Oyster Yachts makes key appointments to navigate ongoing challenges

Ashley Highfield, the new chief executive of Oyster Yachts, has confirmed two key appointments to the senior management team as the company continues its turnaround.

Peter Ingram joins as chief financial officer, with David Braben OBE appointed as non-executive board director at the British luxury yacht builder.

Ingram joins Oyster Yachts from Raymarine, where he was most recently VP of finance for the global group. Braben is a digital entrepreneur who founded Frontier Developments in 1993. He was CEO for 28 years before stepping down last year.

Highfield, who joined Oyster in January 2023, says: “I am delighted to welcome Peter and David to Oyster Yachts. Their collective experience in the marine and digital industries, and successful business track records, are incredibly valuable assets as we continue to strengthen Oyster Yachts. Their arrival coincides with our 50th Anniversary, full build-bays across all three sites, and a very strong order book out to late 2024.

“It is no secret that Oyster Yachts, like many other British companies, has been faced with some difficult challenges because of Brexit, global supply chain issues and the remaining impact of the global pandemic, which in turn delayed our turnaround plans to return the business to profitability.

“My first task on becoming the CEO has been to define a clear plan on how we take Oyster Yachts to the next level. This is based on continuing to deliver the world’s finest yachts on time, to a standard that is beyond expectation; continuing to build on our values-based customer-centric ethos and renowned reputation for customer support and quality; and finally, continuing to innovate to bring international sailors more iconic, award-winning yachts to go anywhere they choose.

“To help achieve this we have a fantastic team of over 600 skilled and passionate people who are dedicated to building our amazing yachts, a great management team and board, strengthened by today’s announcements, which includes owner and chairman Richard Hadida, who remains fanatically devoted to Oyster, and who will continue to serve as a company director. Collectively, we will continue to work closely together to ensure we have the strategy and investment required to keep innovating and growing.”

Richard Hadida took over Oyster in 2018, and has been steadily charting the company back towards profitability. Oyster Yachts’ financial results for its financial year 2022, which ended March 31, 2022, indicate that revenue is up 46 per cent to £43.6m, with turnover from yacht production up 68 per cent to £37.3m. Gross profit is down by 16 per cent, to £5.4m.

In his chairman’s report, Hadida confirms the order book is full for 2023, and 95 per cent full for 2024.

Ingram and Braben join Highfield and Hadida on the board of Oyster Yachts, along with existing director Glynn Chambers and non-executive director Ivan Ritossa.