A tale of two marinas
A TALE Of Two Cities is an 1859 novel by Charles Dickens, the story using London and Paris as the city backdrops before and during the French Revolution.
Waterpride Estates’ tale is quite different, involving two very different cities during a different period altogether. However, there has been a revolution of sorts throughout the Waterpride story.
The management team behind Waterpride has owned and managed marinas for more than 25 years. This long history has provided a rich seam of knowledge of what it takes to run a successful marina business.
Those findings, although not set in stone, can be narrowed to a few simple ideas: customer service at the heart of everything; relentless attention to detail and individuals; small boutique-style operations; wise investment, sensible cost control, and focused management; razor-sharp orderliness and efficiencies; and top-in-class facilities and services.
Nail the above, and everything else falls into place. Or so it should!
Waterpride director Robert Hutton said: “Many years working across complex waterway environments means we have learned lessons, overcome obstacles, and had a fair amount of success.
“Such a long history of hard lessons and resolving tough situations means we now operate a much sharper business. We always have something to prove, and to improve, and that keeps us moving forward. We never stop learning and we can always draw on past experiences in times of need.”
Bringing this tale bang up to date, Water pride operates two marinas with strong city connections: Lady Lane Wharf in a leafy enclave on the edge of Birmingham, and New Islington Marina in the heart of ‘probably’ the coolest enclave of Manchester. Both different, but both sharing numerous similarities born out of years of “learning to do things the right way”, as Robert puts it.
Water pride acquired the lease from the Canal & River Trust to operate Lady Lane Wharf in 2017, and set about the onerous task of rebuilding a place left to crumble. Alongside a physical repair of the infrastructure, the management had to win over suspicious customers. It took time, persuasion, and open and frank debate, resulting today in a fully restored site and customers buying into Water pride’s ideas.
The model for Lady Lane Wharf is really very simple: on-duty staff seven days a week, manning a site which includes a retail outlet of essential items such as coal, diesel, kindling, toilet cleaner – not a glamorous list by any means, but just enough well-priced stock to keep punters returning and the tills ticking over. By streamlining the retail aspect of the operation, it allows time for staff to offer unrushed customer service and maintain the site.
Often a 10-minute conversation with a customer about some aspect of their life goes further than any commercial transaction, allowing staff to really understand the issues and so plan ahead.
Lady Lane Wharf on the North Stratford Canal is approaching capacity, with a healthy waiting list. In fact, enquiries have never slowed; pretty amazing when you consider the past 12 months of madness. It is clear that people appreciate the effort Waterpride has invested in its Birmingham marina and they are queuing up to be a part of it.
On-site facilities include moorings for about 55 boats (depending on boat length), each with views over rolling countryside. There is a newly designed marina building with underfloor heated showers, storage and Gold bathrooms for rent, daily-cleaned toilets, and a laundry room.
Outside are electric/water bollards to most moorings, a seated fire pit area, and improved paths for customers moored either up the main line (it is a linear-style marina) or the feeder arm towards Earlswood Lakes. A beautiful five-pitch Caravan & Motorhome Certificated Location campsite is ready to welcome customers on April 12, or when government guidelines allow.
The revolution at Lady Lane is ongoing and on a daily basis, with staff always looking for ways to provide customers with the very best experience they can.
New Islington Marina in Manchester is quite a different tale – and a different revolution has taken place there.
Waterpride took on the lease of this stunning city-centre marina from Manchester City Council in 2020.
The marina was included in the regeneration of Ancoats, which continues apace. The waterways of the Rochdale Canal around this marina are becoming more and more of a draw for the crowds, particularly when the weather improves and restrictions slowly ease.
For the increasing number of residents moving into the area, which even 14 years ago was still largely derelict with huge swathes of wasteland, it’s now the perfect space that creates a real sense of community.
In the early morning you’ll see dog walkers stopping for a chat with each other and plenty of joggers and cyclists, as well as personal trainers using the expanse of space to instruct their clients, with the shadow of the city’s old cotton mills behind them.
There’s a primary school based on the water’s edge at the marina, and just along the towpath there’s a children’s nursery beneath the now-iconic Chips building, reflecting the increasing number of families settling in the area.
On the water itself is a vibrant boating community, while just across the road from the canal basin is the New Islington tram stop, connecting the area into Piccadilly and the city centre to the west and on towards the Etihad stadium and to Ashton to the east.
Developers Urban Splash and Manchester Life have been instrumental in shaping this intriguing new community with a raft of apartments in converted mills and in new builds around the marina, while new businesses are springing up, bringing more people venturing into this still largely hidden area for the first time.
Pollen Café, a super-trendy artisan bakery on the water’s edge, is a case in point and is in constant demand.
New Islington Marina forms the focal point of the New Islington neighbourhood which, when complete, will comprise up to 1400 homes, a primary school and a doctor’s surgery, all focused around the marina.
A revolution of sorts is under way in this part of Manchester, but this tale is far from over.
Waterpride has been tasked with managing the existing marina and liaising with the managers of the wider estate, as well as identifying and delivering opportunities for future complementary development on the water.
The marina comprises two basins either side of Old Mill Street, the larger of which has capacity for up to 46 moorings (again, depending on boat length) and accessed from the Rochdale Canal. The smaller basin is available for nine moorings, accessed from the Ashton Canal.
The boating folk of New Islington Marina have been through a great deal in recent times, effectively staying on a building site with, at best, sporadic waterside management. Though incredibly resilient ( as all boaters are), their patience has unsurprisingly been wearing thin and this has meant Waterpride rebuilding confidence, instilling a new direction, and detailing the next stage of development.
This could be best described as a quiet ongoing revolution with much still to do and numerous long-overdue repairs to complete. But the task has begun, and the works list is being tackled carefully and methodically in close consultation with customers.
The sense of community on the marina is overwhelming and this adds to the charm of the place. Facilities include a marina office and a boater’s hut made of wood with showers, toilets, Elsan and a laundry. On the quayside are visitor moorings with pump-out and water (both available to moorers).
The boater’s building is quirky, reflecting perfectly the unique lifestyle on offer at the marina. It stands defiant and small, in the shadows somewhat, against a backdrop of towering modern high-rise apartment buildings.
These two wildly opposing architectural structures, side by side, tell the real story of how differing communities can knit together to create a far better whole.
It is early days, but if Waterpride can bring to the party its long history of successful marina management and apply lessons learned to this truly one-of-a-kind marina, then the revolution will be that much sweeter. And most definitely bloodless.