The UK’s leading online classified ads business for yachts and boats has launched an innovative new service at TheYachtMarket.com Southampton Boat Show, the world class on-water boat show that carries its name.
At a press conference on its stand, number E040, Richard W. Roberts, the CEO of TheYachtMarket.com, announced a new portal aimed solely at selling new boats direct from dealers and manufacturers.
He said: “It’s time to embrace the manufacturers and dealers to give them a showcase for their new boats to complement the second-hand market. It does what it says on the tin: the ‘New Boat Portal’ is a real innovation for the industry and one we’re really excited about.
“Having the boat builders and dealers on board will square the circle for us enabling our buyers and sellers to search for the full spectrum of new and used boats.”
Richard Roberts, along with his business partner and Chief Technical Officer, Simon White founded the company 14 years ago in the south coast port. “Think Auto Trader for boats and you’ll get the picture,” he explained.
Today, TheYachtMarket.com is one of the largest boat sales platforms online. “We work with over 1,000 brokerages worldwide, marketing more than 50,000 vessels. We also extend our marketing tools to private sellers, which proves popular with those who wish to manage the sales process themselves. It’s very much a natural progression to include this new sevice for the manufacturers and dealers and the portal will introduce them to a whole new online audience.”
Richard Roberts sees TheYachtMarket.com Southampton Boat Show being a key ingredient in developing this success: “Without doubt the show will be a springboard for us. It’s such a great honour especially as we’ve lived and worked in Southampton for most of our lives. More than most, we fully appreciate the impact yachting and boating has on the area, not least on The Solent which is widely regarded as among the best sailing waters in the world.
“The Title Sponsorship is a substantial investment and the show has a huge international reputation and the credibility to match. Strategically we see it as a game changer. The shows reach is impressive and more than 100,000 people actually visit the show. But more than that, the UK’s main manufacturers will all be there … from Sunseeker, Princess and Fairline together with a wide range of overseas manufactures. Our ambition is to demonstrate we want to help support all of them in their businesses.”
TheYachtMarket.com has seen its sales grow by an impressive rate over the past 12 months. At the same time, visits to the site have increased by circa 50% to over 135,000 on average per week. Simultaneously, broker enquiries have also increased by an average of 25%, most of which have come from outside the UK.
The business enjoys a solid global reputation as the online home of classified ads to buy and sell boats, but post Brexit it wants to establish itself as the UK number one before kicking on and capitalising on the significant growth its already seen across Europe and the USA.