Luhrs Marine to close UK factory
By IBI Magazine
Luhrs Marine Ltd, a subsidiary of Hunter Marine Corporation in the US, has announced that it is to shift the manufacture of Hunter and Legend sailing yachts to the US following a significant downturn in business.
The closure of the Luhrs factory, which is located in Portland, Dorset, is expected to help offset the softening demand for the company's yachts in several key markets, including the US. The UK site, which began operations in early 2001, includes 120,000sq ft of open space buildings set on 16 acres of land and is located alongside a deep-water harbour.
"In most aspects, the UK investment was a success, and the Hunter brand has continued to experience growth and increased market share in the world's largest sailing yacht market, with active distributors in 25 European countries," says the company. "The work ethic and efficiency of the local UK labour force has been excellent, and has allowed Luhrs Marine Ltd to build over 600 mid-range yachts from this facility to date."
Hunter Marine says that it is now accelerating its new product development programme with a strong view towards European customer tastes to ensure continued acceptance in this region.
Further, Luhrs Marine says that it will retain a sales support, plus customer service and parts premises in the UK, which will keep Hunter close to their customers and allow them to serve the growing European distributor base in an effective manner.
(11 December 2006)
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