A YACHT firm is sailing into calmer waters after its sales grew in 2012.
Oyster Yachts, based at Fox’s Marina in Ipswich, saw turnover increase last year, delivering a second year of improving results following ‘low’ results from 2008 to 2010 as a result of the recession.
Oyster, which closed 2012 in its strongest position for many years, says it has five orders for the new Oyster 885 and three for the new Oyster 825 model.
It also has a debt-free balance sheet following a successful restructuring in February 2012 of the leveraged private equity ownership which ran from early 2008 to the end of 2011. The new shareholders say they are committed to long term investment in the company. In June 2012, the group acquired fit-out business E.C. Landamore & Co of Wroxham.
For the previous four decades, the company had been fitting out Oyster yachts as a sub-contractor to the group.
The strategic acquisition focused production of the smaller yachts at its Landamore site while larger yachts are built at its wholly owned facility in Southampton.
There are plans to further expand the Wroxham facility to deliver greater production efficiencies.
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