If you’re looking for experience and longevity in a motor yacht manufacturer then Princess Yachts International, founded
almost fifty years ago and still headed up by the man who started it, is undoubtedly a good place to find it. And if you’re looking for the same in a Princess dealer in Puerto Banus then equally undoubtedly Nick Case is the man to talk to.
Nick started his career with Princess Motor Yacht Sales thirty years ago, back in the huge mobile phone and bodykitted BMW era of the early eighties, heading up the Poole office. Back then PMYS was based solely in the UK, but as Princess models got bigger it became clear that Spain was an emerging market for these new larger craft. In 1990, and with a Princess dealer already in Spain, Princess Motor Yacht Sales tactically opened another new office in the UK territory instead. It’s just that the part of the UK territory PMYS chose happened to be Gibraltar…
A young Nick Case was tasked with setting it up, and within a short time had a steady stream of clients keeping their boats in Spain. So successful was he that in 1994 Princess Yachts International (the manufacturer) granted dealership rights as far as Alicante, and Nick moved the Princess Motor Yacht Sales office to Puerto Banus in Spain, where it, and he, have remained ever since, situated just behind Pier One.
And it’s a winning combination of longevity and Nick’s dedication to service that has seen Princess flourish in the area. Over those two decades, while other companies have come and gone, Nick has been there providing his unique brand of customer satisfaction. Princess has established itself over time as the dominant brand as clients keep coming back. And they tell their friends…
“Selling boats is just a small part of what we do” Nick tells me. “Because the majority of our clients are overseas, we tailor a service to suit them, offering a ‘one stop shop’ from simply organising an annual engine service to the other end of the scale where we take care of every part of the management of the boat. A client can let us know he’s coming and arrive to find the boat immaculate, open, with the air con running and ice in the icemaker. When he’s finished we take care of closing the boat down and looking after it until his next visit. We’ll even take care of the laundry”.
It’s a service that’s particularly popular because Puerto Banus is so far south, ensuring great weather all year round. One of the most affluent marinas on the mainland, Banus was set up to be attractive to wealthy UK tourists so there are plenty of flights into nearby Malaga airport and the port offers everything from great shopping with boutiques and branded shops to hundreds of restaurants and clubs, ensuring you’re never short of something to do. And of course the boating is pretty spectacular, with Africa just thirty miles across the Straits, Portugal a day sail away, Majorca and the Balearics within range for a holiday cruise, and even cheap diesel and duty free just thirty miles down the coast in Gibraltar.
