Monday Jan 31, 2005

The second Schroders London Boat Show at ExCeL finished on January 16th with a buoyant performance. Many exhibitors reported record sales and the quality of visitors was significantly up on last year. Although visitors numbers were down on the phenomenal number achieved in 2004, due predominantly to bad weather and road traffic incidents, the last weekend saw well over 45,000 people attending the show.

Said Kevin Murphy, ExCeL's Deputy Chief Executive & MD of Exhibitions: "The success of the Boat Show has been fantastic and with the extra room at ExCeL, the show has been able to grow and attract new audiences, as well as provide a first class environment in which to do business for exhibitors and visitors alike. The new layout of the show was a tremendous success and is testament to the professionalism of the Boat Show team who listened to their market and delivered way beyond expectations.&"

A spokesperson from The Peters Group commented: "It seems that the public have deserted the high street in favour of ExCeL."Their power and sail divisions, Port Fairline, Opal marine and Seasport Marine, signed over 100 contracts worth £19.5million, which together with an already strong forward order book from the Southampton Show in 2004, means that some models are now sold well into 2006. Brian Peters, Chairman of Peters Plc said: &"It has been a very good show for us and we look forward to returning to ExCeL in 2006."

These sentiments were echoed amongst many exhibitors at the show. Cooney Marine recorded their highest ever sales since they started trading some 30 years ago, whilst France Afloat has their best boat show in 9 years. Officials from Waterscape.com acknowledge that the audience quality had risen dramatically. Honda this year have exceeded expectations, "prospects that we have seen during the show have been great, significantly up on last year" said Richard Gaya, Area Sales Development manager for Honda.

Additions to the show afforded by ExCeL's facilities, such as the dockside and the Live Action Watersports Arena, have again proved extremely successful this year, with packed audiences of 2,500 for every show. Once again, the Waterscape.com Inland Waterways Attraction, complete with its own purpose built pub Fox@Waterside, was one of the most visited attractions and the HMS Sutherland had over 20,000 visitors aboard their type 23 Frigate moored along the dock.

Paul Streeter, Managing Director of National Boat Shows, sums up the show: "We are very pleased with this year's show, our second at ExCeL and the largest exhibition to have been staged in London. The quality of visitors has been tremendous, which is extremely good news for the industry. The show is becoming established here at ExCeL and each year we are able to build on previous successes."

The Schroders London Boat Show will return to ExCeL from 5th-15th January 2006.