Source : BUSINESS NEWS
Mark Stothard’s Echo Marine Group has bought the award-winning JahRoc Furniture brand and plans to integrate its operations with his Henderson-based superyacht business.
The purchase came just weeks before JahRock founders Gary Bennett and Dave Paris were due to oversee a shut-down auction of their Margaret River business.
Mr Stothard was an old friend of the founders and visited their workshop for one last look ahead of the planned auction.
The auction was to sell 40 years’ worth of accumulated plant and equipment and would have marked the end of JahRoc Furniture manufacturing.
Mt Stothard said he had always admired the JahRoc brand and what the founders had achieved and was dismayed by the prospect of it ending.
“It brought a tear to my eyes literally and I just thought: ‘no we can’t let that happen’.
“And more to the point I had an idea in the back of my mind that it would help me at Echo smooth out the workflow for the chippies.”
Mr Stothard said that, with help from JahRoc’s experienced staff, he expected to provide more work for the skilled tradesmen at Echo, who build the furniture for its vessels.
He has acquired the JahRoc brand and IP and the exclusive rights to manufacture JahRoc Furniture designs.
Under its new ownership, JahRoc Furniture will be built on-spec rather than waiting for specific orders.
Mr Bennett will continue to design furniture on a consulting basis.
In addition, Sam Sorgiovanni, who is a renowned Fremantle-based designer of superyachts, will design some furniture pieces.
Mr Stothard said there may be an opportunity to diversify the JahRoc business by selling pieces to other superyacht builders around the world.
JahRoc has previously made furniture for some of Mr Stothard’s projects, including the True North vessel that does Kimberley cruises.
Mr Bennett said he was extremely excited and honoured to see the JahRoc brand being picked up by such a prestigious Western Australian company.
“Carrying on a brand such as JahRoc would be a daunting task for most, however the passion, drive and integrity that Mark has shown in all of his endeavours, confirms that he of all people can do it justice, and no doubt take it to a new level of prestige,” he said.
Jahroc was founded in Scarborough in 1987 before moving to York six years later.
In the 1990s the founders moved to Margaret River and for 20 years operated JahRoc Galleries as a retail outlet on the town’s main street, until its recent closure.
JahRoc has won numerous awards, including in the ‘best of the best’ category at the Furnishing Industry Association of Australia Awards.
Henderson-based Echo is best known as a builder of superyachts and is currently in the midst of the four-year build of a 57-metre sailing catamaran.
It also performs commercial and defence work and in January was awarded a $66 million contract by the WA government to design and build five battery-electric ferries for public transport on the Swan River.
