Simon & Chris, n/b Jolly Good

We have a stunning beautiful boat which gives us a functional, sociable, comfortable and fun way to do what we love...messing about on rivers and canals with family and friends.

We also wanted a boat that could be used as an floating office but also a a bit of a retreat and comfortable home with a bit of style ,for extended cruising through the seasons as we gently move to a slower pace of life.

Braidbar have delivered on all our expectations and more. 

Peter and Susan and the Braidbar team welcomed us on our first visit to Poynton and with Donna and James have supported us through the build and beyond.

There was no hard sell in fact we had to convince Peter that at the end of our first visit - that we did want to put our deposit down.

James, Peter, Donna and Susan all know what they are doing, are professional , give great advice ,communicate well and work with honesty and integrity.They have allowed us to build our boat to our exacting specification.

Now we have had our beautiful boat for 8 months and we still receive a great welcome and great service to all our after-sale requests.

Braidbar were our first choice of bespoke builder, we’d done our research and spent days at boat shows over the years going around new boats and talking to builders. We also had been hirers and owned a share for 7 years so we had a clear plan of what we did and didn’t want.

We were investing our money in a life changing project which needed to be right first time.This is the first time in our lives we had something we had not had to compromise on. Braidbar were the only option. We had to wait for our build slot but it gave us a chance to plan and it was worth the wait.

Braidbar offer great value for money for the build quality. Yes of course other boats appear cheaper but you can see the difference in the woodwork, flooring, fittings and fixtures and the fabulous paint job by Jonnie and finished with Andy Russell’s amazing unique sign-writing, which gets daily comments of delight and praise from others on the cut.

The skill is also in what you don’t see....the great hull from Tim Tyler again with extra features to allow us to store bikes and trailers secure and out of sight for instance.

The care and thought that goes in to planning and fitting the important stuff which you take for granted like electricity, heating, fires, washer dryers, cookers and the all important storage is second to none thanks to James and his great team.

And of course the engine. We wanted a Beta 43 engine - dead reliable, easy to maintain and with hospital silencers - it is surprisingly very quiet.

Peter knows his stuff and is passionate about propulsion and engines and making your boat run well. With his very full hand over session of the engine maintenance we felt confident enough to do what we needed to when we were on our own on the cut, and if we had an issue we got immediate advice and support ,if there was a problem it was sorted straight away.

We did warn Braidbar we would be difficult customers to please, and we haven’t compromised on anything, but they have continued to work to give us what we wanted with good humour and professionalism.

They are accessible, responsive and deliver what they say they will.

Contracts, costs, and payments are transparent and Peter and James are open about costs options and what they think will work to fit with your vision and budget.

Oh and it has been a really enjoyable process too. We have had a lot of fun working together . We didn’t expect to enjoy the journey of the build, but Braidbar helped us to get involved in as much of the process as we wanted to and have turned our ideas in to reality.

We have already had 5 months living and cruising aboard and we have been thrilled with everything about our boat.

In fact the whole experience from start to finish has been better than ‘Jolly Good’...in fact our boat should really be called ‘Bloody Brilliant’ thanks to Braidbar.