The former CEO of Princess Yachts, Chris spent 31 years growing one of the leading brands in the luxury yacht sector, he now embarks on his own journey launching Setag Yachts. When Chris joined in 1989, Princess was building powerboats up to 55 feet and was the sole builder of Moody sailing boats. There were no bills of material, no planning system and no computers, mobile phones or emails. By the early 1990s he had helped to implement the business systems to enable the company to build 1,000 boats in a single year.
Chris prides himself in recognising and growing talent within a company, and through his close relationship with a number of the extremely talented boat builders running various sites within what was then Marine Projects, he helped them to develop more efficient planning and organisational structures, learning all aspects of laminating, furniture construction and the complexity of assembly from them along the way.
CALL US
Record Sales
This holistic understanding of the yacht industry saw him grow the company from a team of 400 people to over 3,300, with turnover increasing from £30million to a £340million. He also successfully steered the company through the recessions of the 1990s and the recent global downturn, leading them to record sales and profitability with the strongest product offering (including the landmark V class and M class ranges), represented by the world’s strongest dealer network.
Read more about Chris’ journey At the Helm below.
At the helm
The Best in the Business
Chris is rightfully proud of Princess Yachts’ record of winning the coveted World Super Yacht Awards every time they entered. After a period as advisor to the Chairman, he launched SETAG to fulfil his dream of utilising the skills of the best craftspeople in the business – incorporating the expertise of former rivals at Princess, Sunseeker and Fairline – in order to deliver a personalised refit service at a level of service not yet seen in the pre-owned market, refurbished by the original artists.
Our Story
Laura Prynn
Laura is a Supply Chain professional with over 20 years’ experience in Luxury Yacht manufacturing, leading teams in the delivery of exceptional customer service and operational performance.
Find Out More
Phil Heys
Phil spent 32 years at Princess Yachts, joining as build engineer and finally leaving in 2019 as Technical Director, overseeing the manufacturing (including moulding), testing and despatch of the larger yachts built at Southyard.
Find Out More
Sarah Luck
Sarah is the former Lead Creative Designer at Princess Yachts and Founder / Director of sustainable interior design firm Mippin & Reet.
Find Out More