Bank of Scotland Marine Finance division is celebrating Burns’ Night after reporting a ‘fairly successful’ spell at the London Boat Show 2002, recording a 24% rise in completed proposals and a 28% increase in enquiries compared to last year’ show

“Looking at the current climate in the marine leisure industry and what is happening in the general marketplace,” said National Marine Manager Peter Whitehead, “I am pleased with the way that the Show went for us. Like so many of our colleagues in the industry we began the year with a degree of cautious optimism and the rail strike did nothing to help us in the early days of the show.

“While the value of the proposals completed was on a par with last year’s figures, the value of enquiries showed an increase of around 8%, which is positive news. I think that some of the boat builders had a tougher time than others, but on the whole we see the value of our business increasing.

“The coming months will be important ones for us at Bank of Scotland Marine Finance as our sales team convert this potential business into advances. However, having spent a lot of time talking to customers and dealers at the show myself, I remain optimistic for this coming year and look forward to getting more boat owners out on the water.”