CA are in receipt of a communication from British Waterways to a couple who received substandard work to their narrowboat vessel carried out by JP Marine "Surveyors" operating from Taylors Boatyard in Chester. Sarina Young of British Waterways states:
"BW does not have a copy of Pete Askey’s Marine Engineering Qualifications or those of his welder"
This rings alarm bells as British Waterways are effectively not vetting tenants of their leased dry docks and premises...possibly throughout the entire waterways system. The communication goes on to state:
"British Waterways’ relationship with Taylors Boatyard is solely as a landlord."
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| The couple paid JP Marine £6,000 cash and spent £12,000 renovating the interior |
Surely BW have an obligation, at least a moral obligation, to ensure the safety of waterways' users utilising their premises, leased or otherwise. It is alarming to say the least they are willing to permit unqualified, un-vetted traders to operate from any of their premises and place waterways users in harms way.
British Waterways have been invited to respond...
The narrowboat concerned now lies at Swanley Bridge Marina in Nantwich where the couple in our long saga have now had a further survey by a qualified marine surveyor (independent from Swanley Bridge Marina). The survey results confirmed the poor standard of workmanship carried out by JP Marine UK Ltd who operate from Taylors Boatyard Chester
If you visit the "Taylors Boatyard" website (click here) you'll discover that not only does this operator fail to use it's own trading name at the head of the site, but relies on the historical reputation of a boatyard long since ceased trading.. it also fails to display it's own company name correctly which can be found (in very small print) at the bottom of their website. The site states "Copyright 2011 JP Marine" at the bottom, yet companies house records show JP Marine recently changed its name to JP Marine UK Ltd.
So is this the first time this operator has found itself in hot water?
Changing trading names and moving around the country seems to be a very
suspicious practice indeed. More alarmingly, despite our rigorous efforts to locate Peter Askey on any formally accredited register of Marine Surveyors, and requesting proof of the same from British Waterways, to date there is no evidence of this, yet the company website boldly claims otherwise. Read the other posts on this blog for some useful hints on performing background checks...
Taylor's boatyard was established in 1913 and moved to a site in the Dee
Basin slipway, Tower Wharf, in 1917. In the 1970s, the firm was taken
over by David Jones (Boatbuilders) Ltd. Most of the vessels built by
J.H. Taylor and Sons were canal craft, but the firm also built fishing
boats, including salmon boats for use in the Dee estuary. Unfortunately this solid reputation is now tarnished. Contact Canal Angels
Canal Angels | Recommended Suppliers | Surveyors & Engineers UK
2 comments:
Unbelievable! I've read you're whole thread and if it was me I'd sue their asses off. One thing's for sure, I won't be taking my boat there- not even for blacking. Good luck to you guys
I've read the the story and seen the pics of the the Taylors Boatyard hull overplaying repair. As a time-served welder, I can tell you this is some of the worst welding I've seen in 30 years in the business. J.P. Marine should be ashamed of themselves. Trading Standards will intervene sooner or later, but not until they've ripped off some more people and they file complaints. Lets hope they don't kill someone along the way. Good luck to the couple
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