Swancraft

[GeoffandWendy]

In places such as Bakewell in Derbyshire the ground rents for static caravans are between £2400 and £3000, electric is on top of that. The other problem is that the caravan is only allowed to be on site for say 10 to 15 years and then you loose the right to use it, you can of course upgrade or remove the caravan from the site. I am sure other sites throughout the country have a similar policy.

 

Regards

Alan

 

It's ok if you just want to go to the same old place, year after year, but we like to vary our holiday destinations. For three thousand pounds per year, we could have a ten day cruise, to the Carrabean, plus a week in a four star hotel, anywhere in the UK. Or four weekly holidays in the uk and a few mid week breaks as well.

Owning your own static caravan or lodge, these days, is becoming quite expensive and there are too many rules and regulations of what you can or can't do. Some sites, won't even let you sublet unless you do it through them and they take a big slice of your profits.

I think we will have our holidays, by hiring a boat, caravan or stay in a nice hotel.

[dnks34]

It's ok if you just want to go to the same old place, year after year, but we like to vary our holiday destinations. For three thousand pounds per year, we could have a ten day cruise, to the Carrabean, plus a week in a four star hotel, anywhere in the UK. Or four weekly holidays in the uk and a few mid week breaks as well.

Owning your own static caravan or lodge, these days, is becoming quite expensive and there are too many rules and regulations of what you can or can't do. Some sites, won't even let you sublet unless you do it through them and they take a big slice of your profits.

I think we will have our holidays, by hiring a boat, caravan or stay in a nice hotel.

Similarly if I decided to sell my boat from a private marina mooring, the marina owner would expect his cut of the sale figure

[Hockham Admiral]

Similarly if I decided to sell my boat from a private marina mooring, the marina owner would expect his cut of the sale figure

Surely not? I find that quite shocking.   :eek:

[dnks34]

At our last marina mentioning no names this was clearly written in the mooring contract

[rightsaidfred]

John I think you will find that is standard practise in most Marinas if you sell it while on their property, dosn`t apply if you move it into a brokers premises.

 

             Fred

[dnks34]

At a brokers your paying between 4 - 8% of sale for the privelage!!

There may well be a similar setup when selling a sited static caravan to.

A marina taking a percentage of a sale in my mind is nothing more than profiteering atleast a brokerage is providing a "sales" service for their fee.

All this leads to me wonder what other costs are imposed on the hire industry so as mr A B & C get a pound of flesh to. Straining the industry even further, hoseasons and blakes for example, I remember one yard owner telling me once he had to pay quite a large fee on each boat hired wether he let it or his agent did. Is an organistation like Hoseasons even needed these days?

[PuraVida]

REALLY sad news! 

We hired a few times from Swancraft (Ranger, Rapier, Rhapsody) Boats were always immaculate, and customer service was always brilliant.

I HATE to see these smaller yards pull out of rentals. Good luck to all at Swancraft for whatever the future holds. 

[JawsOrca]

Belated  and  to the forum PuraVida

Completely agree when I first hired (and it wasn't all that long again in comparison to some.. No names mentioned..) swancraft were state of the art and far too expensive for me. Please fell free to introduce yourself further

[Maxwellian]

A couple of years ago in May we wanted to moor within walking distance of the steam fair. Swan was one of the suggestions. I gave them a call and they could not have been more helpful. Excellent service and very pleasant too. I wish them well for the future.

[LondonRascal]

Here you have a business that (at least as an outsider) was being run to the best it could be.  Not only were the boats built and then maintained to a very high standard often surpassing that of other boatyards – they had a great reputation for customer service to back this all up.

 

They have a tidy website with a good selection of photographs of the boats, availability and clear pricing – and when one looked at what was available, especially at peak times very little would be.

 

Yet despite this, it would appear the revenue the hire business brought in was not worth all the other ‘hassle’.  When you think about the work that has to go into maintaining the hire fleet, change over days, cleaning the laundry the new customers and trial runs and everything else connected to such takes its toll day after day, week after week and when you’re not doing that in the off season, you’re preparing the boats for the start of the next and on it goes. 

 

I am sure they were making profit, perhaps not a great deal but enough – but not enough to warrant keeping it going and not enough to employ more staff to make the day to day running of the hire side of the business that less stressful and pressured.

 

Conversely, look at what one can do if you stop hiring – you’ve go moorings that you can rent and have a steady income from with little pressure and work – then you can concentrate on your reputation for high quality work to attract and keep new customers from those who need some gel coat repairs, a new tank installed to engine maintenance and so on.

 

You finally can plan and have time frames and not calls ‘the shower does not work can you come to us’ or being swamped on turn around days with departing customers in the morning and arriving customers in the afternoon.

So while this is sad news (especially for the southern Broads) I can see why a business may wish to opt for this – but the real bigger picture is we are now (if we were not already) coming to the stage where we will have 4 or 5 large hire businesses for the whole of the Broads.

 

I don’t think it is so much that the Broads is failing to attract new customers – it is and as Richardson’s could tell you more of those customers are willing to pay more for their holiday and hire new build premium boats, but the fact is smaller operations can’t begin to compete – that train has already left the station.

 

I can well imagine a couple of other hire yards not shutting up shop completely, but pulling out of the hire business to concentrate solely on engineering works.  Evening within this, one could expand on services not currently available like ‘pit stop’ servicing – set price engine oil changes while you wait, drop off the boat in the morning collect the next day for a deep clean – you get the idea. 

 

Not needing to book it in, get a quote, wait for a period of time and come back again then be invoiced but stop by for fuel, or a new battery, engine oil etc have a coffee pay and go.

 

Anyway, Swancraft have had boats for sale for some time now – some rather attractively priced but seemingly stuck on the shelf I hope they go to other fleets and live on as hire boats though.

[Broads01]

Darn and b**g*r. I feel really sad about this news. I've never hired from Swancraft but really wished I had now. One of the very best small yards in my view. I do hope their lovely boats stay in a hire fleet somewhere.

[NorfolkNog]

Latest news on the Swancraft front. Some people may be aware already but I can report that that the Swancraft fleet has been sold to Richardson’s with effect from the end of this season.

 

This is good news, not only will the boats be staying on hire on the Broads but they will be going to another yard with a great reputation for customer service. The boats will be based at Stalham.

 

As Richardson’s have been building bigger boats, and will be for the foreseeable, Swancraft’s fleet of (mainly) smaller boats will complement the Richardson’s fleet very well I think.

 

I have OK’d this with Clive by the way! I think there may be an announcement in the press shortly too.

[BroadScot]

Best start saving up then Howard!  Great news indeed!!!

 

 

Iain.

[BryanW]

Good to hear this but I do wonder, "are Richardsons buying up the Broads", because I have heard other rumours that I am not prepared to air at the moment?

[Broads01]

Great news about the boats going to Richardsons! Swancraft have son lovely 2 berths which the Richardsons fleet is short of.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

A couple of years ago in May we wanted to moor within walking distance of the steam fair. Swan was one of the suggestions. I gave them a call and they could not have been more helpful. Excellent service and very pleasant too. I wish them well for the future.

 

I totally agree with you there Ian. We moored there on two successive years, and asked if we could use their 240v hook-up for a fee. They charged us £2.50 only, and left the toilets unlocked for us so we did`nt have to use the boat one.

 

Exceptional yard with great boats and a real pleasure to know. It will be sad to see yet another southern fleet going.  I hope the smaller family yards on the southern rivers can take on some of the boats, as although they might be giving up, some of the boats will still be available for hire.

[C.Ricko]

We have only bought the boats, not the base,

as much as we love the Broads and boating we wont be buying it all but these are lovely boats and will do well in our fleet.

The returns are not great in the hire boat world but we can make these boats work on our yard, the hire yards which will stay are not necessarily the largest but the ones with more than one string to their bow,,.

[littlesprite]

Whilst I think it's sad for any yard to close it would be worse if the boats were lost to the hire industry, Clive has said they won't be buying all the broads but at least the broads are safe in his hands.

Andy (Freedom) warns us to expect more to come, I hope he's wrong on this occasion but if it happens and Clive steps in to save more boats or yards then good for him and good for the broads.

[Matt]

the hire yards which will stay are not necessarily the largest but the ones with more than one string to their bow,,.

Diversification is without doubt a key factor in survival.

Cash flow is king!

[JawsOrca]

Well done to Richardsons. 

 

Personally i feel strongly that couples/small families are being forced into private ownership (Or give up altogether) as hire boats are getting bigger and thus more expensive.. (Unless they are smart enough to look at smaller independent yards which are able to offer cheaper alternatives but I suspect those newbies don't look much past the hoseasons website). I'm sure there's people that disagree and/or argue that there's not the market these days but surely yards survived on just this before?

[riyadhcrew]

If Swancraft were struggling, (which obviously they were) and they were up for sale, then it is someone from outside who might not get it right, or someone from inside who knows what they are doing. I know which one I woud prefer to pick up the pieces.

[dnks34]

What makes us think Swancraft were struggling financially, They may just have had enough of the hire lark and want to concentrate their efforts elsewhere! Clive has indicated that its a lot of effort for little return but i dont think that means they were short of money. Maybe the fleet is being sold off as a nest egg for the owners retirement, who knows!

I cant blame Swancraft with the current crop of numpties that have been causing havoc of late, swancraft must get their fair share of the idoicy to.

Anyway, Glad to read the boats are staying on a hire fleet elsewhere and very shrewd Clive espeacially as you put me off a few posts back and got in there first!

[NorfolkNog]

Just to say as I mentioned in an earlier post, it's not financial issues, more of an running a business on small margins and having very little free time away from the yard. Also as has been said dealing with some very annoying customers who insist on flushing wipes down the toilets and then demanding late night call outs. I could go on and on. It's not easy. But please, there is no financial intrigue. They're will be very much in business for boatbuilding and repairs and services. As I say, when the lottery comes up I will be straight round there!

[Oddfellow]

There's more than one rumour, Jonzo. Many more and involving lots of names in different places. I am sure I only hear a fraction of them too as I am a little isolated in Thorpe. 

 

In reality, Richardsons is doing little more now than it has done before. The key difference is that the ball park has MANY fewer players now and it probably feels more like a take-over strategy than it would have before. But, there is real competition out there too. There are just five large fleet operators out there now and the smaller ones are being pinched tightly. Diversification is clearly the best survival strategy for the smaller yards; take-over and diversification a key one for the larger ones.

 

This is how businesses operate at that level. It makes sense for Richardsons to buy this and bolster its fleet with quality boats without having to 1) spend time upgrading existing vessels or 2) build more. 

 

At least one other fleet will change hands at the end of this season / beginning of next. 

[JennyMorgan]

There's more than one rumour, Jonzo. Many more and involving lots of names in different places. I am sure I only hear a fraction of them too as I am a little isolated in Thorpe.  

 

At least one other fleet will change hands at the end of this season / beginning of next. 

Someone who is very close to home?