Teaming up boost for shared ownership

The two largest companies in the shared ownership sector are to join forces.  ABC Boat Share Ltd is teaming up with BC Boat Management Ltd so that each company can bring its greatest strengths to the sector and provide an improved service for owners.

With effect from today, BCBM will take over responsibility for managing the boats for syndicates currently with ABC Boat Share Ltd.  BCBM is already the largest of the professional shared ownership management companies and it will be increasing its turnround and administrative staff to enhance its existing service to owners.

ABC – widely recognised as the market leader in providing canal hire boat holidays from 14 marinas around the canal network – will continue to provide moorings and maintenance services for shared ownership boats moored in its 10 company-owned marinas.

Andrew Barton, MD of BCBM, and Edward Helps, MD of ABC
Boat Share, shake hands on their agreement to team up
on supporting shared ownership boating

"The new arrangement can only benefit owners," says Andrew Barton, MD of BCBM.  "Syndicates whose boats we already manage will get a wider choice of bases and substantial discounts while those syndicates joining us from ABC Boat Share Ltd will benefit from the terms we have negotiated in other marinas coupled with the extensive turnaround and dedicated administrative cover we will be able to provide."

"We have developed a very successful working relationship with BCBM over the last few months as we prepared for the Boat Share Show at Braunston," says Ed Helps, MD of the ABC Leisure Group.  "The recent decision of our Shared Ownership Operations Manager to pursue a different career has meant that we needed to review our activities in this sector, and our conclusion was that we should concentrate on the main business of the group and entrust the management of shared ownership boats to BCBM, for whom shared ownership boat management is their only focussed core business.

Teaming up in this way can only strengthen the shared ownership sector and provide greater value and security for existing syndicates, both companies believe.

More details of the benefits of the link up are here.

National Boat Share Show 2015 announced

The National Boat Share Show will be held at Braunston Marina on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April 2015.

Visitors comparing boats managed by the four
sponsor companies at the 2014 Boat Share Show

The event was agreed by the four professional shared ownership management companies who sponsored the 2014 show at their post-event meeting last week.  All four companies - ABC Boat Share, BCBM, Carefree Cruising and Ownashare Cruising - agreed that the event was even more successful than they had anticipated - with a total of 36 shares being sold either at the show or as a direct of people visiting it and being able to compare such a range of shared ownership narrowboats.

"Although there are a number of things that can be improved for 2015, the feedback from this year's show has been very positive," said Andrew Cooley after the meeting - at which he agreed to again act as co-ordinator for the 2015 show.

"I think the aim must be to bring the benefits of shared ownership to a wider audience and to develop a show that will be as attractive to existing owners as it is to prospective ones."

The four companies also agreed to hold a one day autumn event each year.  The 2014 Autumn Boat Share Event will be on Saturday 6th September.  The venue is yet to be announced, but it will be further north on one of the popular midlands canals.