A new Formula

Formula Yacht Spars and Green Marine are coming together under a new management company

This week it was announced that Formula Yacht Spars and Green Marine have joined forces – in a non-takeover, non-merger sort of way.

The two Lymington based companies (Green also have a facility in Southampton) have installed a new management company, called Formula Group, to oversee both operations.

Both companies are heavily involved at the sharp end of composite construction and it is hoped that the new structure of the business will enable them to increase their presence in the market (and in the area of materials purchasing) and draw on their combined engineering knowledge - opening the door to an increasingly varied range of projects. Other advantages of the collaboration are seen and a fluid skills and labour transfer as required by either firm.

Heading up the new Formula Group will be Mark Merritt, with Tim Watson taking the role of Managing Director for Formula Yacht Spars. John Green becomes the Group’s Sales Director and Hugh Carpenter the Commercial Director. A new division for service and refit will be headed up by Jon Morris.

Formula Spars Managing Director Tim Watson explained to TheDailySail that this is a formalisation of an ever closer relationship with the specialist boat builder and that they have of the past last two years been increasingly working with Greens and this is a logical move forward.

“We have created a management company with Greens to look after both businesses,” confirmed Watson. “Neither party is buying the other one. We are both in Lymington, we both do similar and complimentary things and there are economies of scale to be had – from the point of view of purchasing, but also there is technology transfer.”

This collaboration on the technical knowledge side is seen by Watson as a big opportunity for the new Group: “We do work together in the background on the technical point of view. The other day I sat down with Ian (King, who originally set up Green Marine with Bill Green) and talked through a particular project we are tendering for and it is great to have that expertise to be able to sit down and say this is what my theory is and what ‘what do you think?’”

The spar making side has seen considerable growth over the last three years with Watson saying that the turnover has risen from £800,000 per annum to what is expected to be £4.8m at the close of 2006.

While both companies have an established reputation in the Grand Prix end of the yachting market – Most recently with Green have been involved in the build of Mascalzone Latino’s Cup boats and Formula are building spars for UIT Germany team and the South Africans, Shosholoza - both companies are continuing to look outside this arena to broaden their customer base.

Green have for many years been building the RNLI’s lifeboats and this is to continue and the Group will also have a new Architectural Division hoping to grow the land based application of carbon structures. “There is quite a lot of work being done with that area,” says Watson, “with architectural work, composite bridges and things like gantries for motorways.”

Watson remains bullish on the short to medium term opportunities in the marine market noting that they are finding the market as a whole very buoyant, aiding their growth, and this is combined with general optimism over the number of large boats being commissioned.