Business Minister Lord Henley visits London Boat Show to see £3.12bn marine industry
by Andrew Harries, British Marine 12 Jan 2018 16:58 UTC
10-14 January 2018
Lord Henley meets with Robert Muir at Barrus London Boat Show © British Marine
Business Minister, the Rt. Hon. Lord Henley, visited the London Boat Show, powered by British Marine, on Thursday to meet with British Marine members and exhibitors and find out more about the industry's sixth consecutive year of revenue growth.
Minister Henley, whose responsibilities at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy include maritime, met with seven British Marine member companies: Williams Jet Tenders, Ribeye, Sunseeker International, Princess Yachts, Seaglaze Marine Windows, Barrus and Fairline Yachts.
The Minister's visit took place the day after British Marine published its latest Industry Statistics and Trends Report. A healthy revenue growth of 3.4% to £3.12bn was announced, with the industry contributing over £1.3bn of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy and delivering above UK average figures for productivity of £39,000 GVA output per worker.
Business Minister Lord Henley said: "The UK is a world-leader in marine engineering and manufacturing with the sector contributing £3.12bn to the British economy and supporting over 33,000 highly-skilled jobs.
"Our Industrial Strategy paves the way for government and industry to work together to further boost the sector by creating more jobs and export opportunities to maintain the UK's world-class reputation for maritime excellence."
Howard Pridding, Chief Executive Officer of British Marine, said: "We were delighted to welcome Minister Henley to the London Boat Show, powered by British Marine, and introduce him to some of the member companies behind the UK marine industry's £3.12bn success story.
"It is important that an industrial strategy delivers for every type of marine business, from those exporting our great products around the world to those providing holiday opportunities on our great British waterways. Today's visit has enabled us to continue discussions with the Government on topics including how we make Brexit work for the marine industry, small business support and making sure UK manufactured boats and products can be easily exported right across the world."