canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat November 2017 7
DESPITE A SLIGHT fall in new
canal boats built last year, the
sector of the marine industry is
generally ‘healthy’, with numbers
of new boats holding roughly
steady since the 2008 downturn,
according to British Marine.
While total production across
the entire industry increased
by 1.5% to 9,907 new craft,
figures released by the industry
body show that new canal boats
dropped by a ‘marginal’ 2% to 200.
This followed a steep fall
of 31% from 2008 to 2009,
followed by seven years of
hovering around 175 to 200
boats, and represents £10m
of revenue for boat-builders.At the same time, British Marine
reports that participation in
canal boating has climbed
steadily over the last six years
to level off at 315,000 people,
while the number of boats has
risen to 25,000.
However it cautioned that
“unlike other boat manufacturing
markets, canal boats are a
closed market catering to
a domestic inland boating
customer base with finite
mooring space and capacity to
hold additional traffic”.
Waterway capacity and
licensing are “as key to boat
production as customer
demand”, British Marine added.New boat builds holding
‘roughly steady’ at 200...
DESPITE the slight dip in new
boats being built, a positive year
for inland marinas has seen fewer
berths lying empty, and more
income earned by operators.
A second report by British
Marine into the marinas sector
reported that occupancy of
inland berths has risen by 4.8%
to 88.7% of all berths occupied- the highest level since 2013
- and revenue up by 3.6%. BM
said that immediately after the
EU referendum there was a dip
in confidence which impacted
marine businesses in general,
but that this was followed by “a
weakening of sterling and an
increase in both domestic tourists
and boaters”.
At the same time, BM
cautioned that it had concerns
for the future that marinas
would “continue to struggle
to retain customers with an
ageing market that finds it
increasingly difficult to justify
the rising costs associated with
marina berthing”, particularly
in uncertain economic and
political times. And the marine
trade body also has fears about
“proposed and planned new
mooring facilities outstripping
demand”, intensifying
competition between marina
operators. However BM also
saw marinas meeting these
challenges with “innovative
ways to encourage engagement
with boat ownership”, including
boat sharing, flexibility about
services offered, movement
into residential berths, and
diversification into leisure and
tourism facilities at marinas....And marinas find their boats
RICKMANSWORTH WATERWAYS
Trust volunteers are pictured at
Batchworth Lock on the Grand
Union to receive the Queen’s
Award for Voluntary Service
from Robert Voss CBE, Lord
Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, in
recognition of their work for all
aspects of the charity’s activities.Their support ranges from the
Learning at the Lock education
programme to operating the
historic working boat Roger
and running the popular
Rickmansworth Canal Festival.
They are currently raising
£250,000 for a purpose-built
education centre at the lock.What a great Batch...