How Princess Yachts is taking on 800 people in Plymouth this year
Plymouth’s Princess Yachts is on course to make a near £8million profit so far this year – matching the surplus it generated in the whole of 2017.
The Stonehouse-headquartered company is also creating jobs, with 700 staff taken on in the first half of 2018 and another 100 expected to be recruited in the next 12 months.
The firm, which already employs 2,900 people, has seen sales go stratospheric in the past two years and 2018 is proving to be its best year ever, cementing its position as the world’s best selling luxury yacht brand.
Princess Yachts sold a jaw-dropping £30million worth of boats in just one week early in 2018 so it is perhaps no surprise it will launch another six new models in 2018.
The six new models Princess Yachts plans to launch in the second half of 2018
That comes on top of five new models debuted so far this year.
The firm said it is on track for its 2018 performance to “far outstrip” 2017’s record income.
And it will more than double EBITDA (a measure of operating profitability) to “historically high levels”.
In 2017 Princess made an operating profit, before exceptionals, of £7.9million.
The company’s order book means it has “significant orders” stretching into 2020.
Princess has increased production volume by 30 per cent and will make about 300 yachts this year.
More than 90 per cent of Princess’s yachts are exported and more than 80 per cent of each yacht, excluding engines, is manufactured in the city.
Antony Sheriff, Executive Chairman at Princess Yachts (Image: John Allen)
The company said it has benefited from an “unprecedented move” stimulated by its solid market position, the strong global economy and a growing pool of young wealthy customers.
The company, the fifth biggest in Plymouth, is now three years into a five-year £100million investment programme which is delivering new models on a regular basis.
Antony Sheriff, executive chairman of Princess Yachts, says: “The intensity of our new product programme has already brought outstanding results as customers relish the unique combination of craftsmanship, elegance, quality, performance and customer care that are core to every Princess yacht.”
Princess Yachts has launched the S78, V50, V60, V65 and F70 models already in 2018 and will follow up by smashing champagne bottles over the F45, V55, V78, Y85, X95 and R35 “dazzle” speedboat.
“These next six new models raise the bar much higher with unprecedented use of innovative technologies, materials, architectural concepts and design solutions; we hope to be setting the standard for yacht producers for many years to come,” says Mr Sheriff.
Princess has also expanded its management team, bringing in new experience from the luxury, high technology automotive sector.
And it is investing heavily to train craftsmen and craftswomen to ensure they can continue to hit ambitious targets and superior levels of quality.
Princess Yachts to unveil ‘dazzle’ boat
Princess Yachts has unveiled its “revolutionary” and literally dazzling new vessel – which looks like not
hing else on the water and will take the firm into new markets.
The Plymouth company has been working on top-secret designs for a vessel which is smaller and faster than anything in its current fleet.
The boat is brightly coloured with a look designed by Plymouth College of Art student Katie Sheppard who was influenced by the “dazzle” camouflage used on some naval vessels in the First and Second World Wars.
Princess Yachts has partnered with BAR Technologies to create what it calls “a revolutionary new yacht” which will be launched later in 2018.
The new boat – spotted covered in vibrant camouflage at the BAR testing facilities – will establish a whole new class of yacht, Princess said.
The mid-30ft craft will bring speed, efficiency and new technology while remaining true to Princess’s core with high-quality materials, comfort, seakeeping, craftsmanship and design that will stand the test of time, the firm says.
This story is from the Plymouth Herald.
