oyster yachts liquidation

Oyster Yachts sails back to profit after remarkable turnaround

The luxury yacht manufacturer sailed into the black with a 29 per cent year-on-year increase in turnover to £56.4 million in 2023. Hadida has invested heavily in the business to guarantee its long-term future.

The company achieved a profitable month in January and expects an overall Q4 profit for the year ending 2024. Recently appointed CEO Ashley Highfield has also highlighted major investments to enhance the customer experience, plus upgrades to the Oyster World Rally.

The company returned to profit following heavy investment in manufacturing facilities, staff and new support services. The company makes blue water sailing yachts; after launching a record 32 yachts in 2022, Oyster maintained full occupancy of all its shipyard’s build bays during FY23.

During that time, it grew staff by a third to increase skills and production capability across its three UK manufacturing sites: Saxon Wharf and Hythe Marine Park in Southampton and Wroxham in Norfolk.

It also expanded its customer services, with a global service network, refit operation, unrivalled after-sales support, crew, and charter services. Hadida, the owner and chair made a £14.5m additional investment to enable the expansion of the business.

This led to a successive record year for production, brokerage sales, and charters, as Oyster looks to continue building market share and consolidate its position as the go-to luxury blue water yachting brand.

The investment in new models, facilities and customer services explains an underlying operating loss of £16.8m in the YE23 accounts – during the fifth year of renewal for the business since Hadida stepped in to save the brand.

Ashley Highfield said: “Margins have continued to grow, and we have achieved positive EBITDA in recent months, which we expect to continue. We are increasing investment in our yachts, with focus on flawless quality and craftsmanship, to ensure they deliver unforgettable adventures where lifelong memories are made.

“We are confident Oyster is now in a strong position and has the resources and facilities to service our vessels world-wide and provide owners with truly personalised support.

“Investing heavily in the founding principles of Oyster Yachts is translating into stronger business results, whilst offering owners a lifetime of adventure, backed up by truly world-class service and support.”

With the Oyster World Rally 2026-27 already fully subscribed, it has recently announced the Oyster World Rally 2028-29. With only 30 places, demand is expected to be high.

The Oyster World Rally is a unique, fully supported circumnavigation of the planet, covering 27,000 nautical miles, 27 destinations, and 16 months in a single adventure, exclusively for Oyster owners. Oyster Yachts have completed over 20 million blue water sailing miles and over 100 circumnavigations.

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Polina Star III's Keel Loss and Liquidation of Oyster Yachts

The story of the keel loss of s/y polina star iii and the liquidation of the oyster yachts from the owner's view..

It is a big image disaster when a sailing yacht loses a keel – the result is no stability and mostly leaks with water inflow. But the casket nail is the communication with the owner. The spontaneous liquidation of a good and big brand in the sailing and superyacht industry raises many questions. At the end of 2017, Oyster Yachts announced a full order book.

The owner of POLINA STAR III , Mr. Alexander V. Ezhkov and his team investigate also in the reasons of the liquidation on their website .

“This website was launched on 16 February 2018, following the liquidation announcement of Oyster Yachts. It was created to shed light on the practices of the Oyster Yachts owners and management.”

The price of an Oyster 825 is about 5 Mio. EUR. Pictures via the owner’s team of POLINA STAR III .

I met great people at Oyster. Marketing and PR supported me at any times and also the members of the yacht crew they sailed yachts to exhibitions were very kind. It was a pleasure and I hope to meet the people with other brands again.

New chapter for Oyster Yachts?

Update March 20th, 2018: Sailing Today reported , that Richard Hadida (co-founder of Evolution Gaming Group) will save the Oyster Yachts from liquidation.

“I believe we must save this great British brand and nurture it for the long term. But it needs to be a sustainable business: hard, quick decisions need to be taken. The boatbuilding industry needs to evolve like every other industry.”

Update March 29, 2018: Oyster Yachts published a statement by the new CEO Richard Hadida:

“As the new owner of Oyster Yachts, my immediate priorities are with our valued staff and loyal customers. I intend to get our team back to work, reemployed as soon as possible, and to recommence yacht production to fulfil the orders we have promised. As a passionate advocate of Oyster Yacht and a lifelong sailor, I’m firmly committed to reestablishing Oyster as the premium designer and manufacturer of yachts in the word. I’m excited about the challenges ahead and look forward to sharing this journey with you.”

New life as CHAMPAGNE HIPPY

POLINA STAR III has been rebuilt and sails now under the new name CHAMPAGNE HIPPY.

SHARING IS CARING - THANK YOU!

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Oyster Yachts : Shocking news from England: Oyster apparently on the brink of collapse

Michael Good

 ·  05.02.2018

According to an online report on the website of the English trade magazine "Yachting Monthly", Oyster Yachts announced its liquidation on Monday, 5 February. The 160 employees at the shipyard's headquarters in Southampton have been made redundant with immediate effect, according to the report. A spokesperson for the shipyard is said to have initially confirmed this. An official statement from the shipyard is expected in the coming days. No one at Oyster could be reached for comment by midday on Tuesday. Even the telephone switchboard apparently remained unmanned for the time being.

According to rumours and press reports, the Dutch private equity company HTP Investments, owner of Oyster Yachts, has withdrawn further financial support from the shipyard. This was announced by Oyster CEO David Tydeman in succinct words on the Website of Oyster confirmed. There he writes: "We deeply regret that the company was not able to obtain further financial support to remain operational at this time. The company is exploring all available options." Other content has since been removed from the website.

Various media outlets are also speculating that the "Polina Star III" accident may have caused additional financial turmoil for the shipyard. The Oyster 825 yacht sank off the Spanish coast in 2015 after a major keel break. In issue 5/2016, YACHT described the incident in detail and analysed the background to it. Miraculously, the crew remained unharmed.

The news from England comes as more than a surprise. Oyster Yachts has just presented the Oyster 745 at boot in Düsseldorf as a world first and the largest yacht in the sailboat halls. In addition, two exclusive superyachts, the 835 and 895 models, are currently under construction at Oyster. The shipyard recently reported favourably on the progress of their construction. The trade fair in Düsseldorf also appears to have gone well for the yacht builders in England. The yacht builders in Southampton announced further sales of new yachts on social networks.

Oyster Marine was founded and built up by Richard Matthews in 1973. In 2012, HTP-Investments in Holland took over the group of companies with the divisions Oyster Marine Ltd, Oyster Brokerage Ltd and Southampton Yacht Service. The shipyard enjoys a first-class reputation within the industry. The high quality and excellent workmanship of its products have since set standards within the industry. Oyster has also won the Queen's Award for Enterprises, one of the most prestigious honours for British companies.

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Oyster Yachts goes into liquidation

British luxury boatbuilder, oyster yachts, has gone into liquidation with the loss of 150 jobs.

Workers at the boatbuilding yard in Norfolk were sent home after being told their employer “has run out of cash”.

Oyster Yachts, which has a site at Wroxham, told staff that all operations had been stopped to prevent further losses, and that it was on the brink of insolvency.

A letter sent to staff, published by the Eastern Daily Press, says the company “has been unable to secure financial support to enable it to continue to trade at this time and it is now facing entering into an insolvency procedure imminently”.

It adds: “After considering all possible options, the company has concluded that there is a risk that it will be unable to continue to provide work for all its employees at all locations and that it is likely that it will have to make all of its employees redundant. The company has run out of cash and is unable to pay employees for work.”

The company has decided to close all operations to “prevent or minimise all loss to employees and all other creditors”.

Oyster Yachts’ head office and yard is in Southampton, but it also has sites at Ipswich, Palma in Mallorca, and Newport, Rhode Island.

Oyster had been seen to be trading well, having launched just last month a new Oyster 745 model at the Dusseldorf boat show, and claiming a “record” order book of £80m on its website.

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Exploring Oyster: how the company charted its way back to profit

Friday, April 30th, 2021

Written by: Zella Compton

Since its inception, MIN has sent out two news flashes. One was when SIBS and the Ocean Village Boat Show were cancelled hours before opening, the other was when Oyster Marine went into liquidation.

Just a few months later, with a marine industry still reeling from the after-effects and a redundant workforce, the company was bought by Richard Hadida. Accompanying him to unlock the doors on day one, was Becky Bridgen – now chief financial officer and deputy CEO.

Oyster ‘s latest financial reports are a story in themselves. The company’s back into profit in the last quarter with an extremely positive forecast for sustained profits. The story of rebirth and success now sees Oyster actively recruiting for an impressive 25 apprentices to start ASAP. But it hasn’t been straightforward getting there.

“Our immediate challenge was the 15 half-built boats that needed to be completed,” Bridgen says of 2018. “We had no workforce, just a handful of people to keep the power going. And, the moulding company used by Oyster Marine had also gone into administration, so we were faced with a business with no ability to mould hulls.”

But, undaunted, the Oyster team issued new contracts and started to rebuild the workforce to finish the boats already under construction. While this was ongoing, Oyster also needed to put any questions about the structural components to bed, and as such invested in significant management of quality standards and getting the all-important Lloyds certification to provide reassurance.

Around 450 people were made redundant by Oyster Marine. Bridgen says the vast majority were pulled back in initially to complete the boats in the bays.

“The staff were very shaken,” she says. “None of them had any inkling that the business was in trouble. It came as a huge shock to them. It has taken time to build team confidence especially with empty bays when they started back.”

That team now includes laminators and a composite team, which was created as moulding was brought in-house, another 40 plus people.

“We still need to offer reassurance that we’re hiring to retain,” she says. “There’s still nervousness, especially with Covid creating uncertainty. I get people on the shop-floor asking me what the 10-year strategy is for Oyster. Our workforce is really passionate.”

Bridgen estimates that approximately 60% of the workforce are ex-Oyster Marine.

“We have over 400 staff now, in a year’s time it will be over 500,” she says.

That growth in numbers is testament to the current strong order book.

“Models are being sold into mainly UK at the moment,” says Bridgen, “but an uptick is being seen from the US in the last few months. The tax incentives to buy used boats came to an end. We’ve seen definite interest in the 495 , it’s the smaller end of our range which is reflective in terms of US boaters access requirements to harbours.”

Bridgen also believes Oyster’s orders, like many boatbuilders, are benefiting from the pandemic.

“Covid has shifted people’s attitudes,” she says. “People want to be more active outdoors – that’s going to lead the shift between sail and motorboats. People want to do something exciting again. We’re well positioned to realise that.”

But it took six months before Oyster got a new order for a yacht.

“Signing the first contract was really moving,” says Bridgen, “as was the hand-over of first new built boat.”

None of that would have been possible without rebuilding the workforce.

“When we arrived, there was a hooter sounded for start and the end of the work day,” Bridgen says. “It was very poignant with no staff there.”

The hooter was one of the first things to go and since then, aided in part by the Covid-dynamic which has upended all businesses’ working routines, Oyster is practising flexibility to break its manufacturing mould.

“For a production business we’re looking hard at how we have flexibility in our process,” says Bridgen. “Covid has helped. We have gone to staggered start times across the crew – which now helps with, for example, work life balance like childcare.

“People can start at 6, 7 or 8 or whatever’s agreed. We’re keeping that in place.

“Flexible working is also offered for staff who’ve been with Oyster for a long time,” says Bridgen, “like working three days a week.”

Now the company is looking to recruit 25 apprentices to start this year, on top of the 17 it already has in place.

“I joined Oyster to build skills for young people,” says Bridgen. “We have got a national marine industry with an ageing workforce. We will lose skills if we don’t do something about it. We need to build skills and leaders for the future and develop apprentices to be the managers of tomorrow – to see there’s a long term career in the marine trade.”

To help with this, the company has created the Oyster Yacht Apprenticeship Academy with strong links to colleges in Southampton and Wroxham (its manufacturing bases) and designed training materials to fulfil the schemes. As well as the true craftsmanship, the training includes softer skills to work on across the period of the apprenticeship, e.g., time management, planning, and interpersonal skills (like giving and receiving feedback).

The apprenticeships are taken seriously. Bridgen says that current staff nearing retirement age – or ex-staff who have retired – are being utilised as mentors to apprentices in specific craft areas to make sure the improvement is continuous and that the younger team isn’t left to flounder.

“We’ve got to work on it, otherwise apprentices will do three or four years of training and leave. We want them to feel they can grow and develop and stay here as a result,” she says.

“British manufacturing is difficult. We’ve built a nation of call centre operatives. People are good with their hands, that heritage is being lost, we want to ensure legacy remains.”

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3 responses to “Exploring Oyster: how the company charted its way back to profit”

very encouraging article and ethos for the future of the marine industry as well as staff

going bust and not paying suppliers probably helped!

Well done Becks and all at Oyster 🙏👍

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Published on February 6th, 2018 | by Editor

Oyster Yachts in Liquidation

Published on February 6th, 2018 by Editor -->

British luxury boat building company Oyster Yachts, established in 1973, has gone into liquidation. Based in Southampton, with a boat yard in Hoveton, Norwich and offices in Ipswich, Palma; Majorca; and Newport, USA; has announced 400 job losses. The number of job losses at each site is yet to be confirmed.

The company had previously reported how 2017 closed with a record £80m+ order book, and had made a significant splash at boot Düsseldorf 2018 in January by presenting its elegant Oyster 745 (22.74 meters) as the largest sailing yacht at the show. Cruising World magazine had honored the model as ‘Best Luxury Cruiser’ in its 2018 Boat of the Year Awards .

“It is with sincere regret that we advise that the Company has been unable to secure financial support to enable it to continue to trade at this time and it is looking at all opportunities available,” reports David Tydeman, Oyster CEO.

Source: BBC , Oyster Yachts , boot Düsseldorf

Tags: Bankruptcy , Industry , Oyster Yachts

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