Princess Yachts announces job cuts amid market challenges

Plymouth's luxury boat maker, Princess Yachts, has announced that up to 250 staff could face redundancy as the company initiates another round of job cuts. The firm cited "challenging market conditions" as the reason for needing to "streamline some of its processes", which will result in approximately 9 per cent of the workforce being let go.

Despite making around 40 staff redundant earlier this year and posting a pre-tax loss of £69m in 2022, the company emphasised today that it had made significant progress on plans to improve efficiencies and maintains a strong order book. However, the Stonehouse-based business acknowledged that it has not been "immune to market forces".

A recent review highlighted the need to bolster its resilience against potential future market fluctuations and build a stronger business in anticipation of the market returning to normal. This means it will be "streamlining some of its processes" with an aim to retain its most experienced and skilled workers, with "an increased focus on quality and operational efficiency".

Regrettably, the company confirmed, this will necessitate some redundancies.

Around 500 staff members will be put under consultation, but the company anticipates that approximately 250 of its hourly-paid employees across "a number of operational areas" will actually be lost. These are expected to be less skilled shopfloor production workers, as the business aims to retain its more skilled and salaried staff, reports Plymouth Live.

Princess Yachts is now entering a period of consultation with union representatives and those directly affected. The chief executive of Princess Yachts, Will Green, stated: "We have not been immune to the global downturn that has been affecting the industry. Making any decisions that directly affect people's jobs is always difficult but we have a responsibility to all staff to ensure we have a strong business and I am confident that these adjustments, together with the progress we have made on our turnaround plans this year, will underpin a much more robust business long-term and allow us to concentrate on what we do best – building the highest quality yachts in the market".

Earlier this year, Princess Yachts made about 40 office-based business support staff or management redundant across various departments, including some based at the firm's Newport Street headquarters. Despite recent challenges, Mr Green emphasised today that the company, which still employs around 2,800 people, including those currently under threat, has a promising future.

The company's spokesperson stated that 2024 has been "an important turnaround year" for Princess Yachts, highlighting the "made excellent progress in improving our operational efficiencies and continued to invest in exciting, segment leading products" such as the S80 and S65 models which launched this year and the F58 and V65 that will debut in 2025. The luxury yacht manufacturer was acquired by New York-based KPS Capital Partners in March 2023.

KPS provided a significant cash injection to address supply chain and capacity issues and approved a substantial investment for the expansion of the South Yard production facility.