A1 Group To Join BWA Yachting Network

By George Bains

An agreement has been reached for Greek yacht agency A1 to join the BWA yachting network in 2022. The development has been described as “one of the friendliest acquisitions this century,” with BWA Yachting and A1 Group signing a memorandum of understanding for the A1 yacht agency, its technical and provisioning networks throughout Greece to be integrated under the BWA Yachting banner by year-end.

For a business driven by efficiency and evolution, the integration of A1 agency with BWA Yachting was an inevitable move. With confidence high, the BWA Yachting management team set ambitious targets during the 2019 season, and delivered a record year even in the face of Covid-19 restrictions.

A1 has for some time been increasingly involved in new and exciting projects, concerning primarily infrastructure in Greece. With the increasing demands of these new ventures as well as the other services A1 Group offers, it was necessary to change the direction of the company to ensure that all departments were able to continue to flourish.

Continuity will be key in the transition, with much remaining stable and essentially the same. BWA has ensure that all clients will continue to be the focus of their efforts. The 2021 season will be an interim season, and 2022 will see a fully integrated Greek presence in the BWA Yachting panoply. A1 and BWA will work to ensure that they both continue to offer ever-improving services to their clients.

“Time will be our judge,” said BWA Yachting CEO Paschalis Patsiokas. “For while some countries are drawing their borders in, we are attempting to broaden our horizons, improve our service to our clients and make international yachting a more logical operation with smoother transition of yachts from country to country.

“By bringing the beautiful cruising grounds of Greece under our BWA Yachting banner we can further this ambition, integrating our services will benefit our customers and our supply chain and is key to our development in the future.

This next step hasn’t been taken lightly, but has been made possible by involving the passionate integrated team with the common goal of exceeding the expectations of our clients and customers, something that I am very proud of.”

BWA Yachting and the A1 Group have long enjoyed a strong relationship, working together as affiliates and sharing knowledge between them, so this is more a natural progression than a dictated move. In fact, BWA Yachting may not have existed at all had it not been for then A1 Yacht Trade Consortium being one of the co-founders and major shareholders.

A1 Group’s Makis Pavlatos remarks, “having created what was at the time a first-of-its-kind agency in Greece, but always looking for ways to offer service to our customers cruising further afield, the concept of BWA Yachting was a vehicle to grow the agency more internationally. It is very gratifying today to see BWA and A1 combine in this way, bringing things full circle.”

"It is very gratifying today to see BWA and A1 combine in this way, bringing things full circle"

Makis Pavlatos, A1 Group

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"It is very gratifying today to see BWA and A1 combine in this way, bringing things full circle"

Makis Pavlatos, A1 Group
By George Bains