Boat business that’s 150 but still moving with times

JONATHAN HOBBS is proud to be carrying on his family’s 150-year legacy.

He is managing director of riverboat operator Hobbs of Henley, which was founded by his great-great-grandfather Henry “Harry” Hobbs in 1870, and says he and his wife Suzy look forward to celebrating the anniversary.

The couple have commissioned a 96-page history of the Hobbs dynasty and its business, written by boating historian Simon Wenham, which will be launched at the town’s River & Rowing Museum on May 21.

The following month they will buy a new 35ft Linssen yacht and then exhibit it at the Southampton International Boat Show in September. This will be the 56th addition to the Hobbs fleet, which ranges from small self-drive rowing boats, motorboats and slipper launches to its 115ft flagship mock paddle steamer The New Orleans.

The couple also plan to sell a commemorative version of their Mr Hobbs Henley Gin, which is named after Harry and was launched in 2017 to market the boat business. Now it is in shops across the Thames Valley and sold nationally through Laithwaites Wines.

Mr Hobbs, 48, first worked for the company as a teenager and says the job is still rewarding because — like his father Tony, the previous managing director — he has always taken risks to meet changing tastes.

The firm, which operates a boat hire yard off Station Road and a storage yard off Wargrave Road, used to build and repair wooden boats at its old workshops in Boathouse Reach using traditional methods.

However, Mr Hobbs snr wound this down because demand was dropping as fibreglass hulls became popular and the buildings were converted into housing in 1990.

At the same time, there was a boom in private and corporate pleasure cruising so he began investing in larger boats to complement the smaller hire fleet.

In the same spirit, his son has invested in new high-end models to cater for growing demand from the luxury market.

Mr Hobbs, who is better known as Jonnie, grew up in Peppard with his father and mother Jackie, who helped run the business. His older sisters Melanie and Katie live in Nettlebed and Gallowstree Common respectively but neither works in the trade.

He attended Sonning Common Primary School then the Oratory School in Woodcote, for which he rowed at Henley Royal Regatta as well as representing Henley Rowing Club, before studying history and film at the University of Kent.

He began working casually for his father aged 14 and obtained his skipper’s licence four years later.

“One of my very earliest memories is the smell of the boat sheds,” says Mr Hobbs. “I remember the varnish, the paint, the wood scrapings and sawdust because at that point we still built boats and did lots of repairs. I’d wander in and see all these boats of up to about 40ft.

“It was a massive part of my childhood but there was never any pressure to follow in Dad’s footsteps. I remember he’d introduce me to Henley Royal Regatta stewards or other boat builders and they’d ask, ‘when is he joining the business?’

“He’d reply, ‘I hope he doesn’t — I’d like him to get a job where he doesn’t have to work every single hour.’ He was keen for me to explore my own path and not feel forced.

“The great thing as I grew up was that seasonal work was always available. One of my first tasks was to take the lunch order and collect it from Mellett’s bakery on Reading Road, which took more than an hour of the working day.”

The business began changing in 1980 when Mr Hobbs snr bought the first pleasure boat, a 50ft Bounty all-weather riverbus named Maratana which was later sold. In 1984 he bought the 60ft river bus Consuta II, which the firm still has.

The New Orleans, which can accommodate up to 175 passengers on two levels, followed in 1991. Famed for its twin smoke stacks, which form part of the company logo and can be lowered to pass under Henley Bridge, it was once the largest working boat on the upper Thames and remains the largest to be built on the river.

Construction started in 1989 and it was the last to leave Jakubait & Sons’ yard at Greenwich before the site was cleared to make way for the Millennium Dome.

It proved so popular that in 2001, the company commissioned the 75ft cruiser Hibernia and three years later purchased The Waterman, an 84ft cruiser which also has two levels.

Mr Hobbs graduated in 1992 and initially juggled stints on the river with travelling around the world but went full-time for the company in 1994. He learned to run it from general manager Peter Herbert, who is still a company director, then was appointed a director himself in 2005 before becoming managing director in 2012.

“We always look back with rose-tinted glasses but the Nineties were genuinely a wonderful time,” says Mr Hobbs. “It was exceptionally busy — the economy was strong so the business just kept growing and even the summer weather always seemed to be great.

“After graduating, I didn’t intend
to stay forever and naively thought I could balance a part-time role with working as a film journalist. However, it was obvious I’d have to show more commitment in order to be taken seriously. You can’t just dip in and out of something like that.

“I was happy to get closer because I liked the people working here, some of whom are still here. There’s a strong working ethos but it’s also a lot of fun. We’re fundamentally an entertainment business which creates memorable times for other people. It’s a big responsibility but incredibly rewarding.

“I was very proud to become
managing director — I’d been in the business for nearly 18 years but part of me was still thinking ‘don’t mess this up’. I was keen to keep it going but also to grow it and not merely maintain the status quo.

“Dad was always a great role model so I couldn’t have been better prepared. We’re very different in many ways but he taught me a lot and I was always proud of how respected he is, both in his industry and the Henley community.”

In 1996, Mr Hobbs met his wife, who lived in Marlow and was studying at The Henley College, when she was working at the Angel on the Bridge in Thames Side.

The couple, who now live in Stoke Row, married at St Nicholas Church in Remenham the following year and now have three daughters, Lily, 20, Bella, 18, and Evie, 15. Mrs Hobbs joined the firm in 2003 and went full-time as business development manager in 2009. She splits her time between promoting the gin, which was her idea, and the main business.

She says: “As you get older, you really appreciate what’s been happening behind the scenes for so long for things to reach this point. Much of our success is down to Tony and then Jonathan’s excellent relationship with their staff — there’s real loyalty and they share our passion.

“We’re proud to be custodians of a business with so much heritage and to be constantly adapting it, not just preserving it.”

Mr Hobbs adds: “We’re quite strict in our downtime and don’t allow ourselves to talk much about work. We switch off completely when we’re away unless something really big is happening, but at home we sometimes have to remind each other to change the subject — if the girls don’t do it first.”

In 2013 Mr Hobbs bought six 22ft Bullit launches, each worth £45,000, which were originally built to shuttle VIPs on the Thames during the 2012 Olympics in London. They are named Argent One, Azure One, Gules One, Sable One, Vert One and Or One after the colours on Henley’s coat of arms.

He bought Jacqueline IV, a 10-ton 35ft Linssen motor yacht, the following year and in 2015 he bought Midsomer, a 36ft Linssen. This was named after Midsomer Murders, which is often filmed around Henley, and was launched by five-time Olympic rowing champion and Henley Royal Regatta chairman Sir Steve Redgrave.

Mr Hobbs explains: “There was nothing of that standard on the Thames previously. The Olympic launches were a toe in the water because years earlier, people would point at high-end boats cruising past and ask ‘have you got anything like that?’

“We didn’t and at the time Dad didn’t think it was worth it because ‘they’d just get wrecked’. That was probably the right decision for that era but now there’s a certain care and consideration among customers, although we still take a deposit.”

In 2018, Mr Hobbs was made a royal waterman to the Queen, following in the footsteps of his father who was appointed one in the Eighties. He is one of just 18 people to hold the position, which recognises their contribution to life on the Thames, and the only one on the upper stretch.

Mr Hobbs, who was interviewed for the role at Buckingham Palace, will have to step down at 65 but will remain an “extra waterman” for life.

His duties include escorting members of the royal family when they travel by water and also foreign heads of state who arrive on the Thames.

He said: “It was probably the ultimate honour for anybody working on the river and a great recognition of the contributions you make in your working life.

“It was entirely unexpected but wonderful nonetheless and Dad was absolutely over the moon when I told him because it was keeping a family tradition going.

“I’m still waiting to be called upon but there are two state visits coming up this year and I will hopefully be able to participate in them.”

The company’s most challenging period is the two consecutive weeks of Henley Royal Regatta and the Henley Festival, when it may hire up to 100 temporary staff and have every single boat out on hire. Staffing levels are about 50 for the rest of the summer and there are 12 permanent employees.

Mr Hobbs says: “Summer is a crazy time with massive footfall and you’ve got to manage the expectations of hundreds of people.

“Sometimes there’s four times as much demand as you can meet and there just aren’t enough boats for everyone.

“You’ve got to get in early every day to prep, clean and service the boats while making sure all the customers have a good time and the staff are coping with the long shifts.

“The staff have to do a lot of hours under the sun so it’s very important that they’re all okay, especially as the work continues into the evenings.

“Things usually go smoothly but we’re looking into putting trackers on the boats as you get the odd wayward stag party that phones from Marlow at 7pm saying they lost track of time and missed their last chance to get through the lock.

“It’s not too stressful, though — we give customers a briefing, there’s safety kit, the bigger boats are checked regularly and all the staff have the necessary training. The most important thing is the safety and enjoyment of the people on the water.

“We’re proud of how long some of our staff have been here and even prouder of their skills as watermen. It’s a great way of life and that’s why so many have stayed for years.”

The team includes general manager Kim Clifford, from Caversham, who joined in 1980 when he was 16. Outboard engineer and former royal waterman Colin Hinton, services manager Andrew Trust and skipper Darren Martin also have decades under their belt.

The Hobbses’ oldest daughter, now at university herself, works in the boat bars during the holidays but there is no pressure on her to take it further.

“We’ll see what happens,” says her mother. “She knows there’s scope to work here if she wants and we’d be perfectly happy with that but we certainly don’t expect it.”

Over the next decade the firm could invest in electric boats, which are becoming more popular, and refurbish its moorings on the bank opposite the main yard.

Mr Hobbs says: “We’re still very committed to the business as we’re deeply rooted in it. I’m always thinking of new ideas as the market never stands still and you can’t afford to be found wanting — you’ve got to anticipate trends and stay one step ahead.

“It’s great that we have such a rich history but we’re a progressive business, not one that stands still. As long as there’s scope for trying new ideas, I’ll always have an appetite.”