Portchester-based boat builder Meercat Workboats are moving to new larger premises in Hythe, near Southampton, and expecting to reignite its export business after the recent EU Referendum.
The company has built 28 boats to date, exporting two to Norway, two to the Republic of Ireland, one to Sweden, two to Saudi Arabia, one to Tasmania, one to Peru, and one to Australia. With exports to date totalling a third of the builds the business plans to maximise the potential of a lower value Sterling.
The new site is circa 1600m², with 2 x 20T gantry cranes, an electrical workshop, and a hydraulic workshop, aluminium welding bays, dedicated stores, offices and customer parking.
Jamie Lewis, who is Meercat Workboats Managing Director, said: “This move really is significant for us. We’ve been searching for a new home for 18 months and it’s really great news that we’ve found a fantastic landlord in Oceanic Estates and superb new premises. The footprint really is perfect – and we need it to deliver on our FY17 business plan and our current pipeline.”
Jamie added: “With several interested parties we really expect to conclude the transaction by the month end. This really will be a very good win for us as the boat genuinely is fantastic.”
Nicholas Warren, the CEO of Burgess Marine, the parent company to Meercat Workboats, said: “The referendum has given us a wonderful opportunity to re-energise our export business. Domestically the business is performing ahead of expectations but to open up International markets again, to coincide with the firm’s relocation to better premises, is seriously opportunistic. We’re genuinely excited about some very real export opportunities – this is great news for British workboat building”.