An interview with Zeb Elliott

Lynsey Thomas talks to the MD of Holt, on business, sailing and actually having to work for a living

Zeb Elliott (pictured right sailing with Tim Robinson) campaigned as a 49er crew in the run up to the Sydney Olympics. Having failed to win the trials a reassessment of his life was in order. Previous experience in the marine industry proved advantageous and he is now the top man at Holt.

What's it like having to work for a living?
It was a bit of a shock - not going to The Games. We had resigned ourselves that the trials were going to be between ourselves, Paul and Ian, still it doesn't make it any easier when you realise you are not going to get a chance to go. The job at Holts is definitely different. Being offered the post of MD was certainly a good opportunity and Holts were in a position where they needed a bit of focus and a different angle. I'm thoroughly enjoying it though.

Had going through an Olympic campaign helped you with your business career?
Definitely. The whole Olympic campaign experience was a lesson in logistics, goal setting, everything you could imagine - there are a whole host of parallels to be drawn. In the Olympic campaign we were learning how to set goals - with timescales - sourcing the right products - sometimes from across the world. Now I'm identifying a market need within timescales, it is all very similar.

How much sailing are you able to do with your current position?
Hardly any at all. I've really had my head down for the past nine months - I've just bought myself an International 14 so I'm hoping to be able to do some sailing over the summer.

Do you think it's important that people still see you sailing and using the Holt products?
I think it is a very important fact that people associate the quality of a brand with top sailors. One of Holt's biggest strengths is that their products are used by the top international sailors, like Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks at the last Olympics. Holts also had myself and Chips Howarth working for them which is another selling feature. It gives you a lot of authority when good sailors are using your kit.

It has been said in the past that there has been a question mark over the quality of some of Holts products. You are now offering a five year warranty - is it your own confidence in the products that has prompted that?
When I first started at Holts, there hadn't been a huge input or development in the products for quite some time. Tony Allen had done a fantastic job in the 70s and 80s but it has taken five to six years to get that quality up to scratch with the rest of the market. In simple terms we did have a quality problem, mainly with our ball bearing blocks for the asymmetric boats. We've now got two designers working for us and we're investing quite heavily in design and development, we've really transformed the quality of our products through innovation. We're now using state-of-the-art CAD CAM design facilities which enables us to produce accurate prototypes before we go to production. Last year I felt we definitely got the quality of the products to market level - we're now just working on the packaging aesthetics to go with it. I'm confident we've got a strong product now that is competitive with the rest of the market - hence the warranty.

What are Holt's plans and ambitions for the coming year?
I personally have set some really high targets for the company. We've put an extra three to five million on our turnover targets so we've certainly got our work cut out. We are continuing to expand with the Herzog rope product range, Herzog has proved to be an absolute winner. I've just come back from Canada yesterday where I was negotiating and discussing how we can promote and expand with it. In terms of the hardware, we have just employed Tim Hancock who will be looking at our systems and processes and implementing development strategies. We are looking at two new products at the moment and we're bringing in two new ranges this year. We are also looking at how we can expand our retail presence. The main thrust this year is to change the aesthetics of the products to come in line with the quality of the product.

Do you think there should be a genuine incentive to get more people into the sport?
Definitely. We as an industry are not very good at promoting ourselves. We're all as bad as each other, we're all very enthusiastic about our sport but we're not good at making it accessible.

Couldn't people like Holts, Proctors and Hydes get together and be constructive about getting more people into sailing?
Well, there's the International Sailing Summit which does do something, and there is definitely a place or voice for the sailing industry.

So, has it become too cottage industry for its own good?
I think it is too cottage industry and something certainly needs to be done. Holts have got a project running at the moment with Hydes, Laser and Proctor where we are running a sailing simulator, like the one at the Boat Show. We are hoping to get Wandsworth Council involved so we can give people who have never sailed before the opportunity to try. It's certainly a move to get things kicked off and perhaps it maybe something that spawns a more structured industry body in the future.