Sunseeker International is on the crest of a wave after winning two top awards.

The luxury boat builder won the ‘Best Use of Innovation in Customer Engagement’ category at the national Engage Awards for its ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ campaign.

Sunseeker was up against some of the UK’s biggest brands, including Boots, Orange, Coutts and Trailfinders among the ten shortlisted nominees.

And the Poole-based company’s investment in people was also recognised at the METSTRADE Boat Builder Awards where it won the ‘Best Apprenticeship or Training Scheme’ category.

Sunseeker’s early careers programme received the accolade for its exceptional offering to individuals wishing to enter the maritime manufacturing sector and the multiple progression and advancement opportunities it provides.

The Engage Awards are regarded as one of the country’s most prestigious customer and employee engagement awards.

The ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ campaign was pioneered by its in-house marketing department.

With the advent of the pandemic, the company lost its sales platform overnight with all international boat shows and events cancelled.

This was a huge challenge for Sunseeker during a year when it was due to launch five brand new yachts, ranging in price from around £1 million to £6.5 million (excluding tax), a first in the company’s history.

To overcome these challenges, and in a completely new move for the company, Sunseeker launched the ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ in a livestream event on the Sunseeker YouTube channel and Facebook page to the world’s media, its appointed dealers and its customers in May 2021.

The team also supported a dedicated luxury ‘Sunseeker Showcase’ to invite customers to personally view its yachts and enjoy the ultimate sales experience at the company’s Poole headquarters.

The ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ digital launch was completely innovative in the leisure marine sector where digital marketing has had a slower uptake in comparison to other sectors, such as automotive.

Sunseeker’s in-house marketing team had a clear vision to be the first yacht brand to launch five new models to market at the same time and generate sales enquiries using predominantly digital marketing platforms.

The bold move saw the team create digital assets and video content for each model, as well as the collective ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’.

The team collaborated with a famous friend of the brand, actor Hugh Bonneville, to anchor the campaign, an alignment that generated additional sales interest and credibility for Sunseeker.

The 22 independent judges unanimously agreed: “Great innovation to move from a non-digital experience to one which is incredibly engaging and of a quality you would expect for a product of such high value.

“An extraordinary product that has succeeded remarkably in its chosen aims during the most difficult times but making a virtue of the problems and producing a sensational range of boats that vividly capture the imagination without having to actually occupy the captain’s seat!

“A great initiative from a small marketing team.”

Sunseeker’s Bryan Jones. Elizabeth Banks and Lara Pattison with comedian Jayde Adams, host of the Engage Awards.

Bryan Jones, Sunseeker International’s Marketing Manager, said: “We are incredibly proud to win this prestigious marketing award.

“The team has worked very hard to develop engaging customer-centric campaigns that drive sales and deliver real value to our customers.

“The ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ launch will forever be iconic for our company, not just because we changed how we approached the power of digital, but how we could then convert the subsequent interest via the dedicated Showcase customer experience.

“It has been game-changing.”

The METSTRADE Boat Builder Awards seek to celebrate outstanding achievements across key areas of the global marine industry.

Andrea Frabetti, Sunseeker’s CEO (third from right) with (left to right) Matthew Francis, Oliver Jones, Rhys Jessop, Ewen Foster and Ed Slack of IBI.

The Sunseeker early careers programme received the accolade for its offering to individuals wishing to enter the maritime manufacturing sector and the multiple progression and advancement opportunities it provides.

Vocational Technical Apprenticeships

Using the UK’s apprenticeship standards, Sunseeker recruits apprentices onto a four-year training programme which delivers around 1,250 training hours at a specialist Marine Training Centre at Bournemouth and Poole College.

Each apprentice is paired with a highly qualified mentor in their chosen trade, completing approximately 6,000 hours of practical training.

There is a choice of four technical pathways: Composites, Carpentry and Joinery, Marine Mechanical Engineering, and Marine Electrical Engineering.

Apprentices move through the various production stages of boat building over four years, culminating in a new independent end-point assessment with the membership organisation for the leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry, British Marine.

Graduate Training Programme

The graduate scheme has been described as a revelation for Sunseeker.

Sunseeker says working with functional leaders across the company to develop job roles for academically educated talent has produced a new stream of innovative free thinking.

Students are offered a two or three-year programme in a hands-on position while providing access to training, development and membership with relevant professional bodies aligned to the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK SPEC) and other registered membership organisations in Production, Accountancy, IT and Marketing.

Graduates typically earn real-world experience delivering projects that affect the bottom line.

Sian Dodds, pictured left, HR Director, Sunseeker International, said: “We are incredibly proud to have won ‘Best Apprenticeship or Training Scheme’ at METSTRADE this year.

“With over 170 apprentices and graduates currently in training with us, our long-standing commitment to investment in people provides the opportunity to develop a well-rounded and successful career in the maritime sector.

“Our training programmes have proven to produce some of the best talent in the industry.

“They are our future leaders and technical experts, paving the way for a prosperous and sustainable marine industry.

“We are delighted to have received recognition from an international panel of judges, and whilst we continue to receive awards for our tremendous training schemes, significant challenges remain in the industry.

“We are proud to continue our investment in new training schemes.”

• The ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ campaign video can be seen here.