The British leisure marine industry performed worse than the UK economy as a whole in 2008/09, as the global recession showed its effects.

Just released statistics from the British Marine Federation (BMF) have revealed that the industry’s total revenue in that period was £2.963 billion, a 6.2 per cent reduction on the previous year and worse than the national economy’s five per cent decline.

The BMF attempted to put a positive spin on the figures, citing double digit percentage drops in many other industries.

Chief executive, Rob Stevens, said: ‘Although we expected that revenue would suffer somewhat, we are confident that the hard work and sound business decisions made by our members has minimised these effects.

‘The 2009/10 period has been tough for our members, but the inherent strength of the marine industry has encouragingly proven to be robust enough to stave off the worst effects of the recession.

‘The BMF is particularly pleased to see that the quality and durability of the industry has held market share and the export market has remained strong.

‘We are particularly proud of the vote of confidence shown in British design, manufacturing and services from customers and businesses around the world.’

The contraction puts the industry’s revenue back to its 2006/07 level. 38.7 per cent of the revenue came from international trade with the £1.15 billion total down £100 million from the previous year.

The number of people employed by BMF members also fell during 2009/10 to around 32,500, a drop of 5.2%.

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