Just weeks after UK powerboat builder Fairline called in the administrators and two days before the start of the London Boat Show Princess Yachts have announced that it plans shed 350 workers from a workforce of 2000 plus.
Describing the losses are part of a “major restructuring and investment programme” the company, formed 50 years ago, went onto say the move was part of a large-scale restructuring and investment programme. The job losses will affect the company’s back office, development and production divisions as it strives to improve productivity in the face of “unprecedented challenges”.
Chris Gates the Managing Director at Princess Yachts said in a statement, “Today’s announcement of job losses, although not undertaken lightly, is designed to maintain the business in the best possible shape for the next phase in its evolution.”
The company says that in the past it maintained higher staff levels than were needed during and had done so during the development stages of new models
Chris Gates added, “Like all successful companies, we need to be able to adapt and adjust the constitution of our workforce periodically.”
The company reported a loss of £11.3m on turnover of £239.5m for 2014, compared to the profit of £4.8m it made in 2013.