Tim Greenfield reports…
HIRE boat operators are reporting a disappointing 2024 season with bookings down as customers look for ‘cheaper’ holidays.
A combination of poor weather at the start of the year and the credit crunch affecting families all hit bookings and affected the core summer business.
And a rise in business costs, including the increase in the minimum wage and employer National Insurance contributions are set to make 2025 a challenging year.
The British Hire Boat Federation said early indications were that the Norfolk Broads hire fleets were down at least 5% and one Midlands family hire business said its season total was down and had returned to pre-Covid levels.
Tony Howes of the British Hire Boat Federation said one leading operator reported a further 10% reduction on earnings this season compared with 2023 and indications were that this will be similar for most others.
“We anticipate the ‘weeks booked’ average will be at least one week down on 2023, equivalent to a 5% drop in income. The average weeks booked figure for 2023 was 20 which compared unfavourably with the estimated 25-week average in the post-Covid season of 2022.”
He added that prices have certainly not kept pace with inflation over those years, particularly supplies and material costs and heavily over inflation rises in Broads navigation tolls.
Sara Thwaites, marketing and customer services manager at Barnes Brinkcraft, said it had been a tough year which was made harder by the poor weather at the start of 2024 and the tough financial conditions hitting their core market – families.
The Norfolk business, which employs 100 people at its Wroxham base, suffered from a poor booking season which meant the summer never reached its potential. September, though, was “exceptional”, she added.
Like many hire boat operators, costs have hit Barnes, with boat tolls payable to the Broads Authority rising to the extent that they now account for eight to 12% of the income for a boat.
The company is supportive of the work the Broads Authority does but added the charges had risen by 100% since the start of the century. It was important to remember, she said, that the hire boats made a huge contribution to the Broads ecosystem in terms of trade for shops, pubs and restaurants.
She added the Covid years were “very good” adding she was hopeful 2025 would be positive, but stressed the increase in National Insurance and the rise in the minimum wage would make it tough.
Heather Duncan, from Union Canal Carriers, said it was important for hire businesses not to compare figures from the post-Covid years of 2021 and 2022, which she said were “exceptional”.
“We are hopeful next year will be at least as good as this year or better,” she said.
Mrs Duncan added that customers were feeling the financial strain in the same way hire businesses were battling higher costs for everything – including rents, gas, wages and licences.
She said rents and boat licences had all risen but their income hadn’t kept pace, adding that a boating holiday still represented good value.
“People say it is really expensive but when you hire a boat everything is paid for, including fuel and gas, and you can bring your own food so it really can be a budget holiday,” she said. “Our boats work out at between £150 to £200 a day, which isn’t actually that expensive.”
Union Canal Carriers have a 17-boat fleet and like many hire businesses have to make all their income in a six-month period. Mrs Duncan said that many hire businesses leased their premises and moorings from the Canal & River Trust, adding that rents and boat licences had all risen.
She said it was important to remember that the boat hire benefits many other businesses such as canalside pubs, fuel stations and shops which relied heavily on holiday trade.
Barnes Brinkcraft has diversified since 1964, and now has holiday homes, day boats, boat sales, a marina and boat building alongside its 86 hire boats.
Sara Thwaites added that the company, as a boat builder, was also developing hybrid boats as diesel engines are gradually phased out but, at this stage, the Broads infrastructure wasn’t able to fully support 100%electric boats.
“We are trying to innovate,” she said. “But we have also been hit by the cost of building materials.”
“It will be another tough year but we will work hard. Our job is to make people understand how special a holiday on the Norfolk Broads is and to get them to come here.
“Our prices are quite dynamic and we will alter them if we need to. We have a varied fleet so you can have a very reasonable holiday on a boat.”
