Profiles: Company Profiles
Crick Boat Show
Your guide to exhibiting at Britain’s premier canal boat event
Celebrating its 25th year, the Crick Boat Show sponsored by Haven Knox Johnston is the focal point of the year for the inland waterways. It brings together around 250 exhibitors with thousands of boat owners and aspiring boat owners in the biggest single gathering of the British inland waterways industry. As an exhibitor at Crick you can showcase your company to an audience of boating enthusiasts, boating industry professionals and meet existing and future customers.
Salamander Stoves
Compact, efficient, traditional-looking and Eco Design-approved, this company’s cast iron stoves are growing in popularity in the inland boating sector. WN finds out more…
Founded in 2009 by couple Gill and Mark Lawrence and based in the beautiful countryside of Devon, Salamander Stoves is a family-run business specialising in the design and manufacture of compact, high-quality stoves.
Kings Lock Chandlery
Kings Lock Chandlery is a supplier to some of the biggest boat-builders in the country. Director Steve Wedgwood explains why its interactive, customer-focused approach is key to its success
Consumerism has changed a good deal over the last decade or so, and the high street continues to struggle in the face of multinational companies offering cut prices and next-day delivery.
Ashton Marine Services
Electric propulsion made simple
The electric propulsion sector of the inland waterways industry is rapidly evolving. David Ashton of Ashton Marine Services speaks to Bobby Cowling about the 48kW Molabo Aries motor from Germany
Autoterm
Boat heating
With the cold season now upon us, WN talks to a leading supplier of boat heating systems
Currently facing dark nights and dropping temperatures, liveaboard boaters will be relying on their craft’s heating systems to keep cosy this season. Along with the established names in the industry, Autoterm is fast becoming a popular choice in the boat heating sector. Originally focused on the camper van market, the company expanded into the waterways market several years ago, bringing its reputation for quality and reliability with it.
The Rothen Group
With a fleet of 200 craft and contracts for a host of canal-related work, the Rothen Group is a household name in the inland boating industry. Yet, the company is barely a decade old. Andrew Denny finds out more…
The dark green workboats of the Rothen Group have now become almost as familiar a sight around the waterways as the bright blue maintenance craft of the Canal & River Trust. What is especially remarkable is that this young company has grown – from a standing start – to become the UK’s main supplier of all types of floating plant equipment on the canals in little more than a decade.
Dave Harris
Fifty at 50
After half a century of boat-building, Dave Harris is about to retire having just completed his 50th narrowboat. Andrew Denny tells his story…
Builders of seagoing vessels tend to be large companies, or at least have sufficient staff to create a pool of expertise. But in the cottage industry that is the inland waterways, there’s a very small circle of ‘one-man band’ boat-builders. Such businesses will occasionally call in support for specialist work, but ultimately they deliver a boat that is the product of a single mind and lifelong skill.
Wesley Marine Windows
Wesley for windows
For over 20 years, Wesley Marine Windows Ltd has been a leading player in the narrowboat industry. What started as a small, family-run business with a single employee has become a well-known name that’s synonmous with high-quality products and exceptional customer service.
Beginnings
John Dickinson, affectionately known as ‘Dicko’ in the industry, serendipitously discovered a business opportunity when purchasing some equipment from a customer back in 2003. When he mentioned this to his wife Angela, she soon decided that a career change was exactly what she needed. They realised that there was a gap in the market for high-quality, durable windows specifically designed for narrowboats. With a strong determination to succeed, Angela set out to build a business from the ground up that would cater to the needs of narrowboat-owners.
Farécla
Boat paint restoration
With new paint jobs costing anything up to £20,000, many owners are looking for ways to rejuvenate their boat’s tired paintwork. Tony Jones looks at Farécla’s impressive solution.
Narrowboat painting is almost as iconic as the boats and canals themselves. Sadly, canal-boat paintwork suffers abysmal treatment at the hands of UV light which attacks from above and below, as pigment-draining sunlight is also refracted back at the boat from the water. Scratches and scrapes from overhanging trees are also sadly inevitable, even for the most careful boaters.
Channelglaze
Amazing Glazing
From thermal breaks to prevent condensation to durable coatings that look great, there’s more to windows and portholes than just providing a view outside. Matt and Dave Pearson from boat-window manufacturer Channelglaze take us through the important considerations.
What’s in a window?
You could be forgiven for thinking that boat windows are simply panes of glass but nothing could be further from the truth. “We’ve been producing canal-boat windows since the late 1970s and the technology involved in the process has come on a little in that time,” smiles company director Dave Pearson who runs the family business with his brother and fellow director, Matt.
River Canal Rescue
Keeping the waterways moving
In the year 2000 a diesel mechanic woke in the night, thanks to a bizarre dream about rescuing a boat that had broken down. The following night he dreamt he ran a business called River Canal Rescue, and that morning a business idea was born.
The business
River Canal Rescue (RCR) is the UK’s largest marine breakdown and emergency assistance company, covering the UK inland waterway network 24/7, 365 days a year. Differing membership levels cover everything from breakdown and recovery services to replacement parts cover, home start, crew relay and annual inspections.
Water Freedom
Water, water everywhere
Liveaboard boater Tony Jones checks out a game-changing new product that could mark the end of many boaters’ water issues and be a major selling point for boat-builders.
Life afloat requires a lot of plate spinning. If we’re not worrying about when our toilet needs emptying, we’re fussing about how much power we’re using and how we’ll replenish it. But it might surprise you that, for many boaters, the most frustrating limiting factor is water. Depending on the size of the water tank, how many people use it and how much time they spend aboard, a typical water tank could need refilling anywhere between every four to 14 days.
A Boatbuilder's Diary
How spiralling prices are impacting the waterways industry
The ever-rising cost of living has affected us all, and boat-builders have been particularly hard hit. Tiffany Gale-Haynes of Kingsground Narrowboats takes us through last year.
You know what they say about the best-laid plans. Well, over the last couple of years that saying has been particularly appropriate and prophetic. We began 2022 being glad that Covid was essentially under control and looking forward to a relatively normal year. Needless to say, things didn’t work out quite as we’d planned.
Talk Away
How marinas and boat yards can support their customers' mental health
With mental-health issues becoming increasingly prevalent, Tiffany Gale-Haynes discusses the launch of the Talk Away project which aims to assist mooring providers when faced with customers with mental-health challenges.
If you were at the recent Crick Boat Show, you will probably have seen our Talk Away stand where we launched the industry-wide initiative to address mental-health issues within the boating community. The prevalence of boaters’ mental-health issues is probably no greater than it is in the general population but boaters are often more isolated and can fall through the gaps in the system.
Lakeland Leisure
A refreshingly different business model
While many marina operators stick to a tried-and-tested business model, Lakeland Leisure’s emergence and growth have pushed the envelope. Tony Jones speaks to Mark and Louise Morgan from this customer-focused, family-operated business
Lakeland Leisure has been gathering momentum in the boating industry over the last few years. Since expanding from its roots in the caravan-park business, it has acquired several marinas and boat brokerages. And, as well as carving a course in the second-hand boat sector, it has recently entered the new-boat market too.
Promarine
Marine Mortgages
Tony Jones talks to Promarine’s Stuart Austin to get the lowdown on boat finance – an essential route into boating for many prospective owners.
Although countless people aspire to narrowboat ownership, a good number of these lack the finances to make their dream a reality and those who can raise funds often realise that their ideal boat will cost slightly more than their budget allows. It’s a situation that Stuart Austin, the managing director of boat-finance provider Promarine, understands well: “Buying a boat is both a practical and emotional experience, so it’s better to buy a boat they’ll be happy with, rather than disappointed. That’s where we can help..”
Lightning Craft
Electric boating innovations
Lightning Craft founder Josh Masters provides a breakdown of the electric boating sector and his company’s innovations and products.
The birth of Lightning Craft
Lightning Craft was born from necessity in early 2020 when I began to question the longevity of my career in the marine diesel trade. Sensing a shift towards electric, I began my odyssey in search of alternative propulsion solutions. This proved difficult initially. Electric motors exist in almost every industry, so sourcing them wasn’t a problem. However, finding motors that matched the performance of a diesel engine wasn’t so straightforward, and applying the technology to a marine situation was testing again.
Candle Bridge Fabrication
Men of Steel
We speak to the owners of Candle Bridge Fabrication to find out the do’s and don’ts of canal boat steelwork
Hydrogen Afloat
Is hydrogen power the future of boating?
Tony Jones met up with Hydrogen Afloat’s Nick Swift at this year’s Crick Boat Show to hear about his plans to develop a domestic fuel which is convenient, socially responsible and environmentally friendly. And there’s a way you could benefit too.
A P Boatbuilding
A Timber Tradition
A. P. Boatbuilding is one of the few boatyards in Britain specialising in the conservation of historic wooden narrowboats. Kathryn Clover visit its Tamworth premises
Nestled in a corner of Alvecote Marina in Tamworth, the A. P. Boatbuilding yard is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of heritage wooden narrowboats. The processes and skills used for this are highly specialised and very different to that of a normal boatyard, as the company’s Adrian Polglase (Ade) and Andy Cox will attest. In the yard at the time of our visit were three heritage narrowboats in various stages of restoration: Walton, President and Mendip.
