Profiles: Company Profiles
Broom Boats
Broad-ly speaking
Historic Broom Boats is taking a modern approach to boating on the Norfolk Broads. WN speaks to managing director Antony Howell about the company’s recent developments
Occupying an enviable position on the River Yare at Brundall, Broom Boats has been an established name on the southern Norfolk Broads for over 120 years. Formed in 1898, initially to build wooden cruisers for the global market, the business is now a luxury hire-fleet operator, mooring facility and marine repair centre headed up by a new director with a passion for the environment.
Antony Howell joined Broom Boats in January 2020 having formerly worked in the automotive sector. His vision is to develop all aspects of the company while considering the impact of boating on the unique ecology of the Broads National Park. Collaborating with Natural England is allowing the company to gain advice on environmental strategies while getting involved in projects and fundraising activities.
Marine services
Broom’s onsite engineers and builders have been integral to the business since its inception. The decision was made in 2018, however, to discontinue the firm’s boat-building arm and instead focus on marine services and repairs. With Broom’s long heritage in construction, Antony maintains it’s an area that the company could revive in the future: “The boat-building market is a tough one to be in but we’ve still got the knowledge, and we’re actively bringing in new people to learn those skills.”
This year Broom has taken on four new apprentices. “As former chair of the Norfolk Apprenticeship Strategy Board and previously an apprentice myself, it’s something that’s really important to me and vital to businesses in general,” says Antony. As well as getting to grips with the running of the boatyard, the apprentices are involved with repair and maintenance of vessels, bespoke upgrades and modifications to customers’ boats, and heritage craft restorations.
Antony has also been enhancing the boatyard’s services by partnering with other organisations. In 2020 Broom became an approved Fischer Panda UK service provider, offering electric and hybrid propulsion systems for all types of craft. The technology can be installed on brand-new boats or retrofitted to existing vessels.
It’s an area that Antony anticipates will grow as the price of conversions comes down and boat-owners are given incentives to reduce emissions: “Just like in the automotive industry, there will be some early adopters who want to make the changes because they think it’s important or they can afford to.
In the coming years, however, there are likely to be targets to be met in terms of environmental impact, which could put pressure on the general public to make those changes or higher prices to pay for those who continue to run on diesel.”
Hire-boating
Broom has operated a hire-fleet since 1912 and while the boats may have changed over the last century or so, the company’s high standards haven’t. “We’ve got 24 luxury cruisers in various sizes and styles, and they are some of the better quality hire-craft on this part of the river,” says Antony. Recent investments in the boats to improve the customer experience include the development of technology to allow holidaymakers onboard to access Broom’s online shop to purchase merchandise and food hampers while on the go.
The fleet was converted to a greener alternative to diesel last summer. Shell GTL is a ‘gas to liquid’ fuel favoured for its lower emissions and fewer unwanted components, such as sulphur, and is non toxic. It’s also available for boaters to purchase from the boatyard. Ideally all hire-craft would be powered by electric propulsion but it’s a process that will take time and money. “We have to be financially acute so converting the whole fleet is not going to happen overnight. Switching to the Shell GTL fuel was a logical next step,” says Antony. “The price is higher but it’s better for the environment, which is key.”
Two electric day-boats, however, were introduced to Broom’s books this summer and have proven a hit with customers, so much so that plans are in place to add another four craft for the 2022 season. “We had a lot of enquiries about day-boats and needed to see how they would run,” explains Antony. “We are certainly pleased with the response so far.”
Angling is a popular activity on the Broads, so Antony is also exploring the option of introducing a number of fishing boats.
Floating holiday homes
be added to Broom's portfolio.
Another of Antony’s aims is to encourage more people to visit the Broads and use the waterways in a responsible way. The introduction of static floating holiday lodges is one idea in the pipeline, currently in the planning stages. He hopes they will entice nervous or inexperienced boaters to stay on the water without the pressure of daily cruising. “A Waterlodge is the perfect solution – people can experience boating life for a few days or weeks and maybe venture out onto the river using one of our day-boats,” he explains. “The well-being benefits of being on, or by, the water have been proven but it’s often felt that it’s difficult to access rivers. What I’ve tried to do here is give people options.”
The holiday homes won’t have the typical ‘shed on water’ look seen elsewhere, but will be designed to fit in with the firm’s other vessels. “They’re Broom-esque in style,” claims Antony. “They look different to traditional houseboats but that’s part of the appeal and the feedback from local people has been really positive.”
Broom has become a distributor for Waterlodge within the Broads National Park, and can provide maintenance packages for installed units.
New developments
Antony’s first 18 months on the job presented him with unexpected challenges, yet he took a pragmatic approach to the lockdowns of the last year, using the time to invest in all areas of the business, financially and otherwise. A rebranding exercise involved revamping the website, including a new online shop, decorating the facility to make it more appealing to customers, and partnering with a catering firm to open a waterside café, The Food Vault. He also looked at processes to improve efficiency and invested in people by expanding the team and bringing in apprentices.
Another exciting project is the development of technology to monitor water quality on the Norfolk Broads by attaching sensors to the company’s boats and installing onboard devices for customers to read and interact with the live data. “It’s essentially a citizen science project where families can see how and why water quality is important,” explains Antony. “Our boats on the River Yare randomly go wherever customers want to take them, so we can cover quite a large area.”
The aim is to use the data to help towards reducing emissions, and there’s potential to roll out the technology to other waterways across the country so that it can contribute towards achieving Government targets for net zero carbon. It’s just another project that’s supporting Antony’s environmental strategy – “If we don’t look after the water and the wildlife it supports, we won’t be able to share this wonderful place with our customers.”
See more of Broom Boats’ activities on its YouTube channel.
