Coleman Insurance Brokers who have offices in Poole and Exeter enjoyed a busy time at the 2015 CWM FX London Boat Show meeting many new and existing clients and soaking up the atmosphere of the internationally renowned event, described by many as, ‘where adventure starts, pioneers meet and innovation shines.’
The UK is a key player in the global leisure boating industry, generating revenue of £3bn and is the base for a number of world- renowned brands, including Sunseeker and Fairline Boats. The annual London Boat Show, which is held at the Excel Centre in London Docklands, pulled in 88,593 visitors last year and this year the organisers saw a rise in attendance for the first time in four years, welcoming 92,288 visitors over ten days.
There were many star attractions, honourees and celebrities to the Show including Pussycat Dolls singer, Nicole Scherzinger who drew a large crowd when she opened the Sunseeker International Stand. HRH Princes Anne visited the event on Wednesday 14thJanuary and took the time to stop and chat with many of the Show’s exhibitors. Sir Ben Ainslie and his Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR ) team had a strong presence as they showcased the British Challenger for the 35thAmerica’s Cup.
Tony Pauffley, Marine Sales Executive for Coleman Insurance Brokers said, “This year’s London Boat Show is definitely seeing a return of confidence to the marine market. The number of visitors is up and exhibitors are seeing people returning to the Show who might not have visited for a couple of years. Promotion of the Boat Show by the organisers has been good too which has certainly helped. It has had a much higher profile that previous years which has seen the increase in visitors. Many exhibitors are reporting sales being made and serious enquiries being received. It has been really good being on hand to provide some ‘live quotes to exhibitors’.”
Tony met up with Coleman clients, Sunseeker. Spencer Brown, Sales Manager at Sunseeker Poole enthused, “Sunseeker is extremely delighted to have been exhibiting the majority of the Sunseeker range at this year’s London Boat Show. It is the first opportunity in the 2015 calendar to put our products in front of the public and the response has been incredibly positive, with great sales and certainly a significant increase on last year’s Show.”
Spencer continued, “The Show has seen the debut of the Sunseeker Predator 57, a model which is very much in demand as we have not had this size of boat in our range for a few years. It is accounting for the increase in sales numbers and there is definitely an appetite from customers for a model of this size. We are looking forward to showing it in Dusseldorf later on this month and ensuring that it gets a truly international promotion.”
Referring to Sunseeker’s Poole location Spencer added, “We are very proud at Sunseeker to maintain our British base in Poole and our clients remain predominantly British. Poole has been the traditional base for Sunseeker since its inception in 1969 and its future there is secure and will remain its base and its home town.”
Spencer concluded, “It is great to see Coleman and they are an added asset to Sunseeker at the Show, offering live insurance quotes and advice to our customers. We enjoy working together for the benefit of the customer.”
Cobra Ribs who have been building hand-crafted British Ribs for 25 years and are based in Christchurch also had a strong presence at the Boat Show and Joshua Arkell, Naval Architect, commented, “The London Boat Show is always a successful Show for us and this year is no different – we have had a steady flow of enquiries. We sell Ribs that are designed and manufactured on the South Coast. We are very proud that Cobra Ribs is a real true British product from conception to the end product. The moulding work is done in Southampton, the tubing work is completed in Salisbury and the final assembly is carried out in Christchurch.”
Coleman clients, Norfolk based Broom Boats continued the British boat making theme and Sales & Commercial Manager Greg Houlston advised, “At Broom we build the whole boat in house – we do the welding, upholstery, stainless fabrication and moulding. We have one of the only 30 foot boats on the market that is not modular and is completely hand built. No two boats that we build are totally identical. This makes Broom very unique in a niche market place. We are also the longest established boat builder in the UK; a family business that was formed 117 years ago and then in 2010 was sold to two private individuals.”
Greg continued, “We are showcasing the new Broom 30 Coupe HT at this year’s London Boat Show. It has been a bit of a show stopper and has received a lot of interest. It’s been good to catch up with Coleman Insurance Brokers, as ever, as we continue to build on our strong working relationship with them.”
British boat manufacturers, Williams Performance Tenders, based in Berinsfield, Oxfordshire were enjoying a very positive Boat Show too and Director John Hornsby reported, “We have had incredibly strong sales which are 20/30 percent up on last year – it has been a fantastic Show with sales up markedly and the level of serious interest enquiries has been outstanding. It has been a great opportunity for us to show our new product for the first time – the Sportjet 520 which is a brand new concept for the sport RIB.”
John shared the history of Williams Performance Tenders which was established in 2005 by Mathew Hornsby, Roy Parker and John Hornsby. “We started out manufacturing the Turbojet 325 in Oxfordshire and have added to our range year on year. We currently have 10 boats.”
John enthused, “We pride ourselves on the quality of our products, strength of design and engineeringability. Our products complement the production motor yachts from the major yacht builders such as Sunseeker,Princess Motor Yachts andFairline. We provide owners with a very versatile yacht tender – fun machines that are capable of pulling a water skier. Our strength is in our range of products and our strong dealer network world-wide.”
John added, “It has been good chatting with Tony Pauffley from Coleman Insurance Brokers. We enjoy a great relationship with Coleman and know that they are there if we need them.”
English Harbour Yachts who have been in existence for 2 years were launching the English Harbour 27 in London. The 4 berth/2 cabin cruiser affords a unique combination of outstanding space, practicality and class leading efficiency and is described as ‘the perfect family cruiser for coastal, offshore and inland use.’
All of the English Harbour Yachts are built on site in Oundle in Northants and Director Adam Greenwood enthused, “The cost of ownership is significantly lower than the high performance vessels. The Boat Show has been fantastic for us and we have sold an EH27 and are seeing another customer to sign later on this week. ”
https://thecolemangroup.co.uk/
Kate Shaw
