Fairline Boats goes into administration

UK Yacht builder, Fairline boats has entered administration, putting 450 jobs at risk. FRP Advisory LLP, a restructuring and business advisory firm, has been appointed as its administrators.

News of the administration comes only days after it was reported that staff had been moved out of Fairline’s head office in Oundle and into its factory. The majority of Fairline’s 450 staff are divided between Oundle and Corby in Northamptonshire, with a further testing site in Ipswich.

Founded in 1963 by Jack Newington, Fairline specialises in the design, engineering and manufacturing of luxury motoryachts under the Targa and Squadron models. Its yachts are then distributed to 60 locations around the world.

The business has manufactured 13,000 boats since launching its first boat in 1967, a 19ft river cruiser. In 2007, Fairline celebrated its 40^th birthday before building its 12,000^th boat two years later, the Squadron 55.

Fairline had experienced a tough few years leading up to the administration, transitioning through five different CEOs. It was then sold by private equity firm Better Capital to Wessex Bristol, an investment business which specialises in exclusive brands, such as Fletcher Boats, a UK sports boat builder.

A spokesperson for FRP stated, “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.”