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Looks ilke there's a bit more to the story than originaly let on??
Palmer Johnson to close UK operation
By IBI Magazine
Palmer Johnson to close UK operation
By IBI Magazine
Palmer Johnson said today it will be closing its UK operations in Hampshire, with the loss of around 110 jobs. The site in Hythe Marine Park, Southampton, recently saw the launch of the US builder's first UK-built superyacht — the 51m Sport Yacht.
The company had also been planning to build a new facility in the former VT shipyard in Woolston, Southampton. The Wisconsin-based builder, which received planning permission to build the yard last month, had forecast the creation of about 800 local jobs.
"We have decided that with the world economy as it is, along with excess capacity offered by our base in the United States at the Wisconsin Shipyard, that we would wind down the UK operations at this time and move the entire Sportyacht programme to the Palmer Johnson facility in Wisconsin," said Mike Kelsey, Palmer Johnson president, in an email to IBI.
Kelsey said there are currently five yachts under construction at the Sturgeon Bay facility.
But Palmer Johnson has not entirely closed the door on building from the UK in the future. "We are still in discussion with S.E.E.D.A to develop the Woolston site when the need arises," he added, referring to a government agency overseeing the proposed Southampton shipyard. "We will also keep our design team in the UK."
(10 August 2010)
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Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former --- Albert Einstein
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