2012 INDUSTRY TRENDS RESULTS

Published on 12/7/2012

Latest business trends for the UK marine industry paints a consistent picture to the last survey six months previously.

The UK leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry reports a constant trend in business performance from the previous survey, according to the latest report from the British Marine Federation (BMF).   The marine industry continues to face the same issues affecting the wider UK economy such as the impact of the Euro crisis and tough austerity measures steered by Government

There has been a slight uplift in the export market workload from six months ago but overall the value of both the home and export markets is reported at a similar level as May-November 2011.  Overall business activity trends are also fairly unchanged from the last survey as well as measures of turnover, profit and investments which are in line with the output of the whole of the UK for Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

There has been an increase in the number of companies reporting that they have employee vacancies they are finding difficult to fill (19% of respondents now compared to 12% in the last survey in November 2011).  This skills shortage is a likely impact of the static mobility of employees within the industry but also employees moving into different industries.  There has also been a significant increase in respondents reporting they will be keeping sales prices the same rather than raising them compared to six months ago.

Headlines from the May 2012 survey results include:

• Level of marine business activity over the last six months remains fairly consistent to trends reported in November 2011: reported to have increased for 31% of members while 33% report it has decreased (net balance of -2%)
• Future business prospects have improved marginally since expectations reported in November 2011: 35% state they expect the next 6 months to be good/excellent, 45% believe it will be ok and 21% think poor

Period of November 2011-May 2012 compared November 2010-May 2011:

• Domestic market: compared to May-November 2011, domestic workload over the last six months is higher for 31% and lower for 35% (net balance of -4%) and 25% report a higher domestic order book value while for 42% it is lower (net balance -17%).
• Export market: 37% are reporting a higher export workload compared to a year ago and for 34% it is lower (net balance of +3%) and 32% are reporting a higher export order book value and for 44% it’s lower (net balance -12%).
• Level of investment:  trend is consistent over the last 18 months with 30% investing more and 19% less than the same six month period a year ago (net balance +11%)
• Turnover & Profit: 42% report they have a higher turnover compared to November 2010 - May 2011 and 35% a lower turnover (net balance of +7%).  However, profits are still reporting a negative trend with 44% reporting a lower profit and 29% a higher profit (net balance of -15%)
  
  This survey is conducted twice a year in order to monitor marine industry performance of the UK leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry.  This survey in May 2012 was completed by 318 members (26% response rate) and is published as an aid to the industry in forecasting and planning for future months. The next trends survey will be conducted by BMF in November 2012.  For further details or queries, please email research@britishmarine.co.uk

To view and download the full results report click HERE

For all stats and research from the BMF visit the publications page here.