Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Meet our associates: Cormorant Carpentry.

CORMORANT CARPENTRY. Matthew Paton, managing director of the company, has acquired 30 years of experience working with wood. This British businessman stopped in Majorca for pleasure and fell in love with it. He created Cormorant and since then, he has dedicated himself to design and cover all kinds of wood in the interiors of boats. 

Could you talk me about the trajectory of your company? (The year it was founded and how did the idea come up). 
I think I started in 1995. I came to Mallorca on holidays for two weeks and I liked it so much that I decided to work as a carpenter here on the boats. The company has evolved through the years. First, it was me alone and now I have some people working with me. I am a yachts carpenter and I have been doing this type of job for approximately 30 years. When I came from England I was already a yacht carpenter. I completed the apprenticeship working for three years in a company and I also went to college to obtain certificates. 

How have you fared the past tourist season? 
Basically, the government has forced a lot of boats to leave Mallorca. In the first place, because of the matriculation tax. And in the second place, because they have put up expenses on marinas. Boats can go elsewhere because it is cheaper. The government's answer by putting the taxes up is not working because the taxes go up. People do not want to pay the taxes here so they will go to a country where the taxes are lower. This is what has happened. It has not gone very well. I have lost lots of clients. Some of them have gone to America, others to France, Italy, Malta, Croatia. The big problem here at this moment is the matriculation tax. 
How does your company approach the next years? 
I advertise in a few yacht publications. I work much time with regular clients although there are not so many. I also work with a referral person or recommendation. When somebody says: “I am looking for a carpentry company to do some work. Who would you recommend us? Cormorant Carpentry have been here a long time, I recommend them.” So, now I would say that 80% of my business is regular clients and around 20% new clients. Whereas before, it was 95% regular clients and the remaining 5%, new clients. The Americans do not bring their boats here anymore because of the matriculation tax and they have found cheaper alternatives. 

What products and services do you offer?
We carry out interiors. We would put a new interior on a boat in wood cherry, teak, oak, walnut, in all the types of woods. We also do Plexiglas, soft furnishings and also I am a project manager. Whoever may wish, can enter into our webpage (http://www.cormorantcarpentry.com) to obtain more information about our services. 

What do you think are the main problems of the yacht sector in the Balearic Islands? 
Apart from the matriculation tax, the I.V.A has gone up to 21% and also the taxes for our businesses have gone up. Those are the three main problems. The government is not supporting the yacht sector. I think that Mallorca lost 500 million euros at least last year because nowadays captains take the boat to America because Mallorca is too expensive (this has happened to a friend of mine). Captains go to live to other countries because Mallorca has become too costly. The people that come with yachts rent houses for their mother and children, cars, spend money in restaurants. The crew goes shopping, to restaurants, bars. A boat that comes to Mallorca not only pays money to the nautical sector and marinas. The captains used to buy houses too, they had a property. But now they have to look for a cheaper place to live. 

Why did you decide to join the AENB? 
I think that Patricia Bullock is a fantastic person and everyone else associated with it: Diego Colom, Jonathan Syrett...they all understand the problem of why the nautical sector is suffering and also the topic of super yachts. This is a really good organization and it needs supporting. 

What do you value most about the association? 
Talking to other members and also having the information you kindly send me. The information is very valuable.

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