Rockley started their show with a cake and champagne party as the team greeted guests and friends onto the stand to celebrate four decades working in the industry, four decades exhibiting at the London show and a look forward to what the future holds.
During the ten day event Rockley welcomed over 1000 children and adults onto the water at the show’s Mediterranean Bay feature, invited over 800 people to enter the at-show competition and hosted over 60 of their BTEC and Scholarship students on the stand.
As part of the show tour of British Marine members, Rockley was visited by both David Evennett, MP and Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin MP who were introduced to the team to discuss the growth in watersports participation, government support and marine tourism.
Pip Woods, Managing Director commented after the ten day show: “Starting the year on such a high note is great motivation for the coming months and all that we have planned. The team worked really hard and it has resulted in some excellent feedback and some outstanding sales. We didn’t just break all of our sales targets, we smashed them and we have already seen an increase of over four times as much compared to our 2015 show.
“We were also very proud to have been announced as a finalist in this year’s British Marine Leisure Boating Customer Service Award. The show has been a fantastic start to what is going to be a hugely memorable year for the whole team. “
The 2016 event also marked the final show as British Marine Boat Shows Chairman for Rockley FD, Peter Gordon. Peter commented: “It has been a great show both personally and for the business. The pool has been a fantastic attraction and I hope it will remain a feature at the Show.”
In 1976 Rockley Watersports opened its doors to its first students with a handful of boats and a couple of caravans on the beach at Rockley Point, Poole. Today Rockley has gone from strength to strength and can now boast that it is the largest commercial watersports training company in the UK. There are now five Rockley centres, three of which are in France and two in the UK. Over 10,000 people are welcomed every year on training courses, school activity trips and watersports holidays.
