Dorset Chamber spoke to the chairman of the Sandbanks Ferry, Mike Kean, about the history and significance of The SandBanks Ferry and and the upcoming public consultation.
Q.1. Tell us a bit about your family business and its history with The Sandbanks Ferry.
My family owns The Fairacres Group – a parent business that owns The Bournemouth-Swanage Motor Road & Ferry Company, also known as The Sandbanks Ferry. The Fairacres Group has been in the Kean family for three generations, and my father and great-grandmother started the business in the 1940s. Their first business was a small confectionery company on the Widford Industrial Estate in Chelmsford.
Between 1940 and 1980, my dad was involved in various activities. A particularly notable achievement was the launch of the Silver Star Shipping Line, which operated vessels between the UK and South Atlantic until the time of the Falklands conflict.
I joined the business working for the Bournemouth-Swanage Motor Road & Ferry Company in 1988, which was 5 years after the family bought it. 6 years later, we brought the current ferry, ‘Bramble Bush Bay’ into service. It’s been incredible to see this work horse evolve through the decades, and at 30 years old last year, it’s still performing at an exceptional level with a mechanical uptime of over 99%.
We’ve made several other improvements to The Sandbanks Ferry since acquiring the company. For example, we’ve completely rebuilt both slipways, constructed new toll booths at Shell Bay, and introduced a computerised toll system. Not to mention the new office building, stores, and garage.
I’m proud to have inspired my daughter, Rosie, to join the business in 2020. With her support, we’re working to futureproof our company’s assets for the next generation of customers and staff.
Q.2. What challenges are you facing with the ferry?
Our current vessel, ‘Bramble Bush Bay’, will reach its 40th anniversary in 2034. It’s done us proud for so long, but we need to replace it to ensure our service continues operating safely and reliably beyond then for many decades.
We have a Ferry Replacement Reserve to fund the next vessel – a diesel-electric model – and it has nearly £5 million in the pot so far. To buy a new ferry in the early 2030s, we need an estimated total of £18 million. This figure takes into account future predicted inflationary costs for materials and manufacturing.
As all business leaders know, costs have skyrocketed over the past 5 years. Alongside day to day running and operational expenditure, the increasing cost of periodic maintenance and refits have hit us hard over the recent years. As a result, we haven’t been able to contribute as much to the Ferry Replacement Reserve as we’d have hoped. In light of this, and our mission to build up the Ferry Replacement Reserve, The Sandbanks Ferry shareholders haven’t received a dividend since the 2018 financial year.
Q.3. There was a Public Inquiry in 2021, in which it was approved for the Ferry Co to increase its tolls by 3% annually for 10 years. What has changed?
There have been various unforeseen circumstances since the 2021 Public Inquiry, meaning we’ve had to rethink our financial considerations for the future.
As mentioned, costs for essential maintenance and refits have been substantial due to inflation. To put this into context, running costs have increased by an average of 6.8% between 2018 and 2024. This increase is notably higher than Consumer Price Index (CPI) average increases of 3.78% over the same period.
Like many other businesses, we’re also having to front increases in statutory costs, including Corporation Tax, Employer’s National Insurance contributions, and National Living Wage.
In addition, we were impacted by two consecutive years of particularly poor weather conditions in July and August 2022 and 2023. As a result, we saw a significant drop in profitability.
Q.4. What are you proposing to do in your new toll application?
The new application is essential to help us secure the future of The Sandbanks Ferry service. There are three strands to our application.
Firstly, we are proposing to reintroduce the charge for the use of Ferry Road from 1st April 2025, for vehicular use beyond 30 minutes in duration.
For further clarity, this toll will apply to the 2¼ mile road from the roundabout at Shell Bay to the junction of Ferry Road and Hardys Road. It will be a £6.26 charge (in line with the cash toll charge for a car) per vehicle for periods of up to 24 hours. The existing toll booths will not move, and no new toll booths will be built.
The charge will not apply to pedestrians and cyclists using the road, vehicles that pay to use the ferry on the same day, or vehicular traffic using the road to access other businesses or car parks, including National Trust car parks.
Secondly, we are proposing to increase ferry use tolls from 1st April 2025 in line with RPI inflation since they were last increased, followed by annual CPI inflation movements every year.
Thirdly, we have applied to gradually reduce our bulk ticket vehicle discount rates by 4% over the next four years. Conversely, over the same period pedestrian and bike bulk ticket discount rates will be increasing by approximately double.
Details of the proposed pricing and discount changes can be found on our website.
Q.5. Why are these proposals necessary?
These proposals are critical to help us cover unavoidable increased running and maintenance costs for the ferry, and allow us to deliver an essential replacement diesel-electric ferry in 2024.
The funds will also allow us to provide investors a minimum return on investment – less than 2% on average over the next 15 years, so that they can continue supporting the business. Also, if our latest proposals are approved, the first dividend is unlikely to be paid until 2031.
Q.6. Does the road toll mean local residents will be charged for travelling around their own parish?
No – we will put restrictions in place, as mentioned, to ensure no one is charged the road toll for trips under 30 minutes, visits to National Trust car parks or other businesses, nor if paying to use the ferry that day.
We have also taken on board feedback from our community about the road toll, following valuable one-to-one stakeholder meetings and a Community Event we hosted in December. As a result of this feedback, we have decided to offer an additional concession to local residents regarding the Road Only Toll.
Should the reintroduction of the Road Toll be approved, those with vehicles registered to a BH19 postcode will be offered free and unlimited use of Ferry Road after paying a small admin fee each year. This concession for BH19 residents is in addition to the existing proposals.
Q.7. As we know, the Public Inquiry to determine your proposals is taking place at the Poole Harbour Commissioners North Terminal at 10am on Tuesday 21st January 2025 and running for six days. Why did you choose a Poole-based venue for the Public Inquiry, rather than somewhere in the Isle of Purbeck?
The Public Inquiry date, originally set for 10th December 2024, was postponed by order of the Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport. We were notified about the postponement in November 2024 and had to find an alternative venue within a limited timeframe. This venue had to comply with extensive criteria set out by the government, which applies to all Public Inquiries.
After a substantial venue search across Poole, Bournemouth and the Isle of Purbeck, we decided that the Poole Harbour Commissioners North Terminal was the only suitable and available venue.
One of the key reasons for choosing the venue was its size. Our application has 633 objections, and with the inspector, legal teams, and any attendees who haven’t raised an objection in attendance, the Public Inquiry requires a venue with a capacity to comfortably seat more than 350. Poole Harbour Commissioners Terminal North Lounge has seating for 372.
As an additional option, we are hosting an evening session on Wednesday 22nd January 2025 at 6:30pm in the Springfield Country Hotel in Wareham. Each day of the Public Inquiry and evening session will also be live streamed via YouTube and made available for subsequent viewing.
It’s important to us that those members of our community who want to attend the Public Inquiry sessions held in Poole have ease of access. Therefore, we’ve arranged some transport options.
For each day of the Inquiry, we’re providing free, one-way (Sandbanks to Shell Bay) ferry car travel, for anyone who has attended the Inquiry that day and hands their car parking receipt to our toll collector for the Poole Harbour Commissioners car park.
On Tuesday 28th January 2025, we’re also running a bus from Swanage (via Studland) to the Inquiry and back free of charge. On this date, objectors who’ve registered to speak at the Public Inquiry can do so in a dedicated session, according to the Planning Inspectorate. More details on these transport options can be found on our website.
Q.8. How are you engaging with your community with regards to your proposals?
Our community is hugely important to us. We appreciate that every decision we make impacts all our valued stakeholders, including those who use the ferry, work for our ferry company, and live locally to our business.
We want to build a rapport and work more collaboratively with our community to create a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship.
Over the past couple of months, we’ve been meeting one-to-one with various stakeholders including government officials, councillors, and local businesses. We also hosted an open house Community Event in December, where members of our community could come and speak to us about our proposals. We were grateful to have more than 70 attendees meet us, ask questions, and challenge us in a fair and measured way about our proposals.
Our engagement efforts will continue beyond the Public Inquiry, and we’re committed to developing a long-term, collaborative relationship with our community. We’re looking forward to working together to ensure the ferry service continues operating as a critical transport link for south Dorset.
Q.9. What does the future hold for The Sandbanks Ferry?
Having owned The Sandbanks Ferry for the 40 years, the Kean family has seen the business through many challenges and remains committed to its long-term continuance.
I’m excited to bring the ferry into a new chapter and embrace the next generation. It will be a big moment as we bid a fond farewell to ‘Bramble Bush Bay’ and welcome a new vessel in 10 years’ time. It will also be invigorating to see my daughter, Rosie grow into her role and help us drive the business into a successful future.
https://www.sandbanksferry.co.uk/