New man at the helm

Nigel Wilkinson takes over as managing director of Windermere Lake Cruises at a time when the company is celebrating record passenger numbers for 2003.

Latest figures show the company carried nearly 1.34 million passengers last year, up more than 70,000 on 2002, when Windermere Lake Cruises was ranked the ninth in the table for most visited, major paid-for attractions in the UK, placing it alongside the London Eye and Cornwall's Eden Project.

Passenger numbers have steadily risen since 2000, when just over 1.17 million people sailed with the company. Improvement to vessels and infrastructure, along with new routes, better marketing and outstanding summer weather, helped to boost numbers last year.

A chartered accountant, Mr Wilkinson is no stranger to the business, having been involved in raising the finance for the Bowness Bay Boating Company to acquire the former Windermere Iron Steamboat Company back in May 1993.

Mr Wilkinson, who was also company auditor for a period, joined the business after spending the past four years as commercial director of a marine technical services firm. He said the company planned to continue an investment programme to maintain its position as the area's leading visitor attraction.

Some £400,000 has been spent on upgrading the flagship vessel, the Teal, over the winter. Work has included extending the deck house, refurbishing the downstairs passenger lounge and installing new windows, as well as putting in new generators to make the vessel easier to manoeuvre. Steel in the hull has also been replated for the first time since the Teal was built in the 1930s.

Much of the maintenance work has been carried out in-house, with operational crew doubling as tradesmen out of season, enabling Windermere Lake Cruises to employ more staff all-year-round.

Mr Wilkinson said this was a source of great satisfaction for the firm, which has a 160-strong workforce on average, making it one of the largest employers in the Lakes.

He told Business Gazette that the company was looking at ways of expanding the business, including possibly acquiring a new vessel, although he stressed a final decision was still some way off.

"At the moment, we are carrying out a feasibility exercise to establish whether any expansion of the fleet is commercially justified. If the answer is yes, then I would have to raise the finance to do that."

Meanwhile, Windermere Lake Cruises has been flying the flag for the area's tourism industry in India, seen as a potentially lucrative new market.

The company's media and public affairs officer Robin Martakies joined a ten-day trade mission to the sub-continent. He was one of only two representatives from organisations outside London invited to take part in the trip, organised by Visit Britain, formerly the British Tourist Authority.

Mr Martakies met many leading figures in the Indian travel industry during the mission, which took in Delhi and Bombay, and was given a briefing on industry trends by an official from the British High Commission.

With domestic restrictions on travelling abroad due to be lifted, many millions of wealthy Indians will be free to visit countries such as Britain in future.

Mr Martakies said the Lake District was likely to feature on their itineraries, especially as it was easily accessible via the West Coast Main Line and Manchester Airport. The works of Wordsworth were taught in Indian schools, while John Ruskin was also a well-known figure.

"My hope is that our south Asian market is going to boom and all of us involved in tourism in South Lakeland are going to benefit," he told Business Gazette.