11:06am Tuesday 15th April 2008
A COUNTY Durham boat builder is diversifying to help the business adapt to the latest designs of canal vessels.
John Flynn has worked in the boat building industry for more than 19 years, overseeing the construction of more than 500 narrowboats, designed for the canals of UK and Europe.
But the demand for narrowboats has dropped in favour of wide-beam houseboats.
Mr Flynn, managing director of Trimdon Grange-based company Le Skerne, is using a national Design Council initiative - Designing Demand, which helps small businesses to use design to boost performance.
He has also changed his company's name from South West Durham Steelcraft to reflect its shift towards private customers.
"As the demand for canal boats has decreased due to the volume of vessels already out there in the UK, there has been a massive influx of interest in the widebeam boats that we also produce, and we are now approached more frequently directly by our customers, rather than by commercial agents," he said.
"When I first heard the name of the Designing Demand programme, I envisioned embarking on a design project, such as a website or an advertising campaign.
It actually offers a lot more than that and aims to analyse the very design of a company's needs before identifying ways to progress."
The Designing Demand project is delivered in the region by the North-East Business and Innovation Centre and Entrust.
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