Luxury boatbuilder enters administration

A luxury boatbuilder in Northamptonshire has gone into administration, with redundancies likely while a buyer is sought.

Geoff Rowley and Alastair Massey of FRP Advisory LLP were appointed as administrators to Fairline Boats on Wednesday (2 December).

Fairline specialises in designing, engineering and manufacturing luxury boats - it operates out of premises in Oundle and Corby, as well as a testing centre in Ipswich. The boats range in length from 38 feet to 78 feet, across 14 different models, which are branded under the Targa and Squadron models.

Founded in 1963, the Yacht maker employs 450 people, with reports suggesting that 185 people have already been made redundant, while the rest of the workforce has been told not to come into work until Tuesday, when they will be updated about the plans for the company.

The administrators have said that they are conducting "an urgent review of the company’s financial position in order to make a more detailed assessment of the Company’s longer term viability in its present form, the business and ongoing staffing needs".

FRP Advisory added: "It is anticipated that there will be redundancies in the near term although the joint administrators will retain a core team of workers to help trade the business, service existing orders and liaise with customers, suppliers and boat dealers."

Fairline has struggled to maintain consistent leadership in recent times, with five different chief executives over the last few years.

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