Harry King & Sons Ltd. was set up in 1850 by George Garrard, and then taken over by his apprentice Harry King in 1898. The boatyard was passed down to Harry's sons Norman and Sam and then to Sam's eldest son Geoff. Sarah Curtis’ husband, Gus, started working for Geoff in 1989 and the couple took over the boatyard in 2005 when Geoff and his wife retired.
The boatyard stores around 160 boats and works on a variety of boats all year round. hey also hire swinging moorings in the River Orwell which are lifted and serviced over the winter months. The boatyard employs four people, including an apprentice, but they support a much larger number of self-employed shipwrights, marine engineers, marine electricians, riggers, welders, sailmakers and painters.
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