As we near the end of 2022 Burgess announces an extremely healthy year for sales across all departments. The brokerage company saw a knock-on effect resulting from the pandemic with more clients wanting to get away during the summer, thus boosting the demand for charter.

‘We have once again had a tremendous year across all departments. With brokerage securing well over USD2 billion in sales, charter around 50% up on pre-pandemic levels and our New Build team 20% up on last year’s figures, I am delighted with the team’s unstoppable efforts’, confirms CEO Jonathan Beckett.

According to Burgess, 2022’s high-profit margins can be attributed to the company culture. Burgess credits the two billion USD in sales in 2022 to a culture of information sharing and guidance from the senior members of the brokerage team.

‘Our service is unrivalled, and we simply get the job done, whether we are selling a 30m yacht or 100m – we deliver the same service to our clients. At the end of the day, we are in the relationship business, and this is where we shine,’ says Richard Lambert, Head of Sales.

In charter, 860 trips were booked by the team meaning Burgess’ clients collectively spent 1100 weeks or 7700 days on charter this year. Ben Harwood, Head of Charter owed the success to a pent-up demand from the pandemic: ‘Everyone just wants to get away and travel’ Harwood said, adding, ‘our US clients were ready to get back to the Mediterranean after many chose to charter closer to home in the Bahamas or Caribbean for the last couple of years.’

A spike in demand in charter during the weeks from mid-June to mid-August meant the Burgess fleet was booked out. As a result, clients had to book very early to secure their choice of yachts for the weeks they wanted. Burgess reports that the trend of booking ahead will be ongoing into 2023 and 2024. Burgess Charter has responded to this demand by signing more yachts to the fleet: ‘We have signed another 23 yachts so far this year,’ Harwood confirms.

Brokerage celebrated another exciting year with the addition of the 72m ALBATROSS to the Burgess sales fleet the day before the Monaco Yacht Show. The vessel was sold a few days later making it one of the fastest deals on record. The sale resulted in the team closing four yachts in seven days in the final quarter: 5G, LIND, ALBATROSS plus one confidential deal in excess of EUR 100 million.

2022 also saw the introduction of the Burgess New Build Sales team, a merge of highly experienced sales brokers and naval. The Technical services team has reported a year-on-year increase of 20% with six yachts in build and several more under negotiation.

Sean Bianchi, Head of Burgess New Construction said ‘Across the industry the new build sector continues at a buoyant pace, shipyards continue to report very few build slots available for the next few years. Burgess Technical Services enjoyed another productive and busy year despite the ongoing global issues. The New Build Sales team also supported our clients throughout 2022 ensuring all aspects of a project were being considered and our client’s interests protected. The New Build Sales team continue to monitor the industry, production and build slot availability, they are first to know of any opportunities which we share directly with our clients.’

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