WAVERLEY STEAM NAVIGATION CO. LIMITED

Company number

SC050789

Status

Active

Incorporation

1972-06-14

Last accounts made up

2024-10-31

Account category

GROUP

Primary SIC

50100

Hubs

UK Logistics & Mobility

Accounting basis

FRS 102

Reporting scope

Consolidated (group)

Auditor

Henderson & Company

Audit opinion

Unqualified (clean)

Going concern

Affirmed

“At the date of this report sufficient funding is in hand to commission Waverley for a full season commencing on 15th May 2025. The trustees are confident that a combination of funds generated by passenger sailings and donated funds will be sufficient to continue the operation for the forthcoming twelve months. Therefore the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting.”

Subsidiaries

• Waverley Excursions Limited · 100% held · Scotland · ship operator

Significant events

• “After a very successful season in 2023 sufficient funds were in hand to cover a number of improvements and refurbishment tasks during winter 2023/24 in addition to the scheduled survey work for the MCA and routine maintenance.”
• “A significant amount of deck renewal was undertaken with particular focus on the sun deck aft which received new synthetic caulking and an aluminium plate to protect the purser's office from leaks.”
• “The crew accommodation received an overhaul including new showers, new surfaces and USB power points. New flooring was fitted in both deck shelters and the galley. A new ventilation system was installed in the boiler room. While in dry dock Waverley received steelwork and belting repairs.”
• “Bookings for the new season were opened in February and total advanced sales exceeded £1.1m before the ship sailed, a substantial increase in comparison to 2023.”
• “Highlights from the 2024 programme included first-ever calls to Ullapool, Seacombe (Wirral), Dartmouth and Fowey, and notable returns to ports not visited in many years such as Bideford and Plymouth, also Holyhead and Eastbourne.”
• “Unfortunately, the only planned sailings from Portree and Troon were unable to take place due to high winds and port issues respectively, and fully booked sailings from Fishguard and Folkestone (both unvisited for sometime) were cancelled due to unfavourable sea conditions.”
• “The season concluded with two days' work in the form of a private charter for film work when the steamer played the part of a 1970s ferry to Orkney.”
• “Waverley completed 125 days in service and 13 planned sailing days were cancelled, an increase from 2 in 2023. 11 of the cancelled days were due to technical issues.”
• “The forward windlass caused 7 of these in two separate incidents, a crack that appeared in the bed plate then leakage in the steam-block of the engine. Problems with the starboard paddle wheel were the cause of four lost days.”
• “Despite the cancelled days and some disruption to scheduled pier calls in the Solent area Waverley recorded a small increase in passenger journeys and a 4% increase in total revenues to £4.8m.”
• “The total Net Economic Contribution generated by Waverley to the UK economy was assessed at £11.6m in 2023, up from £5.63m in 2015.”
• “The trustees were delighted that Waverley was awarded the title National Flagship of the Year for 2024 by National Historic Ships.”
• “Quite separately Waverley Excursions Limited was awarded the title Glasgow's Favourite Business in a public vote run by the Glasgow Times in September.”
• “A designated reserve fund was created with respect to objective (ii) in November 2023 and at the financial year end this stood at £650k.”
• “During winter 2024/25 as well as scheduled survey and maintenance work, new boiler burners will be installed. This work is necessary because the manufacturer of the system provided with the boilers in 2020 has exited the market and will no longer provide support. The cost of the replacement equipment is just under £300k and is being funded without any requirement for an appeal.”

Auditor / going-concern / subsidiary information is extracted from the PDF version of the latest annual accounts and is not tagged in iXBRL. About these numbers