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Andrewcook

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Has the Boat Yards taken on any more or less Staff since the Lock down? As to having a fully Booked Hiring Season for 2021 I think it will the same for 2022 a busy year once again next Year I do hope all this will this now make up for the loss of business through out the lock down now.

 

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I agree with that Cheesey. Can't see the boom continuing unless something blocks the mass exodus to the Continent. The weather this summer has been unremarkable at least, and the prices being charged make overseas travel atractive again. Of course, Richardsons "retiring" so many of their larger boats, will likely put a squeeze on high season availability.

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13 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

You also have to factor in the many many first time Broads boaters that would have caught the boating bug , irrespective of booming foreign holidays IMHO the Broads Boating holiday trade is looking good for the foreseeable future 

Well the bug has bitten here. We introduced some friends to the broads this year. We started with a picnic boat day trip, then onto a cruiser Mon to Fri. Now next year its 3 cruisers 11 adults and a dog for a week's holiday. Most of us would normally take long haul winter sun holidays. In fact this Christmas was ment to of been a trip of a lifetime to the maldives, none of us are confident enough to spend 12 hours on a plane. You are always going to get thos that will throw caution to the wind in the hunt for the sun. Speaking to other holiday makers up on the broads early this year all said they were enjoying themselves and would return. My fear is yards will get greedy and will price themselves out of the market. But I personally see 2022 being a busy year beyond that who knows. Yards need to be realistic in there pricing and find ways to retain fresh blood. Let's face it they've done pretty well out of the pandemic. Those that think 2019 was a bad year for boating are wrong. The yards done OK yes two have gone, one had been on the verge of going for sometime. The yards that are left seem to be in good shape and doing well. You have clives new venture at hpc with what looks like a cracking new boat on the horizon and a very good small fleet he has said he intends to build up a fleet of 15 20 boat in time. There are more new boats coming into service next season then there has been for a while. NBD barnes HPC and Herbert Woods all have new boats for 22 I wouldn't be surprised to see Silverline,Richardson's and Broom add to there fleets. So it's looking OK so far. 

 

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20 minutes ago, andyg said:

Well the bug has bitten here. We introduced some friends to the broads this year. We started with a picnic boat day trip, then onto a cruiser Mon to Fri. Now next year its 3 cruisers 11 adults and a dog for a week's holiday. Most of us would normally take long haul winter sun holidays. In fact this Christmas was ment to of been a trip of a lifetime to the maldives, none of us are confident enough to spend 12 hours on a plane. You are always going to get thos that will throw caution to the wind in the hunt for the sun. Speaking to other holiday makers up on the broads early this year all said they were enjoying themselves and would return. My fear is yards will get greedy and will price themselves out of the market. But I personally see 2022 being a busy year beyond that who knows. Yards need to be realistic in there pricing and find ways to retain fresh blood. Let's face it they've done pretty well out of the pandemic. Those that think 2019 was a bad year for boating are wrong. The yards done OK yes two have gone, one had been on the verge of going for sometime. The yards that are left seem to be in good shape and doing well. You have clives new venture at hpc with what looks like a cracking new boat on the horizon and a very good small fleet he has said he intends to build up a fleet of 15 20 boat in time. There are more new boats coming into service next season then there has been for a while. NBD barnes HPC and Herbert Woods all have new boats for 22 I wouldn't be surprised to see Silverline,Richardson's and Broom add to there fleets. So it's looking OK so far. 

A very interesting post, thank you Andy.  It's nice to hear it direct from the customer!

I think you are absolutely right that price will be what matters, as it always has been in this business.  Back in 2019 (which seems like 5 years ago now) I predicted a dreadful recession in the business for this year.  I am very glad to say I was wrong!  So I think it is very important, now that yards can look towards a good future for the next few years, not to "kill the golden goose" by setting their prices too high.

As for Richardsons, we have to face it, that all those old boats they are selling were built over 45 years ago.  I was working there when they built them!  That is a very long time for a hire boat - over twice its planned life - and there has to come a time when it is no longer feasible to maintain them in such good condition.

To me, it proves that a well designed boat will stay popular, but an un-popular design doesn't last long.  I wonder whether some of the "futuristic" things we are seeing brand new these days, will last 45 years?

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I often wonder how some yards build a boat so quickly. Barnes fitted out one of there tempos in 8 weeks last year. I also remember the big expansion at Stalham and all the new brightly coloured boats, my personal favourite back then was superior gem in it's two tone colour scheme it looked great. To be fair to richardsons they are or were constantly upgrading there boats, new showers,kitchens, furniture etc. New quieter engines. But like you say the old original gem fleet must of paid for itself many times over buy now. I know very little about boat building but richardsons do seem to build a solid boat where others I've hired seem a little flimsy. I assume it's the materials used during fitting out I guess. 

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