A message from our CEO, Steve de Polo

I’m delighted to announce the expansion of our marina portfolio with the strategic acquisition of Castle Marinas.  
 
Over a period of time, we have been looking to develop our business further, not just with improvements across our existing marinas, but also by looking in the market to see if there are other quality marina businesses that we can combine forces with. We believe Castle Marinas is just the right partner for us. 
 
Castle has a mix of high-quality leisure marinas at 11 locations across the UK, including Crick Marina, home of the famous Crick Boat Show and the picturesque Birdham Pool Marina at Chichester Harbour. We have respected and admired the Castle business for some time and are looking forward to working with our new colleagues.  

Both Castle Marinas and Aquavista have proven track records of providing high-quality experiences to our customers. By combining forces, we’ll be able to learn from each other to create an even more successful unified company, resulting in improvements for customers across the board. This is our key focus and one we are passionate about delivering.  

This acquisition doesn’t affect the relationship that Castle or Aquavista customers and crew have with us in any way. It’s very much ‘business as usual’ on the marinas. Once we have had time working together as two companies, we do envisage reviewing the branding of the Castle Marinas business, but for now, nothing changes. I’ve already begun to meet with the waterside teams at the 11 marinas to hear their views on how we can work together to further improve the marina experiences. 

Since 2019 we have invested into our marina estate, improving facilities and helping to deliver a great waterside experience, whether you live, visit, or work at an Aquavista marina. The great news, too, is that in doing this new deal, we have managed to secure some additional funding to invest into our marinas, and we are now working on prioritising the investments to make the best improvements. We will keep our customers posted of any new projects as part of this new plan.  

Press Release:

Aquavista completes strategic acquisition of Castle Marinas

Aquavista, the UK’s premier residential and leisure mooring provider, has today announced an expansion of the company’s marina portfolio with the strategic acquisition of Castle Marinas.

The Midlands-based marina operator will see its portfolio expand with an additional 11 high quality marinas added to its footprint at new locations, including Crick Marina home of the world-famous Crick Boat Show and the picturesque Birdham Pool Marina at Chichester Harbour.

Speaking following the announcement Aquavista CEO Steve de Polo said, “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Castle Marinas and look forward to the exciting opportunities that this will bring to our customers across all 29 of our UK-based marinas.

“Aquavista believes that life is better by the water and our purpose is to help our customers live that life. Since 2019 we have invested more than £3m into our marina estate, improving marina facilities and helping to deliver a great waterside experience, whether you live, visit, or work at an Aquavista marina.

“Both Castle Marinas and Aquavista have a proven track record of providing a high-quality experience to our customers and we look forward to continuing that tradition through our new combined offering.

“At Aquavista we pride ourselves on investing in our waterside teams, ensuring that our customers’ lives are made as easy as possible. I am delighted to have already begun to meet with the waterside teams at the 11 Castle Marinas to hear their views on how we can work together to further improve the marina experiences.”

Operations Director, Mike Braidley, from Castle Marinas, commented “Castle Marinas is very pleased to have reached an agreement with Aquavista. It is clear how closely our mission statements align, and we believe Aquavista is ideally placed to continue to deliver and indeed improve on our commitment to be ‘Big enough to cope, small enough to care’. This transaction will support our waterside teams to continue providing a friendly, helpful and professional service at all our locations.

NOTES TO EDITORS:
Media enquiries to:
SEC Newgate Communications, David Scane [email protected] 0203 757 6843

About Aquavista
Aquavista is the UK’s premier marina operator with 29 marinas under the Castle and Aquavista brands in unique locations across England, five of which are coastal and 24 are inland. They offer residential and leisure berths, boat sales, floating homes and marine services. Aquavista believes that life is better by the water and are here to help our customers live that life. It is the company’s purpose to make things easy for our customers, so they can truly appreciate life by the water.
For more information visit https://www.aquavista.com/