In the early hours of Friday 24th May, firefighters were called to the Swallow Yachts manufacturing facility in Cardigan, Wales where a huge fire had engulfed the workshop where Swallow Yachts’ painting and prep were done; no boats were destroyed but a lot of machinery and equipment was lost. Nobody was hurt, but it took several hours to bring things under control and the fire crew managed to prevent the spread of the fire to their second workshop, where the Swallow Yachts’ boats are built. Fire investigators have been unable to ascertain the cause of the blaze.
Demolition work has already been completed, the site is cleared and the re-build will start shortly.
The scene after the blaze
Matt Newland, who runs the business alongside wife Ana, says: “My parents who live next to the factory rang me in the early hours to tell me the workshop was engulfed by flames.
“I live a couple of miles away and by the time I arrived along with the fire crews there was little they could do but to stop if spreading. It was the manufacturing workshop where we make all the pieces that go into the boats. There was loads of machinery in there, as well as all the parts for the boats including the engines. It’s a devastating blow. We don’t know the cause yet but we are definitely going to rebuild.”
Swallow Yachts has thanked their customers as well as many local businesses for their support and understanding at this challenging time. They are working hard to get things back to normal and are looking forward to continuing to deliver their boats to their customers worldwide.