An interior design firm in the UK which has carried out refurbishment work on some of the world’s most famous cruise ships says it has enjoyed record turnover in the past eight months.

Atlantic Marine Interiors based in Christchurch, Dorset, carried out refits and maintenance to the Queen Mary II, Queen Elizabeth, Arcadia, Britannia, Iona, Azura and Ventura during the pandemic.

Chris Head, who founded the company in 2013, said: “Probably the ghostliest sight for us was all of those cruise ships at anchor off the coast of Dorset during the pandemic. But when the green light came for them to start operating again in May, planning started for their return to service, and our workload went off the scale.”

During this period, Atlantic also modernised the historic RMS St Helena to transport the Extreme E electric motorsport team and its cars around the world.

This involved work on the bridge, VIP and owners’ suites, VIP lounge and bar, science laboratory, restaurant and galley and fitting out suites for champion drivers Lewis Hamilton (related story) and Jensen Button.

The Daily Echo has more on this business where fitting out took place at the Merseyside shipyard of Cammell Laird in Birkenhead. 

It has been announced that Foyleport had a record £10 million in turnover despite the uncertainty posed by Brexit.

The Derry harbour, reports The Irish News, recorded an operating profit of £1.9m during 2018/19, marking its seventh year of consecutive growth.

The record turnover followed the port's handling of record levels of animal feed and fertiliser.

It means that all three of the north's ports have reported growth in the past year.

In June, Warrenpoint Port said its turnover rose by 5.5 per cent to £6.1m during 2018.

Further reading on the story can be found here.