Burgess CEO discusses outlook for 2020

After a banner year, Jonathan Beckett, CEO of yacht brokerage house Burgess Yachts, is cautiously optimistic about the coming year despite political uncertainties looming around China and the US presidential election.

“It was a record year for us, both in terms of new construction, second-hand yacht sales and charter,” he said in a live interview on The Ticker, which is broadcast every day on website Yahoo Finance. (See the full interview here.)

Noting that the Europe, the Middle East and America are traditionally the most important for the yachting business, he emphasised that America was by far the largest region for Burgess, representing up to 35% of the superyacht market. 

The company also entered the Australian market with a new office in Sydney in 2019 and believes Australasia and China will be exciting markets for the company as well.  Beckett said China was ’building steadily’ while the Russians seem to have disappeared from the market for the time being.

With nearly 40 years’ experience in the business, Beckett is well respected in the industry, and believes the last recession had lessons which consumers – even the wealthiest – have heeded. He believes clients are less likely to be over-leveraged, but at the same time are keen to have cash on hand in a downturn to be able to take advantage of attractive business opportunities.

Beckett said his company was lucky to have a range of activities across the superyacht sector putting it in a better position to weather downturns. He also noted bookings for 2020 charters – which entails some 100 yachts for Burgess – have already been strong.

The Burgess Group offers a full range of services to superyacht clients, including yacht sale and purchase, yacht charter, operational and crew management, and technical supervision of new construction projects, with 14 offices and more than 220 staff worldwide.