Boat trip operator puts business up for sale

A Skipton-based business that operates boat trips and narrow boat hire on the Leeds Liverpool Canal has been put on the market by its current owner.

Nick Osborn, who now plans to retire, has instructed Blacks Business Brokers, the national business transfer agent with a base in Leeds, to sell Skipton Boat Trips with a guide price of £389,995. In its most recent financial year, Skipton Boat Trips made a gross profit of £172,000 on turnover of £244,000.

The business operates two wide-beam trip boats, one of which currently runs several scheduled trips per day while the other is used for private chartered tours. These boats can accommodate 56 and 50 passengers respectively and are equipped with on-board galleys for catering, bars, toilets and heating.

Skipton Boat Trips also owns two smaller narrow boats which it hires out by the day to people who prefer to sail themselves rather than take a tour. All four boats have been freshly repainted for the 2018 season.

The business comes with secure moorings for all four boats. It operates from a booking office on the quayside, which is included in the sale on a 15-year lease.

The business currently operates with six seasonal staff, running trips and offering boat hire between March and October as well as special Christmas trips and charters in December. As well as privately-booked trips, charters and walk-up business, the company gains a significant proportion of its revenues from pre-booked coach tour parties.

Skipton Boat Trips has operated since the 1970s and was first acquired by the Osborn family in the early 1990s, when it was bought by the parents of the current owner. They sold the business in 2000 and, when it came back on the market two years later, Nick Osborn, who at the time lived in London, purchased it and relocated his family to Skipton.

“It’s a great lifestyle business,” said Osborn. “An interest in boats would obviously be an advantage for a new owner but the boats are maintained by the staff so no expertise in marine engineering is required!

“The business is already doing very well but it also has plenty of scope to grow.”

Nikki Jones, customer information manager at Blacks Business Brokers, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity either for a local tourism business that wants to expand into canal cruises or, equally, for someone from outside the area who wants a change of lifestyle and an opportunity to build on an already successful business.

“Skipton is such a beautiful town, and has recently received many accolades including, in 2014, being voted the best place to live in Britain. It’s not every day that the chance arises to purchase a business like this in the gateway to one of Britain’s most popular National Parks so, for somebody, this is going to be the opportunity of a lifetime.”