Search boatshare4u.co.uk posts

Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Boat Share Show next April will break the mould


The Boat Share Show at Braunston Marina on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th April 2014 will be the first ever to have all four major professional boat management companies taking part.

The idea of a combined event was first publicly floated on this website earlier this year.  The decision to join forces to provide a broadly based shop window for shared narrowboat ownership was taken at a meeting this week between the heads of the four main shared ownership management and share brokerage companies – Ed Helps (ABC Boat Share), Andrew Barton (BCBM), Artie and Ruth Chalmers (Carefree Cruising) and Phil Capp (Ownashare Cruising).

The show will provide a unique opportunity for prospective owners to talk to all four companies about their services and to compare many different styles of boat.  It will also offer those self managed syndicates thinking about using a management company the chance to see all four of them in one place. Suppliers of other services will have the chance to 'talk shop' with existing and future owners.  Admission and car parking will be free, and the show will be open from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 12th April and from 10am to 4pm on Sunday 13th.

Any boat that is managed by one of these companies will be able to take part in the show, subject only to the availability of space.

Boatshare4u.co.uk will also be at the show, so visitors will be able to go online and use the combined share listing on this site, showing all the narrowboat shares available from the four companies.  The listing – of around 100 shares – consolidates the latest details from the websites of each of the companies into a single table that can be searched and sorted to help prospective owners pinpoint their 'perfect share.'

"I'm delighted that this idea is coming to fruition," said Andrew Cooley.  "Shared narrowboat ownership is an important sector of the inland waterways economy and it deserves an event that can present the whole picture.  Each of these companies has its own strengths, but all now offer a comprehensive and professional management service, with a degree of transparency that could only have been dreamt of a few years ago."