City Cruises On A Steady Platform with Lombard Backing
Maidstone, October 2008 – City Cruises, the highly acclaimed award-winning operator of passenger services on the River Thames, is settling into its new floating office atop a 140 tonne pontoon, backed by a funding package from the Maidstone-based team at Lombard, the asset finance arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS).
Since purchasing their first river boat in 1985, Gary and Rita Beckwith, Chairman and Managing Director respectively, have powered the business forward with a string of impressive achievements. Their business now consists of 150 staff and 16 vessels, which transport over one million people annually – from tourist cruises past the London Eye to romantic showboat dinners and special corporate and private events. They also own the Hispaniola Restaurant, permanently moored near Westminster, and five 'River Liners', which carry up to 500 people – the first of which was launched by the Queen a few years ago.
Managing Director Rita Beckwith saw the need to replace the aging pontoon, which provides moorings for the operation of the vessels and offices for the business, as part of ongoing company improvements. The pontoon sits at Cherry Garden Pier in Bermondsey. With the Lombard team in Maidstone already involved in backing a number of past and present vessels for the business, Rita approached Simon Cox, her Relationship Manager at Lombard, who provided a specially tailored funding package to allow the construction of a new, purpose built base for the company. The novel new facility includes modern open office spaces complete with kitchens, bathrooms, air conditioning, full height glass partitioning, a meeting room and two office pods.
Rita Beckwith, Manager Director, City Cruises, commented:
"Gary and I are really proud of our business achievements over the past 23 years. We are now the largest passenger boat
operator on the river and continue to diversify and expand our service. We couldn't do this without the support of
Lombard – it is great to have a business partner that so fully supports our growth aspirations."
Simon Cox, Relationship Manager for Lombard in Maidstone, commented:
"City Cruises truly is leaving the competition in its wake. With a gutsy fleet expansion in recent years and ambitious
plans for the future, it continues to outperform. We were thrilled to back the refurbishment of its floating office and look
forward to many more years of success navigating from the helm."
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For more information, please contact:
Phil Allan
The Royal Bank of Scotland
Tel: +44 (0) 7899 062 129
Email: philip.allan@rbs.co.uk
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
The RBS Group is one of the world's leading financial services companies providing a range of retail and corporate banking, financial markets, consumer finance, insurance, and wealth management services. RBS Group operates in over 50 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East serving more than 40 million customers and employing more than 170,000 people. The Group's brands include RBS, NatWest, Ulster Bank, Coutts, Citizens and many other "household name" financial services companies.
