Oyster Yachts acquires new production facility

United Kingdom
30th March 2021

Oyster Yachts acquires new production facility

Oyster Yachts, one of the UK’s iconic yacht manufacturers, is acquiring a new 27,000 sq ft production facility at the Hythe Marine Park, Southampton.

The yacht manufacturers, which also has offices in Spain and the USA, is undertaking a considerable expansion programme and is moving into Hythe’s historic flying boat building to provide a state-of-the-art production space for the new Oyster 495 yacht.

Oyster’s owner and CEO Richard Hadida commented:

Oyster Yachts is moving into the historic Grade II listed building, known locally as the Admiralty Shed or the Flying Boat Hangar, which produced sea planes for World War 1, before becoming a key facility for Vickers Supermarine and later the maintenance base for the pioneering Empire flying boats. More recently, it saw the production of the test boats for the 2017 America’s Cup campaign and Alex Thompson’s 2020 Vendee Globe racing yacht.

This acquisition will see Oyster Yachts increasing its existing facilities by 70%, supporting the company’s ongoing investment and growth strategy in the UK.

To accommodate the expansion Oyster will be increasing its Southampton workforce by a further 70 employees, which is seen as a positive development for new talent in the area. Awarded Employer of the Year by City College Southampton in 2021, the company is invested in developing new talent, which led to the creation of its own Oyster Apprenticeship Academy. The Academy ensures time-honoured craftmanship skills and techniques are passed onto new and younger generations to ensure British boat building trades are sustained.

The Southampton-based expansion follows on from growth at Oyster’s manufacturing facilities in Wroxham and the creation of a specialist technology centre in Ashmanhaugh, both in Norfolk.

The expansion into new premises at Hythe is being overseen by Oyster’s newly appointed Chief Operations Officer Peter Hamlyn.

He commented:

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