Rebuilding an icon
Oyster had become a byword for world cruising in comfort and style. Founded in 1973 by Richard Matthews, production of the first yacht started in 1974. At the end of that decade, the builder introduced a new concept called the deck saloon, and with it the face of bluewater cruising changed.
The deck saloon style became the oft-copied trademark of 35 Oyster models. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, the sizes of the Oyster range grew, but in 2008 Matthews sold the company to Balmoral Capital, who four years later sold it on to Dutch private-equity house HTP Investments. When HTP withdrew its support in 2017 – partly due to losses incurred by legal actions following the Polina Star III incident – the then management put the company into administration. It seemed a startling end for a builder with such heritage and reputation.
“My decision to buy was definitely made with the heart, but business is business,” Hadida says.
“I don’t know why it went into administration – at the time they had their biggest order book ever.”
When he took over, Oyster had no employees left, but Hadida managed to re-employ many of the key artisans and craftsmen. Then he made a point of assembling a C-level team who had the skill to build the boats.
“Oyster had suffered from under-investment in the last few years, so there was a lot of investment required in machinery and other manufacturing elements,” he says.
“One of the things we did was take over the hull manufacturing plant. (Oyster used to buy their hulls from a third party). I had to buy that business, for obvious reasons, and we put in Lloyd’s Register certification for every single hull that gets built now.
“I have to sleep at night, and I want to know that we’re building the best boats in the world. The Lloyd’s Register stamp is a sign of quality and it’s the right thing to do.”
Similarly, Hadida began to look at the pricing policy – in particular, instigating a strict policy of no discounting. This means that not only are all customers buying on a level playing field, the narrow margins are preserved, which in turn ensures longevity for the brand.
In spite of an initial slowdown in orders, it appears to have worked: “We are now selling boats at a far greater rate than expected,” says Hadida, who is keen to find a new yard to create extra capacity. (The historic and current production takes place across two key sites – the original yard in Wroxham on England’s east coast, and the yard in Southampton on the south coast. The problem is that demand is now outstripping supply, with build bays sold out to 2023.)
Perhaps key to this surge of interest is the new entry-level mode, the 565. “It was the first new model launched under me,” Hadida says. “It’s £1.5 million, and the future of the brand is in this boat.”
Since its launch in 2019, it has received universal acclaim and won awards including the British Boating Awards Bluewater Cruiser of the Year, as well as being shortlisted (at the time of going to press) for the European Yacht of the Year award.
“She’s a fantastic boat,” Hadida beams, adding that they sold another 885 a few minutes before I arrived at the London office. “As long as we’re selling boats and we’re selling them at the right money, then everything else is fixable.”
Read the full interview with Richard in issue #89 of Ocean Magazine, subscribe here.