Waterways World- Jan 09

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Phoenix from the ashes

You may recall that when Challenger Syndicateships went into administration earlier this year, ABC Leisure Group (Alvechurch Boat Centres) came to the rescue by offering a management service to existing boat syndicates.  Unfortunately, there was one group that had paid significant deposits on a new boat that had not been built.  It seemed that the owners might lose most, if not all, of their money.

To help lessen the blow, ABC offered to supply a new boat at cost.  The group had set their hearts on an Aqualine Manhattan from the New Boat Co and this boat, appropriate called Phoenix, was handed over to its new owners at the NBC’s base at Droitwich in September.  The keys were presented by Edward Helps of ABC and the boat will be based at Alvechurch Marina.

Seeing the popularity of shared ownership, ABC will be offering further boat shares as well as the management of shared ownership, corporate, or syndicated boats.  The group’s portfolio already includes a number of ex-Challenger syndicates.  The keys were presented by Edward Helps of ABC and Chris Hill of NBC and the boat will be based at Alvechurch Marina.