Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

Industrial engineer with over 10 years of experience in purchasing in the nautical and marine industry, gained in complex, multicultural European environments.

Throughout my career, I have managed all categories of materials and subcontractors related to motor and sailing luxury yachts, developing strong skills in negotiation, supplier management, and procurement process optimization.

I am currently working as a Purchasing Manager with responsibilities across multiple company sites.

Q2. How have inflation and geopolitical uncertainty impacted your supply chain and purchasing strategies recently?

They had a significant impact on our supply chain and purchasing strategies over the past few years. We've seen high volatility in raw material prices, longer lead times, and higher logistics costs, particularly for technical and specialized marine components.

For example, the higher cost of energy had a big impact on glasses, big composite parts, as well as the volatility of some raw materials indexes had an impact on stainless steel or electrical parts. Furthermore, the high inflation has contributed to increased costs related to labor-intensive components and subcontracting.

Q3. What market demand trends are seen from customers regarding eco-conscious yacht features, and how does that affect purchasing priorities?

Especially in sailing and the premium segment, I've seen a clear increase in market demand for eco-conscious, energy-efficient yacht features. This includes interest in hybrid propulsion systems, materials with certified supply chains (like wood), solar integration, recyclable materials, etc.

These trends have clearly influenced purchasing, and we are prioritizing suppliers who can demonstrate compliance with sustainability and environmental standards.

In addition to Purchasing, they are also directly influencing innovation partnership and R&D priorities.

Q4. What trends are you seeing in vendor partnerships or contract negotiations that affect purchasing decisions?

On purchasing conditions

• Longer lead times
• Request for clauses to align price variations to raw materials indexes

On vendor partnerships

• Request for long-term agreements

Q5. What are the biggest procurement challenges for sourcing eco-friendly and sustainable materials like recycled teak, bio-resins, or advanced composites?

In my opinion, at this stage, the biggest challenges in this sourcing are the maturity and availability of these solutions among marine suppliers. --> Supplier reliability and scalability are key factors.

Quite often, they are still produced in limited quantities or on demand, with long lead times and higher costs than traditional alternatives.

Traceability and certification are another challenge.

For purchasing, this requires stronger supplier partnerships and early involvement in the design process to identify alternative solutions and manage risks and costs.

Q6. Which materials are currently the most critical and challenging to procure for yacht production?

• FSC high-quality Teak
• High-end handcrafted components (stainless steel parts, titanium parts, furniture, etc.)
• Reliable complex kinematic systems (anchor arms, platform lifts, doors, gangways, etc.)
• Large grp parts (hulls, decks, etc.)

Q7. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

Considering that, with the exception of a few categories (powertrains, generators, bigger carbon masts, electronic systems), there are minor market entry barriers in this industry, my question to the senior management would be:

"How are you aligning your product strategy, supply chain, and investments (also in sustainability) to remain competitive (or to gain market shares) in a market where customer expectations and regulations are changing rapidly?"

In my opinion, the answer (1. product innovation, 2. supply chain robustness, 3. sustainability and compliance) will let us understand how much the management is connected with these priorities, and also a picture of the company's maturity and long-term value creation.