Sunseeker International Announces 200 Job Losses Due to Global Demand Softening

Sunseeker International, based in Poole, Dorset, on the UK south coast, has confirmed it is making around 200 redundancies — about 10 per cent of its workforce — across support, leadership and management roles.

The boatbuilder highlighted “softening in global demand” following “political and economic uncertainties” in a media statement.

Sunseeker made around 100 temporary layoffs shortly before Christmas 2024 due to “restrictions in its supply chain” and cash-flow challenges. These workers returned in late January 2025, with the yard insisting no staff had lost their job.

In a statement shared with MIN on Wednesday afternoon (25 June 2025), Andrea Frabetti, Sunseeker International CEO said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly. We are fully aware of the impact this will have on the affected employees, and our priority now is to engage openly and respectfully throughout the consultation process and provide as much support as possible.”

Speaking to ITV yesterday, Frabetti emphasized that Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are at least partly to blame. “We have a tariff for United States export, which is very important,” he says. “We’re exporting more than 50 per cent of our production to the United States, so this has been affected recently.

“We want to maintain as many people as possible committed to work, for Sunseeker to be prepared [for] when the political situation will calm down and the market will restart. [Then] we will have enough power to restart strongly and restructured.”

A formal consultation with workers affected is set to begin. By law, the firm is required to consult for a minimum period of 45 days.

The yard says it remains focused on fulfilling its global order book and the continued development of new models — including the superyacht range announced in January 2025.

Frabetti adds: “I want to reassure our people, our partners, and the wider community that Sunseeker remains deeply committed to manufacturing in Poole and Portland. These sites are, and will continue to be, at the heart of our operations as we evolve for the future.

“Our focus remains on safeguarding the long-term health of the business, supporting local employment, and continuing to deliver world-leading yachts to our global customers.”

The news comes after Italy’s Orienta Capital Partners and US’s Lionheart Capital bought Sunseeker International from China’s Wanda real estate group in November 2024.