Tom Murrant

 

Sealine might never have existed but for the fact that Tom Murrant wanted a boat. He looked at those on the market in 1972 but couldn’t find one he liked. So, he told his wife, Jane, he would design his own and this he did using his technical and engineering skills.

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The new design needed a wooden pattern from which a fibreglass mould could be made, so he spent every evening aGer work and weekends creating the wooden pattern in his garage at home near Claverley, Shropshire.

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Whilst this was being produced, Tom looked for a local boat builder who could make the moulds and then produce the first boat for Tom, aGer which he could keep the moulds to produce boats for himself. Sadly, the boatbuilder never quite found the time to produce anything.

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Tom was, however, not going to give up on his dream boat so when he met a young man aged 18 who worked in a local boat building company, and who, together with two friends, offered their services in creating both hull and deck moulds the offer was readily accepted. The work began in the garage in the evenings and weekends by Tom Murrant, Frank Fish, John Fielding-Cotterell and Ray Walker.

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By chance, during the process, a businessman from Devon, heard about the project and came to visit. The upshot was that he wanted Tom to build his own boat plus others which he, himself, owned. This was a huge decision as Tom had a family to support and would be giving up a good job. Eventually he and Jane decided they could borrow £500 from Tom’s life insurance and proceeded to rent a large hangar at Halfpenny Green Airport to use as a much more spacious workshop.

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So, the business began with four young men leaving their current employment to become Directors of a new company and Jane taking on the role of Company Secretary. All looked good even though there was a huge amount to learn.

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However, within the first two years their wings were clipped by the arrival of the now famous Oil Crisis!  Companies were only allowed to work limited hours on three days a week with electricity supplies being cut off on the other working days. They were very worrying times with the cost of raw materials like resin, used to create fibreglass, rocketing as did many other things. To help make ends meet the company took on the manufacture of smaller items like wash basins for British Rail trains, road signs and a rather appealing Toby Jug to go on the cab roof of a certain Brewery’s delivery lorries. It was a case of creating anything to survive.

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When life got back to some normality boats took centre stage again and new designs joined the production line, and it wasn’t long before Sealine was able to purchase premises in Kidderminster which became its new home, and which added many advantages. The move gave the company access to a supply of first class, skilled employees who worked hard and with great loyalty, placing Sealine among the top four boat builders in the UK. In later years Sealine employed approximately 400 local people.

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Another stroke of luck, soon aGer the move, Tom was approached by a local man who was a designer of a well-known brand of car but who had an ambition to design a boat, in particular a power cruiser. So, it transpired that Roger Tucker joined the team which led to bigger and beEer boats arriving on the Sealine production line. Also, at this time, other new creative features were added to the boats due to Jane being only 5’2”. She found it difficult to climb over the stern of the boats whilst working at the London Boat Show so on return to the factory Tom designed an opening rear door to all their models. Similarly, Jane found climbing ladders to the upper deck difficult, so fibreglass steps were introduced which were much appreciated by customers. Both these features were soon copied by other boat builders aGer exhibitions at UK shows and are now the norm.

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The world began to open up as the company gained interest from further afield, initially with new importers in Germany. This new dealer showed the way to the creation of a worldwide network of importers and dealers and exhibitions throughout the UK, Europe and as far afield as Singapore and the USA.

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As a result, the importers enjoyed Sealine’s hospitality at Dealer Meetings at the factory where they delighted in staying at Stone Manor Hotel in Kidderminster, the Lygon Arms in Broadway and many others.

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They were happy to be part of the Sealine Family and family it definitely was as Tom and Jane’s children, then young adults, had joined the company. Vanessa was a major part of the administration staff whilst Jeremy became a technical engineer and travelled the world visiting Sealine importers to help and advice on technical issues.

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So, one man’s dream resulted in a very successful business in Kidderminster, miles from the sea. However, it took 14 years hard work before Tom got his own boat!