Fairline Yachts has been placed in administration. D F Capital, a bank which was providing cashflow finance to help fund boats in build, called in Alvarez & Marsal to act as administrators on Friday 24 January
Workers at the Oundle Fairline factory were informed of the news on Monday morning but for the moment have been told to carry on as usual while a new buyer is sought for the business.
Fairline’s two biggest dealers, Approved Boats and Boats.co.uk, have already taken steps to reassure their customers that all 17 Fairline boats currently in build will be completed and delivered, albeit a little later than expected. A further 50 boats are thought to be on order.
The latest development comes less than two months after previous owners Hanover Investors sold its majority stake in the business to Arrowbolt Propulsion Systems. Two rounds of redundancies followed as Arrowbolt set about cutting costs but talk of trying to realign the business as a “clean and sustainable marine brand” under new CEO Peter Hamlyn appears to have come to nothing.
In the end it was D F Capital, rather than Arrowbolt, which called in the administrators to protect its own interests.
In a statement sent to Motor Boat & Yachting, Michael Magnay, joint administrator to Fairline Yachts Limited, said: “The business is continuing to trade as usual. We are thankful for the support and understanding of staff and there are no (further) redundancies at this time.
“We are actively pursuing a sale of the business and are confident of a substantial amount of interest given the recognised brand and strong heritage.
“We encourage interested parties to make contact with us.”
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