Fairline Boats has warned of “significant” redundancies alongside proposals for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with its creditors.

Fairline, which builds its boats at Oundle and Corby and has a test facility in Ipswich, was acquired last month by Somerset-based Wessex Bristol from private equity firm Better Capital.

The new owners initially laid off around 100 of Fairline’s 300 staff on a temporary basis while they assessed the business but have now begun a formal consultation over a “workforce restructure”.

“This will enable Fairline to right-size its operations to better reflect the marketplace environment, thereby permitting the business to operate efficiently,” they said in a statement. “Regrettably this process is expected to result in a significant number of redundancies.”

The owners said the aim was to safeguard as many jobs as possible, adding that they had broght in turnaround specialist KSA to assist iin the development of a “robust” recovery plan.

“This will involve the company proposing a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) which, if agreed by creditors, will allow the company to restructure its debt and move forward with a sensible and manageable cost base,” the statement added.

“Once the restructuring has been concluded, Wessex Bristol will turn its attention to implementing its long term growth strategy for this great British manufacturer.”