Layoffs in NZ Yachting Sector

On the Radio this morning, apart from the liquidation of Genesis Baoats, is the news that long established yacht builder Cookson Boats, a leader in high performance yachts and builder of Team NZ hulls, is laying off all its 62 staff due to a downturn in business.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=152724

Recession sinks luxury boat firm - NZHerald

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Recession sinks luxury boat firm
4:00AM Wednesday Feb 25, 2009
By Owen Hembry
A liquidator has been called in to Genesis Marine.

A liquidator has been called in to Genesis Marine.
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Luxury boat-builder Genesis Marine has been placed into liquidation in the face of the global recession, but the owners want to finish any part-built boats.

Co-owner and managing director Christopher Pollock said the market for its boats had dried up.

"Obviously the credit crunch, the oil crisis, the bad winter last year, the fact that no one is purchasing high-end market products has a lot to do with the reason that after 25 years we've not be able to continue in business," Pollock said.

But he did not want to let customers down.

"We said to him [the liquidator] from the outset that we were prepared, and the staff were prepared, to complete any boats that were there.

"We're trying to organise a meeting for him this week to try and complete any boats that people have asked us to complete."

Pollock said he he did not know how many there were.

"You have to remember that this is after 25 years and 300 boats, so at the end of the day we feel very compassionate about our product and the people that buy them," Pollock said.

"It's probably the hardest decision I've had to make in my whole life."

Liquidator John Gilbert from C&C Strategic was appointed last week by resolution of shareholders.

"The shareholders had put funds into the business but they didn't have sufficient funds to keep the business going through this business cycle," Gilbert said.

"I'm also aware that they've developed a new boat in the last 12 to 18 months ... and I suspect that there's been a lot of money spent developing that and they haven't had enough sales.

"Despite the extra money they've put in, they're in a position where their overheads would have been, over the next two months, more than they could have sustained, so therefore rather than trade while insolvent they've liquidated."

The company had about 20 staff at the time Gilbert was appointed, although he thought the number of employees might have been as many as 40 before Christmas.

Genesis Marine owed $2.3 million but Gilbert did not yet have a value for its assets because of uncertainty about ownership, including that of part-built boats.

"My lawyer and I are firing communications to various parties," Gilbert said. "I'm still working through a number of issues regarding assets."