New superyacht courier service aims to make UK online shopping plain sailing for crews overseas
A new business has launched to help forward parcels from the UK to crews on superyachts.
The Hampshire based business, set up by Charlotte England and her husband Simon from the superyacht technical management company SE Marine, is looking to take advantage of the UK’s amazing £81.55 billion online retail industry and the growth of the global superyacht industry; that in 2017 saw an estimated 10,000 yachts over 100 foot take to the oceans.
Using their years of experience in the industry, Superyacht Courier (SYC) provides a much needed ‘missing logistical link’, whereby captains, crew and yacht owners can shop sending their multiple orders to one UK address. These packages are consolidated into one efficient parcel and couriered safely to the yacht anywhere in the world. This simplifies the parcel tracking process, freeing up the crew’s time to concentrate on running the boat.
With the ever-growing fleet of Superyachts needing everything from luxury, household and maintenance items, to crew who miss those simple ‘home comforts’, there is potentially a huge requirement in today’s online retail world according to SYC Director, Charlotte England.
“The idea came from our work in a management and a crew recruitment business we ran. Because of our UK location, our clients kept asking if we could forward on packages for them from online retailers. Of course, we were happy to help, but as we received more requests, it became clear there was a gap in the market and decided to launch Superyacht Courier.” She commented.
With the shift from high street to online shopping now accounting for 17.2% of all purchases and, projected to grow by a further 25% by 2020, UK shoppers now rank the second highest in the EU in terms of spend per head. This growth, fuelled by rise of tech unicorns like Amazon has also seen the traditional high street retailer shift more focus to growing their online presence.
However, one of the main issues faced by the many thousands of superyacht crew who spend months on the water, is being able to smoothly run the palatial yachts they work on. From captains, engineers, chefs, chief stews or deckhands, crew need a vast array of items to keep things running. Instead of sourcing items locally, shopping online saves time and allows crew access to the widest range of product, at the most competitive prices.
By using the SYC service you can also take advantage of great shipping rates from major carriers like DHL and be kept fully informed of when your shipment is ready to go, giving you the opportunity to change the delivery address according to any lastminute changes to the yacht itinerary.
Many of these items come from separate retailers and are inefficiently packed so trying to manage multiple parcels can be a tough task. One of Superyacht Courier’s key offerings is parcel consolidation; as well as having the knowledge and contacts to get those parcels onto the boats as quickly as possible.
“Since launching, we have delivered a range of items to yachts across the globe. From Bone china to tools and filters, we know the industry and understand the demands of wealthy owners and the pressures crews face to keep everything ship shape.” Said Charlotte England.