North Shields boat builder sailing on success of Olympics

Nov 18 2009 By Chris Knox, The Journal

A BOAT builder is set to see its vessels become an Olympic spectacle once again when they hit the waves at the 2012 games and is now looking to boost its sales after increasing its production capacity.

North Shields-based Ovington Boats has provided its high performance dinghies and yachts to competitors at Olympic, World, European and UK sailing events and has seen its turnover grow by 20% over the last 12 months.

The firm, which has a turnover of over £2m, was subject to a management buy-out in May 2007 after the death of its founder Dave Ovington. The new team has worked hard to grow the business, winning a £250,000 loan from Evolve Finance, a division of Newcastle-based investment company NEL Fund Managers, to help grow the business.

As well as growing its core boat-building operations since the MBO, the team has also increased its production space by adding a mezzanine floor to its building on the North Shields Fish Quay.

The firm, which employs 20 staff, has also undertaken more contract building on behalf of other firms.

It specialises in designing and producing small, hand made high performance dinghies, including the Olympic 49er class, which won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Athens Olympics in 2004, as well as the 29er, Flying 15, Musto Skiff and B14 dinghy.

Finance director Veronica Brown, who joined managing director Chris Turner and sales and marketing director Dave Hall as part of the new management team, said: "The years leading up to an Olympic games are when the competitors are trying to both secure their places on their respective countries’ teams, and find the boat that will give them the best chance of success when they get out on the water.

"For us, this means a real boost in trade, and as we’re one of only a few specialist boat builders in the world that make the Olympic class 49er dinghy, we’re getting enquiries and orders from right across Europe and elsewhere.

"In addition to this, a significant proportion of our turnover still comes from private sales to people who sail for enjoyment alone, and turnover in this market, which covers the whole of the UK, has remained strong despite the recession.

"Creating more workspace has helped both the speed and efficiency of our production process, and gives us the capacity to take advantage of the increased demand that we are confident we will continue to see in the run-up to the London Olympics, and hopefully beyond.

"NEL’s involvement with the MBO was crucial in making it happen, and they have stayed close to the business over the last two years, providing very useful support along the way."

The firm also said that the weak pound was actually helping them, with the bulk of their boats shipped overseas.

Simon Johnson, senior investment executive at Evolve Finance, said: "Ovington Boats has retained and enhanced its worldwide reputation under its new management team, and with the commercial openings presented by the run-up to London 2012, it has every opportunity to develop this even further."

The company’s founder Dave Ovington died in March 2005, at the age of 50 after a heart attack while sailing on Windermere in the Lake District with his family.

He was respected around the world for his success with the company, which started in sheds at Tynemouth in 1975.

He was instrumental in designing the 49er – first adopted as an Olympic-class boat at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

As well as dinghy building, Mr Ovington progressed into the big boat industry and in 1997 started production of the powerful Mumm 30 boats at the company’s Tanners Bank yard in North Shields.