Premier Marinas buys Universal Marina

Marina operator Premier Marinas has bought Warsash based Universal Marina, for an undisclosed sum.

“We are delighted with the purchase of Universal Marina and are looking forward to integrating the site into the Premier Marinas group,” says Pete Bradshaw, CEO of Premier Marinas. “Universal Marina complements our existing portfolio and adds to our already successful operation at Swanwick Marina.

“We take a long term approach to the ownership of our marinas and have the experience and investment capacity to further enhance this site.”

Until now, Universal Marina on the River Hamble has been privately owned and operated, offering berthing and dry stack facilities for over 350 boats.

Avia Willmet, the previous owner of Universal Marina will step down from her role as managing director and long-serving general manager at Premier, Graham Bristowe will manage the newly named ‘Premier Universal Marina’ alongside Premier’s Swanwick site.

There were mixed reactions from those commenting on social media about what the change will bring, but on the whole it appears to be viewed in a positive light.

One berth holder confirmed the purchase via Facebook saying: “Spoke to Universal this morning and they confirmed that this is correct. Will be interesting to see if much changes.”

Another states: “This is good news – We left Universal for Premier – Premier will have a lot of work to do to bring it up to the standard of Swanwick and Port Solent.”

Premier Marinas, established in 1994, owns and operates nine marinas in the UK. Universal Marina will bring the marina group’s second marina on the River Hamble and brings its number of locations to 10, including marinas in Gosport, Brighton and Noss on Dart.