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Brodie Boatyard

A founder of forty years, a daughter ready to run the yard, and no plan between them.

Service

Succession

Sector

Boatbuilding

Location

Moray Firth

Year

2024

A boatbuilder planing a plank beside a half-built wooden boat in an open shed

Result

from founder to new managing director

18 months

The challenge

Alasdair Brodie built the yard over forty years. His daughter Kirsty had run production for six, but customers, suppliers and the bank still called him.

What we did

We mapped every decision Alasdair made in a month and handed them over in three stages, with a board of three for what was left. We met the bank and the two largest customers with both of them.

What changed

Kirsty became managing director eighteen months later. Alasdair chairs the board and builds one boat a year.

A boatyard founder in a flat cap beside his daughter, who now runs the yard

A boatbuilder's hands fitting a copper rivet into clinker planking

The bank asked who would run the yard after me. For the first time, I had an answer in writing.

Alasdair Brodie, founder and chair

Worked on this:

Isla Dunbar, partner.

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