Fairline Boats

Fairline Boats[1] was a British manufacturer of luxury motor yachts. Started in 1963 by Jack Newington, the company built motor yachts in Oundle, Northamptonshire.

This article is about the boat manufacturer which went into administration in December 2015. For the new company, see Fairline Yachts Ltd. For the defunct airline, see Fairline.
Fairline Squadron Yachts outside Fairline's Ipswich testing facility
A 1990s Fairline Squadron
Fairline Squadron
A Fairline Squadron at the 2011 Jersey Boat Show

The company went into administration in December 2015. On 26 January 2016, the assets were acquired from administration by Russian businessmen Alexander Volov and Igor Glyanenko into a new company, Fairline Yachts Ltd.

History

Newington family

The company started when Newington bought a series of gravel pits on the River Nene and built the Oundle Marina. In 1967 he launched the first Fairline boat, a 19 feet (5.8 m) handcrafted glass-reinforced plastic river cruiser.[2] When Newington's son Sam, a former Royal Air Force pilot and Columbia University MBA graduate, took over in 1971, the company employed fourteen people. Sam expanded the company's sales network overseas to take advantage of the expanding Mediterranean market place – by 1979 the company employed 140 people and turned over £5 million, with production expanded by the success of 1977's Fairline 40 model.[2]

The company expanded in the 1980s developing lines of high speed cruising yachts. In 1986, Fairline was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade. When Sam retired in 1996, the company expanded further by establishing Fairline Boats of North America Inc., creating a network of 35 dealers.[2] In 2002 the 10,000th Fairline was completed, together with new production facilities at the original Oundle site. By 2010, the 12,000th Fairline was completed, a Squadron 55 shipped to a client in Italy. The Fairline Owners Club was founded in 2003.[3] On 20 June 2017 it was announced that Sam Newington had died peacefully at home at the age of 82.[4]

Venture investment: 2006–2015

In 2006 the company was purchased by 3i.[2] The company launched the Fairline Targa 38 in 2006, which won the European Powerboat of the Year in the 30 ft (9.1 m) to 40 ft (12 m) category in 2007.[5] Fairline Boats was purchased by Better Capital and RBS in July 2011.[6] In 29 September 2015, Fairline Boats was bought by Wessex Bristol owned by Ayiaz Ahmed.[7]

Administration

Having suffered a series of trading difficulties since the 2008 global recession, in December 2015 Fairline Boats entered administration.

In January 2016, Alexander Volov and Igor Glyanenko, UK-based Russian businessmen, purchased the assets of Fairline Boats for about £4 million. Fairline Yachts Ltd new managing director Russell Currie announced a reduction in the workforce from the previous 466 to "around 100".[8]

Range

Fairline Boat's range included the following models:

  • Squadron – first launched in 1990 with the Squadron 62, a large yacht range. From 42 feet (13 metres) to 78 ft (24 m)
  • Targa – first launched in 1985, a series of sports style boats. From 38 ft (12 m) to 62 ft (19 m), the range is topped by the Gran Turismo models, first launched in 2003
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References
  1. "FBL REALISATIONS LIMITED – Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  2. Back Targa 62 GRAN TURISMO more (2 December 2015). "Luxury Motor Yachts". Fairline.com. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  3. "The Fairline Owners Club". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  4. Hugo Andreae (28 June 2017). "Fairline luminary Sam Newington dies". mby.com. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  5. "Boat Buyers Guides". Rightboat.com. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  6. Nick Burnham (12 July 2011). "Fairline is bought by Better Capital Limited and RBS – Motor Boat & Yachting". Motorboatsmonthly.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  7. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayiaz-ahmed-234a516/
  8. Rob Davies (1 January 1970). "Fairline Boats former staff 'queuing at gates' to work after Russian takeover | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
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