news, I reckon.

There's one bit that made me curious, though:
"Fairline Yachts, which was founded by Russian investors Alexander Volov and Igor Glyanenko when they bought the Oundle yard out of administration last month in a deal believed to be worth £4.5m".
Did I miss something?!?

 

[benjenbav]

Re: Fairline makes boat show comeback in Miami

Well, this is good news, I reckon.

There's one bit that made me curious, though:
"Fairline Yachts, which was founded by Russian investors Alexander Volov and Igor Glyanenko when they bought the Oundle yard out of administration last month in a deal believed to be worth £4.5m".
Did I miss something?!?

Belief is subjective, of course.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: Fairline makes boat show comeback in Miami

There's one bit that made me curious, though:
"Fairline Yachts, which was founded by Russian investors Alexander Volov and Igor Glyanenko when they bought the Oundle yard out of administration last month in a deal believed to be worth £4.5m".
Did I miss something?!?

I assumed that £4.5m included either boats already in build or new orders for boats. I suspect the latter because as far as we were told, all in build boats had been completed when the administrator moved in. I guess that £4.5m price might also be subject to deposits being placed on those orders

 

[petem]

Re: Fairline makes boat show comeback in Miami

Well, this is good news, I reckon.

There's one bit that made me curious, though:
"Fairline Yachts, which was founded by Russian investors Alexander Volov and Igor Glyanenko when they bought the Oundle yard out of administration last month in a deal believed to be worth £4.5m".
Did I miss something?!?

That number has been floating around for a few weeks. Remember it includes some work in progress boats that are currently being completed.

 

[petem]

Re: Fairline makes boat show comeback in Miami

I hope that once the Administrator has taken his cut there's JUST enough to pay BC, what's owed to staff and their pensions plus all the creditors (some of whom I know frequent these fora).