Poole-based Anchoright wins national Maritime UK Start Up of the Year 2025 Award
by Anchoright 30 Jun 17:31 BST
Anchoright winning Startup of the Year © Anchoright
A company created as a result of an avid boater's concerns for safety and the environment has won Start Up of the Year in the national Maritime UK 2025 Awards.
Over 300 companies from all over the UK attended Maritime UK's national awards in Dover on Thursday 26 June where Poole-based Anchoright was announced as 2025 Start Up of the Year winner.
Anchoright was set up in 2023 by Quinton Watts, who quit his corporate job in cybersecurity to develop a safety product that would help boaters safely and ecologically mark their anchor chains. The system works on any size of boat from small vessels to superyachts.
The Anchoright system is manufactured in the UK and comprises eco-friendly colour coded markers, which can be quickly and easily installed into anchor chain, and a reference plate to place by the windlass. This enables those letting out anchors to know what length of anchor chain has been deployed - essential to ensure the craft is safely moored when at anchor.
Quinton says the idea came to him when preparing his boat for the up-coming season whilst thinking about the best method of marking his anchor chain. "Depending on the depth of water, the type of seabed, and the weather conditions, it's imperative that boaters know how much chain is let out when you drop the anchor. Until now, people usually use paint or cable ties, but these are temporary, come off in the sea and typically requires replacing every season. I decided there must be a long-lasting eco-friendly solution, and developed the Anchoright system which provides sturdy, colour-coded markers which can be quickly and easily screwed into any size of anchor chain, enabling anyone on board to easily see the length of chain as it goes overboard."
Asking sailing friends and colleagues for help, Quinton got the Anchoright system tested on yachts of varying types and sizes in the UK, Caribbean and even the Arctic. Taking on board customer feedback and reviews, the product was further enhanced introducing custom-made systems suitable for the needs of very large yachts, as well as easy-to-purchase online packs and colour-customised sets. Feedback included the fact the Anchoright system saves professional crew on board large yachts a lot of time previously spent painting chains, is a long-lasting fit and forget product, and is also environmentally-friendly.
Once the website was set up to enable online purchasing and with product patents applied for, Quinton then realised that in order to grow, he would need to look at expanding into international markets. "Being completely fresh into the marine industry, I really didn't know how to make the next step to develop and grow the company," he admits. By joining the UK's marine trade body, British Marine, Quinton was introduced to "business angel" Barrow International.
With over 40 years of expertise helping companies expand into international markets, David Barrow worked with Quinton firstly to undertake market research to establish the potential demand for the product and in which key countries. "Once we knew Anchoright was perceived as a unique product and there was a real demand for it, we set about finding the right distributors for Anchoright in countries including France, Germany, and Scandinavia. Within 12 months we had 13 distributors selling Anchoright internationally," says Barrow.
International demand also led to Quinton having to move into larger premises, outsource much of the manufacturing, with investment also in injection moulding tools and additional manufacturing equipment.
"Finding a business mentor like David Barrow has been a game changer for me," says Quinton. "We discuss overall business strategy, financial planning, sales initiatives and product development, and his input and advice has enabled me to grow effectively and quickly, using well-established and respected distributors globally, which was key to winning Maritime UK's national Start Up of the Year award."
Barrow though says winning the Start Up of the Year award is a result of Quinton's forward-thinking and customer-orientated approach. "Quinton is extremely clever. He developed this product and then took the idea through to fruition through being well-organised and focussing on getting the details right and being customer and service-focussed. He thoroughly deserved to win this award."