Cathy Ash-Vie

Andy Ash-Vie

Andy Ash-Vie sarted work for Harken in 1993 when it was based in Scotland under Peter Fairley's auspices and got sold along with fixtures and fittings to Simpson Lawrence. In 1999 Simpson Lawrence's parent company Clyde Marine decided to resturcture its entire marine distribution in the UK.

At this point, Andy dug in his heels and said 'enough is enough', Harken should stand on its own. He and his wife, Cathy, dragged Olaf and Peter Harken to the UK to persuade them this was a good idea and began the hectic process of setting up a dedicated Harken company. Initially they ran the business out of their front room!

Harken UK very soon got too big—with boxes all over the house, garage, and garden—and Andy and Cathy decided to moved out to premises in the Berthon boatyard in Lymington. Expanding rapidly, the team started building up; bringing in technical expertise and keen, motivated sailors turned salesmen.

By 2001 the team and the warehouse were bulging at the seams and a plan had to be made to move to larger premises where there was room to swing a winch handle! We moved into our new building in the spring of 2004. It is 6,200 sq. ft. with planning permission to more than double its size!

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