Scorpion now produces about 25 custom-built RIBs a year and there is also a very strong second-hand market, with owners tending to stick with the brand, which means the currently separate on-site brokerage business is being amalgamated into the Scorpion business.

A move into larger, tube shop premises on the outskirts of Lymington is also being planned this autumn. The roll-out of the MK III Scorpion Sting, the newly designed 10m Sports Cruiser, is planned for late February 2008.

According to Jelley, the Sting's build programme is expected to take around 3,500 man hours to complete and he estimates that even with an increase in staff ‘we can probably only build three Sting Cruisers in total next year’.

The first Sting has been sold and will be available as a demonstration model from March.