British Marine releases latest UK Marina and Mooring Market report

British Marine releases latest UK Marina and Mooring Market report © British Marine

British Marine has released the UK Marina and Mooring Market Report 2021-22*, providing insight into a wide range of economic indicators for the UK's marina and mooring sector.

Broken down into three sections; the UK Marina and Moorings sector, the inland marine and moorings sector and the coastal marina and moorings sector, the report provides data on revenue growth; gross valued added contribution; full-time equivalent employment; business and consumer confidence; inflation and household leisure spending; boating participation; berth and moorings capacity and occupancy; estimates for marina developments; and sentiment data on current and future berth demand.

"British Marine do a great job of helping us understand trends within the industry and issues that affect all operators across the wider marina and marine market. This breaks it down into a reliable format for us to digest and support our planning for the future" commented Steve de Polo, CEO, Aquavista.

"We're able to gather market insights from across our Yacht Havens in the UK, as well as anecdotally from our colleagues around the marina industry. But the quantitative data within this Marina Market Report helps support our own business intelligence, gives us key metrics to compare against the wider marina market, and gives us a far greater picture to help inform our business decisions", Jonathan Cook, Marketing Manager, Yacht Havens Group.

Of the 723 marinas in the UK, 173 took part in the survey (23% of all marinas operating in the UK, providing 42% of marina berths and moorings). The key findings from the report include:

• Revenues from marina berthing income grew 13% to £283m in 2021/22, reflecting the impact of the sector's recovery from the pandemic on berthing demand and revenues.
• Gross Profits accounted for an average of 20% of revenues per marina. Total gross profits related to marina berthing for the entire sector increased 32% to £55m.
• The sector's direct Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution to UK GDP through marina berthing income increased 16% to £127m from the previous year. The 'added value' created by the marina sector represents 45.1% of total sector output.
• Taking into account indirect and induced economic effects, from marinas' supply chain spending and the spending of employees supported by marinas and their suppliers, the UK marina sector generated a combined total of £253m in GVA.
• Despite increasing challenges from inflation and declining UK economic growth, marina businesses are optimistic about their market, with 54% of members still positive about their company's prospects, citing the continued effect of the pandemic boom in second-hand boat sales and demand for berths over the last year. 56% of respondents reported that demand for berths was still above pre-pandemic levels.
• Occupancy rates for April 2022, at the start of the boating season, averaged 90% across all mooring providers, with rates highest at inland marinas (91%) compared to coastal ones (89%).
• Due to a surge in demand and rising inflation after lockdown the yield per berth (which, alongside occupancy, is a key metric for marina berthing productivity), grew 13% to £3,551.
• With supply increasingly strained, 19% of marinas responding to the survey are looking to expand over the next 12 months, focusing on expansion of pontoon berths with only a small amount of dry storage planned.

"With the publication of this report we hope to provide a valuable insight for those businesses operating in the sector, to enhance knowledge, identify key trends over time and provide key capacity and occupancy information.

"It is encouraging to see that despite increasing challenges from inflation and declining UK economic growth, marina businesses are optimistic about their market and that demand for berths remains above pre-pandemic levels, with a number of marinas also looking to expand in the coming months", commented Lesley Robinson, CEO, British Marine.

"It is only possible to complete this research reliably through the time dedicated by British Marine members in engaging with our market research team and I would like to extend my thanks to all those members who took part", Lesley added.

British Marine members can access the full report here and click on 'UK Marina and Mooring Market Report 2021-22'.

British Marine publishes a wide range of market and economic research to promote and support the UK leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry, including:

• Biennial KPI research providing insight on the economic performance and impact of the industry
• Annual market research tracking boating participation and ownership trends
• Reports quantifying the volume, value and key characteristics of boating tourism
• Trade data exploring marine related imports and exports and the UK marine industry's key trading partners
• Reports exploring the marine industry labour market and skills, training and productivity in the industry
• Reports quantifying the value of individual small commercial marine, recreational marine and Superyacht markets
• And a host of other research reports providing insight on domestic and international leisure marine markets

These research reports are available for free to all British Marine members and can be downloaded directly from the British Marine website britishmarine.co.uk.

British Marine also provides a bespoke analytical service to support members' individual needs. To learn more about market research at British Marine, please contact

*British Marine's Marina Market survey was run between April and June 2022 and received a 32% response rate among British Marine's member marina operators, which includes marina groups. Together, they represent 23% of all marina sites in the UK (run by members and non-members).