The story went on to tell how Dixie, boss of the Fareham-based freight business Premier Shipping and Packing (PSP), walked away from the deal after not getting a response from NBS in four days after submitting a sponsorship proposal.

‘I got the feeling they didn’t take me seriously,’ Dixie is quoted as saying. ‘Their attitude was disrespectful and unprofessional.’

Rob Stevens, chief executive of the British Marine Federation (BMF), told BB he was surprised at the story in the Echo.

The original approach was made through Fast Track about a month ago, he told us, with the original deal being for £80k.

‘But we have rules about BMF members sponsoring things that we had to check out,’ he said. ‘Then PSP came back with an increased offer of £100k which, having sorted out the BMF member/sponsor details, we accepted within three days.’ Then PSP announced it was pulling out, he added, which we found very surprising.

Alan Morgan, chairman of NBS, got involved in the proceedings at a late stage. ‘I was never able to find out where the delay occurred,’ Morgan told BB. ‘As far as Frank Dixie and I are concerned we have discussed it amicably and, while nothing will happen this year, we’ve left our lines of communication open for the future.’