2 min read
The two-season rhythm of marine work
A boatyard lives by two clocks. Over winter, boats come out of the water for storage, antifouling, surveys and refits — labour-heavy work that customers often pay for in stages or on completion in spring. Over summer, the yard switches to servicing, repairs and launch-and-recovery during a short, intense window when every owner wants their boat ready at once. Income arrives unevenly across the year while wages, yard costs and equipment finance run continuously.
Parts make the timing harder. Many engines, drives, electronics and chandlery items are imported and carry long or unpredictable lead times, so a yard often pays for stock or special orders well before the job is invoiced. Add the cost of holding boats over winter, maintaining lifting gear and pontoons, and a single delayed parts shipment or a slow spring can squeeze cash even in a busy yard.
What marine businesses typically fund
Directors borrow to carry the seasons and to keep capability up to date. Common uses include:
- Winter holding costs — storage, refit labour and yard overheads before spring completion payments land.
- Parts and special orders — funding long-lead engines, drives, electronics and chandlery ahead of invoicing.
- Lifting and slipway equipment — boat hoists, cranes, trailers, trolleys and pontoon maintenance.
- Seasonal labour — extra hands for the summer service-and-launch peak.
- Yard and berth improvements — hardstanding, racking and facilities to handle more boats.
What to consider before borrowing
Match the term to the season you are bridging. Funding a winter of refit work that completes and invoices in spring is a defined gap suited to a short facility you can clear once those jobs are paid. Map repayment to realistic completion and payment dates, allowing for weather and parts delays that push launches back.
Be realistic about parts lead times in your cash-flow plan — money tied up in a shipment that has not arrived is still money out. Check the all-in cost, any fees and early-settlement terms, and avoid borrowing against a single large refit whose payment date keeps slipping without building in headroom.
How short-term company finance fits
Credicorp lends to UK limited companies, not to directors personally — so there is no personal guarantee and your home is not on the line. For a boatyard or marine-services company, the lending decision rests on the business itself, not your personal balance sheet.
A short-term facility — taken as a lump-sum business loan or a revolving business credit facility you draw on as you need it — is built to be repaid as your income lands, over weeks or months rather than years. You can apply online as a company, with no personal guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
Can a boatyard get finance to order parts that won't be invoiced to the customer for weeks?
Yes — bridging the gap between paying for long-lead marine parts and invoicing the finished job is a classic working-capital need. A short-term facility can fund the order and be repaid when the work completes and the customer settles.
Is the finance secured on the yard or on me personally?
It is lent to the limited company, based on the business's trading, with no personal guarantee — your home and personal assets are not pledged.
Can finance help cover the quiet period between the winter refit season and the summer rush?
Yes — bridging the gap until spring completion payments and the summer service peak arrive is a common use. The facility is repaid as that seasonal income lands, so the uneven rhythm is built into the plan.
Funding for UK limited companies
Credicorp lends to your company, not to you personally — short-term working capital with no personal guarantee. See what your business could access.