TALENT POOL EXPANDS AT GCCM
The southern hemisphere’s most comprehensive and awarded marine facility, Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard (GCCM) has added to its distinguished talent pool and capabilities with the prized addition and expansion of multiple new and existing marine refit and repair businesses onsite. The landmark 17.5-hectare facility plays home to Australia’s largest concentration of marine trades and provides a seamless and easy one-stop shop destination for superyacht refit and repair on Queensland’s spectacular Gold Coast (ideally located mid-way between Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef on Australia’s East Coast). There are currently over 80 on-site businesses employing in excess of 700 marine contractors, many of whom are leading marine service providers in their respective fields.
Workshop 28, Norman R Wright & Sons and Wise Boatbuilding are the latest additions to the growing GCCM marine trades pipeline of talent while existing tenants, Lumark and O’Neill Shipwrights have expanded their footprint in the burgeoning GCCM shipyard. Workshop 28 is renowned for their marine architectural joinery and high-end interiors while Norman R Wright & Sons is arguably the oldest privately-owned boat builder and designer in Australia having built over 1000 custom vessels over the past 110 years.
Wise Boatbuilding is a team of boat builders and craftsmen capable of repair, restoration or refit services for all manner of vessels from commercial ferries through to superyachts or vintage wooden boats. GCCM CEO Trenton Gay says his shipyard, which this year has celebrated its 20th anniversary, prides itself on curating and nurturing the very best marine talent all in one location to get boats swiftly back on the water, on time and on budget.
“Names like Workshop 28, Norman R Wright and Wise Boatbuilding have exemplary reputations within our industry and are a welcome addition to our comprehensive GCCM portfolio of best practice marine trade businesses that have been carefully handpicked over the past two decades,” Mr Gay said.“GCCM plays an important role in growing the future stars of the Australian marine industry. We are always looking for the right mix of expertise and innovation and we are always looking out for the next generation of talent, newcomers who we think have what it takes to make it to the top of their game and who are capable of providing the highest level of workmanship to our clients,” he said. “The team members and onsite contractors operating at GCCM are simply the best of the best – many have worked around the globe crewing and refitting yachts or working in leading shipyards in the UK, Europe and USA and now bring their expertise to GCCM.”
Ben Duemmer of Workshop 28 says the move to GCCM was an easy decision that ticked all the boxes. “Our goal has always been to expand our business and GCCM provides us with an opportunity to be aligned with all the industry leaders and best in the game marine trades there are in Australia,” Mr Duemmer said. “GCCM is second to none when it comes to facilities, service, professionalism but most importantly, the Gay family’s longevity and experience within the industry,” he said. “We’re very much looking forward to the exposure that being a part of the GCCM family will offer our business.”
The two existing GCCM tenancy expansions include marine fabricators, Lumark who have expanded their footprint into larger permanent factory space including additional Superyacht sheds for projects and O’Neill Shipwrights who have grown exponentially since moving to GCCM and are set to relocate into one of GCCM’s newly completed showroom and refit factory spaces. GCCM is set to double in size when its $100 million stage 2 development is complete on an adjacent 20-hectare site. The second stage – which is currently in planning and approval stage - will see GCCM occupy 37.5 hectares within the Gold Coast’s 250-hectare marine precinct, more than doubling the size of the existing facility. GCCM currently has a limited number of opportunities for marine businesses to join the existing facility and is inviting expressions of interest for Stage 2.