View the March news bulletin in full: IIMS News Bulletin March 2025 (pdf format) or click to read it in eReader magazine format.
Two ‘lite’ podcast versions are also available to listen to. Yacht & Small Craft Surveyors (run time 21 minutes) and Commercial Ship Surveyors (run time 25 minutes).
If you read my column back in January, you may recall that I questioned the future of indoor boat shows, following the collapse of several important indoor events at that time. Now I have read the 2025 edition of the Dutch indoor show has been cancelled, and future editions of the Gothenburg boat show have been curtailed due to economic conditions. Tough economic conditions seem to be a key reason why three well-known and highly respected British yacht brands have hit the headlines for the wrong reasons recently. I am referring to Princess Yachts, (about 260 jobs were lost in late 2024), Sunseeker (around 100 people temporarily laid off in December) and Fairline (which fell into administration at the end of January just weeks after the business changed ownership and is now awaiting a new buyer). So, what’s going wrong?