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New Horizons at the B.B.C.


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Buying up boats discarded by other yards,

They are hardly being discarded, otherwise Ryan would not be buying them up would he now? He'd be getting them for free.  There are always boats being sold off all over the network so that is not unusual.  Besides he could always ring round other yards too and see what they might let go.  Ryan seems to be to be a go getter and certainly knows what he wants to achieve.  His other business ventures are successful, no reason why this one should not be either.  And he does know about boats too.  The one he owns is impressive, what some of us would refer to as a 'Gin Palace'

Griff

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I wish Ryan well but using the same initials as the British Broadcasting company does worry me. Regarding old boats, once again, lets wait and see but if a boat is making money I wouldn't have expected Richardsons to part with them. Still, that's up to them, I can only guess what's going on but being realistic Richarsons don't often miss a trick.

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Let's face it. Boats have been shifted from hire fleet to hire fleet for years and years, especially plastic ones. Operators often sell on boats for a variety of reasons and there can't be that many left in hire that are not making money - the margins in this business are too slim for dead weights. 

 

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Since Richardsons have merged the boats from Acle into the Stalham fleet it is more than possible that they don't have enough space to comfortably operate all of them from there and therefore were looking to dispose of some anyway. The same is true of Herbert Woods who way back from they purchased the Le Boat fleet said they would be selling off older boats to make space for all their boats, and they haven't stopped building new ones either.

I also think it is not unusual for larger hire yards to lease boats to smaller yards. I believe this was largely the model used for DRL? I'm sure Richardsons provided some support originally before it all went sour. People are assuming that the boats are being purchased, which of course they might be, but they could also be leased, which would allow the establishment of a medium sized fleet quite quickly with less initial capital expenditure. Potentially this is a win win for Richardsons who get rental income from the property at Acle, maybe a guaranteed lease rental income on some of the older boats and as important the yard still stays open for their visiting hire boats during the season. It is pointless having the biggest yard on the system if those hirers have little choice of where they moor when leaving the yard.

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22 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Keith, I rather suspect that you have nailed it.

Just leaves the ethical use of BBC as a name.

With regards the use of the name. I may have missed it, but I'm sure they are only using the name The Broads Boating Company which is perfectly legitimate providing they don't start to initialise it as many on this forum have already done!!! We could be doing them a disservice by not using their correct name. Lets face it Barnes Brink Craft have never had any problems.

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25 minutes ago, kfurbank said:

With regards the use of the name. I may have missed it, but I'm sure they are only using the name The Broads Boating Company which is perfectly legitimate providing they don't start to initialise it as many on this forum have already done!!! We could be doing them a disservice by not using their correct name. Lets face it Barnes Brink Craft have never had any problems.

Indeed we could.

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All I can say is that it is a very steep learning curve! Griff says he seems like a young man and I know he will need to be.

I wish him all the very best and if he joins the forum, I for one, will give him whatever help I can.

We all bemoan the closure of boatyards on the Broads but here is one that is starting up, so jolly good luck to him!   cheersbar

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I wish the venture every success, also because it is a great place to have a boat yard at Acle making a real possibility for even those on a mid-week short break to venture to the southern rivers with ease and not have a long trudge to Acle to begin.

I also like the range of boats - Tideway 2 is a well laid out boat and one I hired back in 2013, the two ex Faircraft Loynes boats look very smart and will make a nice addition to their fleet, what with the onsite facilities planned I think this can only be welcomed.  It will be interesting to see what they do so far as running the fleet, hire costs and the like in due course.

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On the naming issue,  my concern isn't the initials but rather from a marketing perspective the name sounds a bit obvious and unimaginative and says nothing to differentiate the business. Hopefully I'm concerned unnecessarily and it won't hinder bookings. 

I'm hoping they'll do really well from ex-Horizon customers like myself who either don't want to hire from Stalham or don't want to do so every time. 

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My guess would be they are looking to catch customers new to boating searching for their first broads holiday. If doing a Googly search for boat hire, Broads and boating are likely search words people will use when searching for Broads boat hire. In that case they should be near the top of the search results, as both are in their name.

Looking forward to visiting later this year and seeing how the other facilities take shape. Whilst The Bridge Inn has a lot to offer, it can and does get very busy in high season. The alternatives are quite some stroll away and to be honest apart from The Spanish Tapas Acle centre doesn't have a lot to offer. No idea what Grumpys is now, but it seems to change on a regular basis. Ate at The Kings Head last year and whilst there was nothing to complain about, it didn't stand out. 

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I like the name personally because it is different and to the point. 

All other boatyards are a name with nothing to do with what they do - Barnes Brink Craft, Richardson's, Summercraft, Herbert Woods, Faricraft Loynes - you get the point - but The Broads Boating Company is classic, simple and to the point - it actually in my mind makes me imagine a canal operator or some old handed down business that began as Wherry's transporting goods and now all this time on is hiring boats.

If it were me, I'd not touch 'BBC' as a name but simply have The Broads Boating Co. even the font can change perception and work for you or against, but the real issue is being the new kids on the block.

Whenever anyone asks about boat hire on Forums or Groups the large operators will pop up time and again, the smaller yards might if they are astute to interact with those posing the question, but if you;re not 'monitoring social media' I don't remember when I have read someone mention Pacific Cruisers or Maffets, or Summercraft - you get the idea. The Broads Boating Company need to tap into this seam, it's free after all.

They need to  get known, build a reputation but be aware too the business model is not just boats. They need to get the site sorted and manage a business from scratch with their restaurant/bar providing meals and drinks. So really it is a start up with two very different business's on one site - nothing like jumping in with both feet.

I mean, goodness me, when you think of things to complete you've got to be brave and motivated to do this sort of thing. Set up a new company, attract customers to an unknown 'brand' and try to keep any teething problems to the minimum so those first early adopters go away spreading the word of how good it is and enjoyable.  You would need a website, layouts and descriptions for the boats, online bookings and payments ideally so if someone wishes to book a boat at 2am on a Wednesday they can. Cleaners, engineering staff, a manager for the yard, reception right down to things like life jackets and that is just the start.

I recon with the right vision, good management this has every chance of being a real success. It is a tidy site with direct access to go north or south on the Bure, easy to get to off the main road, close to the village of Acle and train station so I am watching with eager eyes and wonder how their color scheme will look etc too. Exciting times.

 

 

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As an example, do a search for broadland boat builders. You might be surprised but none of the current big boys in Norfolk appear within the first page of search results. Top of my list is a small outfit who took over the old Alphacraft yard in St Olaves. Their name says all you need to know about what they do and will continue to see them at the top of the search lists with very little effort.

www.broadlandboatbuilders.co.uk

 

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In my opinion the name of the new venture is of no concern. 

If the Broads Boating Company were a broadcasting or production company then the British Broadcasting Corporation might have something to complain about but clearly the 2 organisitions couldnt be more different! 

Very shrewd really as has been said anyone googling is likely to use "broads" and "boating" in any search they make so  they should be clearly visible to potential custom. 

As has been suggested a lot of yards are named after current or previous owners (or both) and those have become names that are well known and associated with Broads Boating going back years. Im not sure it really matters what you call yourself as long as you get yourself out there and are reputed to be good at what you do. 

I for one wish Ryan every sucess with his new venture. 

 

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You need to be careful with search engines, Broads may have another connection, when we first started using internet many years ago, Jill was interested in dollhouses, so to get her to use the internet I typed in dollhouse and was shock to find that dollhouse in Texas  means a brothel and what a lot there were.

paul

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I have been in touch with Ryan again via E-mail.  He will in due course join the NBN and reply to points raised on this thread.  Ref the 'B.B.C'  issue that has raised a few talking points.  I can put that to bed here and now.  At no time did Ryan hint at his new venture being referred to as the 'B.B.C'   That was me asking a pesky to rename this thread from the OP's original title of 'New Horizons at Horizon' to 'New Horizons at the B.B.C'  and I only did that to fit the whole name on the title heading.  So sorry about that one - Guilty as charged your honour.  I can't ever recall Barns Brinkcraft being referred to as the 'B.B.C' either and neither will the 'Broads Boating Company'

Griff

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Nice one Griff, glad Ryan will be joining us, look forward to that.  I dont think you need to apologise, as it has already been pointed out, who cares what they are called or indeed referred as. The demise of Horizon left a big gap at Acle and as an ex  hirer from Horizon I am chuffed to little mint balls that the yard is getting a new lease of life from a guy who sounds passionate about what he wants to do with it. I wish him and the company every success and I hope the venture grows and grows. 

cheers

Trev

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RE the B.B.C. thing, i did at first think of that dreaded publicly funded broadcasting company, but then thought being a broads forum, i immediately thought of Barnes Brink Craft.  I also struggled to find my original thread being new horizons at............. . However, all is now clear, so i know where to look.  I did`nt realize the (ex) Richardsons boats were in fact going into Ryans fleet, so looking at them, they have an excellent selection, and i notice, they`re all able to pass under the bridges. To me, that`s an excellent idea, ensuring ALL his future customers will be able to cruise ALL the broads rivers, including above Pottor Heigham if the tides will allow.

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