Good sales, but a less than convincing show

The organisers at National Boat Shows (NBS) had a mammoth task ahead of them. Long established firms like Sealine had already broken ranks in 2008 and declined to attend the 2009 ExCeL show, preferring to put all their efforts (and spend) into Southampton. How many more would follow?
 
Several, it turned out. From a marketing point of view, it is, of course, risky for any firm to fall off the boat show map. But as recession bit, banks turned nasty (or greedy?) on credit, bad debt insurance facilities dwindled and customers paused for breath, some British Marine Federation (BMF) members were feeling the financial pinch.
 
So stand size reductions (if not abandonment) were looking likely. It was always going to be a struggle to fill ExCeL’s huge halls in 2010. And it was. NBS did its best - by launching an attractive pricing structure as an incentive to exhibitors – but even this failed to fill the space.
 
The unaudited attendance figure of 102,655 was down 9% on 2009. But, given the media’s bombardment of the public with dire ‘don’t step outside your front door’ messages, this could almost be seen as a result. The real crunch, however, will come in 2011. With around 40% extra space being made available inside ExCeL later this year, NBS will have a lot of thinking to do.
 
A new (and welcome) initiative seen at this year’s show was a series of focus groups to help NBS plan ahead. These were addressed to both exhibitors and show visitors alike and posed questions such as when is the best date (towards the end January or even later in the year?) and how to use the extra space and dramatic new entrance.
 
Dull and sterile
Many complained about the dull and sterile entrance in 2010, without a single boat to be seen until the visitors had made it all the way into one of the halls. This resulted in a damp squib of a first impression.
 
The extra space available in 2011 could, some suggested, be used for more water-sport features such as angling, diving etc; supported by individual sponsors perhaps?
 
The focus groups showed that people like features and want more; provided, of course, funding can be found without raising current exhibitor and visitor costs. The Classic Yacht section (supported by International Paints), model yacht racing (in which around 2,500 people took part) and new Class Association feature were all successes in 2010.
 
Funmeister John Goode has done a great job in orchestrating such features and NBS seems to be encouraging their development. If more visitors are to be attracted, new angles need to be developed and marketed aggressively.
 
One of the ideas in 2010 that worked well was the raised walkway. This device – whereby exhibitors dump their boats on the floor and back them up to a long, wide elevated walkway provided by the show organisers – has long been a feature in Continental shows. It makes sense.
 
Exhibitors save on the huge costs of erecting their own stands and just pay for the floor space used by each boat. And visitors can stroll along the walkway and view a wide selection of different craft from a raised position.
 
Saved £60k
Premier’s Julian Gowing reckoned it saved his company around £60,000. Clipper Marine’s Johnny Cochran agreed that he saved a similar amount on exhibiting Bavarias and Legends. What’s more he was happy by Wednesday (despite the low attendance), telling me that Clipper had already shifted three Bavarias and a brace of Legends.
 
Chris Oddy of Hanse (another convert to the new walkway system) was less certain about the size of the saving, saying that it did not attract the normal BMF members’ discount. And – like many others – he had a moan about the Health & Safety police’s attitude to individual boarding steps leading onto the boats.
 
Others complained that the walkway was poorly signposted and the various flights of steps looked as though they were going to one section only – not to the entire length.
 
However, by and large, the new walkway got a thumbs-up and some exhibitors hoped it would be located in the centre of the hall next year, thereby enabling boats to be berthed on both sides.
 
The new feature for Class Associations also went down well, attracting the Westerly, Contessa, Bénéteau, Fisher, Shrimper, Legend, Moody and Classic Motor Boat associations. Any show visitor contemplating buying a secondhand boat found useful information and encouragement on this combined stand.
 
And any feature that helps a newcomer to take the plunge has to be a good idea. It may not lead to a boat sale at the show, but in the long term it gets more people onto the water. And that’s what a boat show is all about.
 
Encourages newcomers
The Brokers’ Village (run by Yachtworld.com) is another regular at ExCeL that encourages newcomers to take the plunge. ‘The stand is twice as big as last year and represents 36 different yacht brokers,’ said Alastair Walton. ‘The number of leads we have generated so far is double our 2009 tally.’
 
Each participating broker paid Yachtworld £995 to be on the stand, which they reckon is good value for the exposure. ‘And of course any boat taken as a part-exchange against a new purchase at the show can go straight onto the display board,’ added Mr Walton.
 
Brokerage business in general has enjoyed a busy 2009 (thanks to the weakness of the £ against the euro) and I believe that 2010 will see more of the same - so long as there’s a decent stock of good quality secondhand boats.

Cooney Marine International also ran a multi-occupancy unit called the Manufacturing Showcase Stand for five key UK manufacturing supply chain companies - Simpson Davits, The Tank Company, Savage Lighting, Power Bim and Blackburns Metals .

The stand was managed by Nicola Charles PR, who represented each of the companies during the show, with representatives from the companies available during certain days.

‘The costs were kept to a minimum for the participating companies,’ said Cooney Operations Director Andy Sims. ‘Four of the companies had never exhibited at the London Show, but it was so successful we’ll be doing something bigger at Southampton.’
 
And what about the big boys? The depleted show marina played host to the biggest Princess and Sunseeker motor yachts currently afloat. One cannot fail to be impressed (especially when they are lit up at night) by the sheer size of these monsters.
 
It doesn’t seem long since a 60 footer was a ‘big’un’; yet here were production motor yachts bracketing the 100ft size. And it doesn’t stop there.
 
On its stand in the Hall, Princess was exhibiting models of its forthcoming 32m and 40m M Class Yachts. ‘We’ve already taken orders,’ said chairman David King. There’s no doubt about it: big continues to be beautiful.
 
Challenge
Whilst it can be a challenge to sell large numbers of mid-sized yachts, superyachts attract orderly queues. And Princess and Sunseeker are world leaders. Princess even made it into The Sunday Times list of top companies, which is a major feat for a boatbuilder.
 
Despite its widely publicised recent problems, Fairline also claims to be on the road to recovery and profitability and to have enjoyed a good show. It brought forward its new model programme and this is attracting healthy numbers of orders.
 
But it will not be able to compete with Princess and Sunseeker in the superyacht stakes unless it acquires shore-side production facilities. I doubt that the Police would take kindly to anything bigger than around 75ft trundling down our motorways. Sunseeker and Princess, on the other hand, can slip their superyachts straight from shed to sea.
 
And, talking of princesses, it was good to see the Princess Royal visiting the show. She’s always been a great supporter of sailing activities. Trailing a convoy of suits, photographers and detectives behind her, she steamed from stand to stand. I happened to be on the Henri Lloyd stand when she hove into view.
 
PR executive Amy Grealish stood to attention to demonstrate the new DAME Award winning coastal jacket (made from recycled material). I was out of earshot, so did not hear whether the Princess Royal mentioned that her daughter Zara was now the face of rival company Musto’s latest horsey clothing range.
 
Will HL trump Musto?
But perhaps Henri Lloyd will trump Musto in the publicity stakes, thanks to inheriting serial world champion Michael Schumacher as its new pin up. Having hit the merchandising jackpot in 2009 through its association with Brawn GP, Henri Lloyd continues the deal with the same team, now renamed Mercedes GP Petronas.
 
And Mercedes means German drivers Schumacher and Rosberg; which in turn means prodigious merchandising potential on mainland Europe.
 
So Henri Lloyd’s initial punt with unknown Brawn has hit the jackpot. Bravo.
 
The biggest boatbuilder in Europe, Groupe Bénéteau, arrived at ExCeL fresh from its most successful ever Paris Boat Show. Interestingly, Bénéteau exhibited just three Oceanis sailing boats at ExCeL. There was not a First in sight.
 
But there were plenty of powerboats, including the fast selling new 34 ft Swift Trawler. Bénéteau dealer Robert Shufflebottom (of Fox’s Yacht Sales) told me that if you combined the sales of power and sail, Jeanneau and Bénéteau between them shifted in excess of an incredible 500 boats at Paris.
 
David de Vere, another Bénéteau dealer, confirmed this figure, adding that around 85% of these were sold on leasing systems. In EU countries such as France and Italy, the big banks offer lease deals to boat buyers, whereby the amount of VAT paid by the buyer is typically halved. Sadly HMRC does not allow these VAT saving schemes in the UK. 
 
But it shows how credit and consumer confidence are returning to good health on the other side of the Channel. The new Bénéteau Monte Carlo 42, for example, was sold out for the year ahead by the end of the Paris show.
 
Better than feared
And how did the retailers fare? By and large, better than they feared. Sailing Holidays said bookings (of which a healthy 65% are repeat business) were ahead of 2009. Devon Yawl and Cape Cutter 19 builders Honnor Marine said turnover was up 40% in 2009 and ExCeL business was good. Cornish Crabbers claimed to have seven months worth of orders.
 
Rob White of Topper said sales of the original Topper were up to 800 a year and that over 100 boats (mainly catamarans and Omega dinghies) were sold at the show. He also told me: ‘Nandi Province (in Korea) wants 100 each of the Topper and Topaz to hold the 2012 World Championships, will rename an island as Topaz Island, and aims to base 1000 Topaz dinghies there in the future. It’s a once in a lifetime order.’ He can say that again. 
 
Andrew Smythe of Cactus said they’d had a very good show. ‘There’s been a good level of sales and we’re currently 20% up on last year,’ he told me.
 
So where do we go next? Despite isolated signs of optimism, many will find 2010 difficult. Importers from euroland will suffer from the weak £, while exporters will rub their hands and make the most of it.
 
And NBS – which had no control over the weather or economic climate – will have its work cut out to recoup revenue lost through the reduced gate.
 
Then it has to plan how (or if) to use the extra space available for the 2011 Show. It won’t be easy.