The man who controls New Zealand's Fullers Ferries -- Stagecoach founder Brian Souter -- has made a personal investment of $NZ20.2 million in an English luxury motor yacht manufacturer, Sunseeker International.Mr Souter's Stagecoach New Zealand bo
The man who controls New Zealand's Fullers Ferries -- Stagecoach founder Brian Souter -- has made a personal investment of $NZ20.2 million in an English luxury motor yacht manufacturer, Sunseeker International.
Mr Souter's Stagecoach New Zealand bought into Fullers in 1998, and last year the company was taken over by Souter Holdings, which owns a number of other transport operations including urban bus operators Howick and Eastern Buses in Auckland and 74% of Mana Coachlines in Wellington, and Auckland ferry operator 360 Discovery Ltd.
Now the Scottish entrepreneur is investing heavily in British manufacturing, the Glasgow Herald reported.
"What he really wants to see is ... Britain to become a manufacturing nation again," a spokesman told the newspaper.
On the question of whether Mr Souter might now buy his own yacht, the spokesman highlighted instead the billionaire's investment in Fullers Ferries: "He has got all these ferries in New Zealand. I think it is commercial boats that turn Brian on, rather than having a luxury yacht."
As chief executive of Perth-based bus and rail company Stagecoach, Mr Souter has trialled hovercraft services on Scottish waterways, and an amphibious bus on the River Clyde.
His $NZ20.2m injection in the Dorset-based yacht builder is part of a total $NZ53m investment by Racing Post owner FL Partners and a "number of UK and Irish investors," the newspaper said.
