Meercat Workboats Scores a Hat-trick
The U.K.’s Meercat Workboats says it scored a hat-trick; the Hampshire-based boat builder announced it is moving premises, that Seawork was a huge success and that it expects to benefit from the recent Brexit vote.
MC28 is a 15m x 6m monohull workboat currently in build for Briggs Marine at the company’s Portchester footprint near Portsmouth in Hampshire. To coincide with the end of the build, Meercat Workboats will be moving to Units 3a & 3b Hythe Marine Park, Shore Road, Hythe, near Southampton. The move is anticipated to take place in September 2016.
The new site is approximately 1,600 square meters, with two 20T gantry cranes, an electrical workshop, and a hydraulic workshop, aluminum welding bays, dedicated stores, offices and customer parking.
“This move really is significant for us,” said Meercat Workboats Managing Director, Jamie Lewis. “We’ve been searching for a new home for 18 months and it’s really great news that we’ve found a fantastic landlord in Oceanic Estates and superb new premises.”
“The footprint really is perfect - and we need it to deliver on our FY17 business plan and our current pipeline,” Lewis said.
The company reported that it enjoyed an excellent Seawork exhibition in Southampton. Having exhibited MC26, the current 15m x 6m stock boat, in water, and also exhibited ashore, the business has three interested parties in the stock boat and two entirely new, serious, prospects.
“With several interested parties we really expect to conclude the transaction by the month end,” Lewis said. “This really will be a very good win for us as the boat genuinely is fantastic.”
Meercat Workboats said it is also looking forward to reigniting its export business based upon the recent EU Referendum.
The company has built 28 boats to date, exporting two to Norway, two to the Republic of Ireland, one to Sweden, two to Saudi Arabia, one to Tasmania, one to Peru and one to Australia.
With exports to date totaling a third of its builds, the business is best placed to maximize the potential of a lower value Sterling.
Nicholas Warren, the CEO of Burgess Marine, the parent company to Meercat Workboats, said, “The referendum has given us a wonderful opportunity to reenergize our export business.
“Domestically the business is performing ahead of expectations but to open up International markets again, to coincide with the firm’s relocation to better premises, is seriously opportunistic,” Warren continued. “We’re genuinely excited about some very real export opportunities - this is great news for British workboat building.”
