Princess Yachts can now start spending a grant from the UK government given nearly two years ago to finish the construction sheds for its M Class of megayachts.
The news came last week when Vince Cable, the UK secretary of state for business, innovation, and skills, visited Princess Yachts on an overall trip to the Plymouth, England region. Cable, pictured at center with Chris Gates (left), Princess Yachts’ managing director, and Ian Duffin, Princess Yachts’ finance director, officially noted that the shipyard could start tapping the £4.6 million (about $7.05 million) awarded in October 2011.
The funds are part of a Government Regional Growth Fund (RGF) grant, which strives to support projects that will create economic growth and jobs. Princess Yachts received the grant for its plans to create a dedicated M Class facility at its Plymouth site. Those plans were approved by the Plymouth city council in 2010, but could not proceed fully without the influx of cash. The M Class, featuring megayachts from 100 feet on up, has thus far been constructed in temporary sheds and seen the launch of two models, the Princess 32M and Princess 40M (below).

Princess Yachts states that the RGF grant will secure 400 jobs in Plymouth. “Growing businesses like Princess Yachts that are creating high-tech and highly skilled jobs are precisely the sort of companies that the government wants to support,” Cable notes. “Through the Regional Growth Fund, and more widely through our long term industrial strategy, government can give business the clarity and confidence to invest for the long term. That creates growth, and jobs for people here in the South West and all across the country.”
According to the BBC, Princess Yachts had been looking at various options for the megayacht facility before the money was received, including purchasing a yard overseas. “The local favorite was Plymouth, but it was up against competitive overseas alternatives,” the news agency quotes Gates as saying. “The favorite alternative was to buy a yard in Germany.”
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