Sunseeker CEO calls for UK industry focus on superyachts
Andrea Frabetti is departing Sunseeker
“We all know that in three or four years any product has to be at least revamped,” says Sunseeker CEO Andrea Frabetti. He joined Sunseeker International seven years ago from Ferretti Group where he was an executive director – so his pedigree is strong, or as he puts it “I’m quite familiar with the industry.”
Now, in the midst of restructuring the company (Sunseeker announced 50 compulsory redundancies earlier this week) and pursuing a new strategy to build bigger (the company recently launched it’s strategy of revisiting yachts over 40 metres – its 134 Superyacht, a 40.45 metre vessel and a new 40 metre project form its long-term superyacht strategy), Frabetti’s looking at the UK’s wider marine industry with a keen eye. And, he says the UK doesn’t have an easy environment to produce superyachts within.
“You need to have an industry focused on superyachts’” he told MIN during Cannes Yachting Festival. “To develop boats, it’s a matter of many systems, many suppliers.
“In Viareggio, Italy, if you have some money in the pocket and you say you want to become a superyacht manufacturer tomorrow morning, you can do it. Because there are a lot of companies connected, and so they put together your yacht very well.
“In the UK there is not such a kind of environment to make it easy to produce a superyacht. And so the supplier chain has to be selected in Spain, in Italy, in Holland and so on.
“If Sunseeker, Princess and somebody else started to build superyachts, these competencies will grow in the UK.”
Of note, Princess’ CEO Will Green mentioned to MIN that on top of the growth plan the company launched at Cannes, the company has more to come. A new superyacht is being unveiled at MYS – the new Princess Odyssey 106 will take the brand to an epic new scale, the company says. So potentially Frabetti’s eco-system has a chance of evolution.
Innovative marine products are always welcomed
The Sunseeker CEO believes it’s easy to get innovative products into the Sunseeker range. Innovators simply need to knock at his door with “clever products”.
“But,” he says, “the problem is, no one invests. I’m talking about suppliers and companies . . . no one wants to invest money if it [the product] is only for Sunseeker.” He’s optimistic that if more UK manufacturers look to enter the large boat space, creating more customers, innovation investment will follow. It’s a situation he looks forward to.
“Instead of obliging us to buy parts everywhere, we can be much more connected. . . . this creates more opportunities to be efficient.”
He cites the Netherlands as a perfect example.
“They are still leaders in the superyacht market in Holland. But not only because there is one shipyard that puts together the things, but because there are many other companies that they put together the parts to be installed on board. They produce wipers, they produce windshields. This is not currently happening in the UK.”
Future plans & Sunseeker superyachts
With all the imminent changes, Frabetti is feeling optimistic. Italy’s Orienta Capital Partners and US’s Lionheart Capital bought Sunseeker International from China’s Wanda real estate group in November 2024 and he welcomes the former’s interest in large yachts. Now it’s all about picking up Sunseeker’s plans from 2022.
Back then, the firm was ready to start investing in superyachts. “But suddenly this Ukrainian war started and this has created an earthquake in the industry. That’s the reason I decided to postpone the new investment on superyacht. The war is not finished yet, but anyway, the situation is changing – evolving in many ways. And so, we decided to restart investment, to create new product.”
The company is expecting sales of more than it can produce. Frabetti calculates that in the next five years, Sunseeker could produce up to four superyachts per year “in the future it could be more”. He’s looking at the numbers of owners who upgrade in the Sunseeker family.
“So even only four per cent, five per cent per year wanted to change their boat, it is more than enough. We have no more capacity than that.”
Employee uncertainty at Sunseeker
The company is currently going through a restructuring process.
The purpose of the restructure is to position Sunseeker in line with market demand and make sure it’s fit for purpose. Thus the new structure needs to support the strategy of building more superyachts as well as the production of the existing range.
In June this year, the company raised the spectre of axing 200 jobs, with Frabetti blaming tariffs. At the time Frabretti said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly. We are fully aware of the impact this will have on the affected employees.” Sunseeker made around 100 temporary layoffs shortly before Christmas 2024 due to “restrictions in its supply chain” and cash-flow challenges. These workers returned in late January 2025, with the yard insisting no staff had – at that time – lost their job.
“The restructuring process is still ongoing,” a company spokesperson told MIN earlier this week. “We’re making sure we give everyone lots of time and support to decide what they’d like to do. A number of colleagues have opted for voluntary redundancy and this has allowed us to significantly reduce the number of proposed compulsory redundancies to 50. We are grateful for the contributions of all our employees as we continue to work closely with affected individuals.”
Whomever ends up in the mix – 44 new positions have been created within the organisation which lots of people are currently applying for, says a spokesperson – Sunseeker CEO Frabetti’s delighted that some employees are boaters themselves.
“It was nice for me discovering that in Poole,” where the company’s manufacturing is based, “many, many, many of our workers — I’m talking about plumbers, carpenters — spend their time on a boat. Obviously it’s a five metre, 30 years or older, but they enjoy boating, even in a cheaper way.” He believes that those who use a boat also know how to put one together.
Increasing Sunseeker’s manufacturing footprint
With the superyacht strategy going into full swing, Sunseeker has budgeted for increasing the size of the shipyard further, Frabetti says. There’re ongoing discussions about increasing the size of the buildings in Weymouth and utilising the land available which is connected to the sea. “The shipyard is in between Portland and Weymouth and so it’s all about water.
“We have a huge capacity now, but we would like to increase the size of the buildings. That’s the reason why in the next few years we will produce up to four superyachts. Then with the new buildings and so on, we can go up to six or seven.”
But, with all that optimism and confidence he also points out that “probably the overall number in the world for superyachts is around 30 per year, not more than that. And so I think the probabilities that will grow are quite hard.”
So far in 2025, according to SuperYacht Times/SuperYacht IQ, 66+ new superyachts (above 40 metres) have been sold.
With all these larger yachts being made – and finding buyers – marina infrastructure may become a challenge. But the Sunseeker CEO says “normally, [the people] who own superyachts own companies that own many things, including marinas.” He predicts that berthing issues will be sorted out quickly enough if the need is there.
