boatingbusiness.com
JANUARY 2022
Person Behind the Face 6 | Business Matters 12 | Marketing 18 | People 24 | Profile 26
DISCOVERY NOMINATES LIQUIDATORS
NEWS
Marina is unusable New initiative Designer dies pages 1-11
CLOTHING
Discovery Shipyard is set to be placed into voluntary liquidation following a request by the company’s directors. The decision has been made having regard to the boatbuilders’ financial position - – more than £4m is owed to unsecured creditors - and the directors have nominated Neil Gostelow and Stephen Absolom of Interpath Advisory as joint liquidators. Discovery Shipyard creditors have been informed. (Delete the rest of the sentence - and it is anticipated the company will be placed into liquidation on 13 January.) In a notice to creditors, Interpath Advisory state they were approached by company directors on 24 November 2021 and were engaged by the sole shareholder, Binti Marine Holdings Ltd (BMHL) to undertake a contingency planning engagement for BMHL and its subsidiaries including Discovery Shipyard. A draft contingency planning report was released on 13 December giving option to the company directors and to BMHL and on 15 December, the directors concluded the company could not avoid insolvent liquidation. The notice released to creditors blames the Covid pandemic on the company’s failure with only one sale achieved in the 12-month period following the onset of the pandemic.
8 Discovery Shipyard sold one boat in the 12-month period following the start of the Covid-19 pandemic
BMHL continued to inject funds into the business however finance and government support subsidies were not forthcoming. New orders were forthcoming in 2021 however global supply chain issues caused delays in the availability of building materials and the company’s low credit rating constricted working capital. Potential investors were approached to provide extra funding but while there were indications of interest, there was no commitment. As a result of the lack of funding certainty, the directors were unable to draw down staged customer payments due in relation to boats in build and the company’s cash position deteriorated. More than £4m is owed to unsecured creditors, including around £2.5m owed to BMHL and around £700,000 is owed to trade creditors. Employee unsecured claims are around £300,000 while assets are expected to realise £8,000. All employees have been made redundant while John Burnie and David Winduss have resigned from their director roles.
Recyclable collection Sustainable shoes European market pages 13-17
NEW PRODUCTS
Brunswick to expand boat production by 60% Brunswick Corporation is to expand its boat manufacturing capacity by around 60% after buying additional land adjacent to its Reynosa, Mexico site. The purchase will add 150,000sqft to the current facility, providing a total of 385,000sqft of manufacturing footprint for its Bayliner, Trophy, Heyday, Sea Ray and Lund brands. This is the fourth major expansion for the Brunswick Boat Group in 2021. In May, the company reopened its Flagler – Palm Coast facility for Boston Whaler boats that will expand production capacity for the brand by more than 40%.
The Vila Nova expansion in Portugal is underway and over the next three years will more than double production capacity at the site for Bayliner, Uttern and Quicksilver products for the European market. Additionally, the company recently acquired a new facility in Minnesota to increase production capacity. This will be fully operational early 2022. The latest expansion will create around 600 jobs with the first boat expected to come off the production line in late 2023.
IP66 rated Video surveillance Next-level pages 18-23