MEETING WITH MARTIN BERMAN OF GO EARTH LTD
18 APRIL 2025
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Ratty to Mole, Wind in the Willows 1908
I never know quite what to expect when one of my relatives starts talking business, except that it’ll be different! Our speaker for April is a third cousin (we think) who’s spent much of his life specialising in Information Management, and teaching IT, most recently at Warrington & Vale Royal College (“constantly rebranded” as he put it), as well as working as a Project Manager and consultant at Hitachi and other companies including Global Transformation Director at AstraZeneca. These days, he continues his interest in education as a governor of the College. In March 2024 he was also invited to become a member of the Bank of England Decision Makers’ Panel, set up in 2016 to monitor opinion from a wide range of business.
That’s quite a portfolio, but in “semi-retirement” he now runs a company that is obviously a personal passion and is “genuinely unique in the UK.” A scuba and boating enthusiast who has owned several boats in his time, Martin adds to that relevant IT skills, as he realised that buying a boat requires an enormous amount of searching websites and sales pitches from all over the world. He spotted a major gap in the market – many boat brokers and sellers are trying to sell us boats, but how do we know what’s good, especially when the product is second-hand or in another country? Nobody seemed to be looking after the buyer. And that’s when Martin set up Go Earth Ltd, with its own IT tool he called “BEST” = Boating Enterprise Search Tool. Of course.
Buying and owning a boat is a complex process, but it’s a popular and enduring pastime in the UK with over 7,000 miles of coastline, one of the longest in Europe, plus over 2,000 miles of canals. More than 3% of all UK households own a boat of some kind. “It doesn’t have to be expensive!” Martin assured us. A classic small speedboat suitable for, say, Windermere can be had for a modest amount. A larger coastal vessel, suitable for near coastal waters might cost £50,000 second-hand; that’s cheaper than my new EV and can entertain a whole family for years. Boats like that can cross the Channel and cruise in the sunny (or at least, sunnier) Mediterranean.
The typical popular boat, we learned, is called a “flybridge” – it has a flying bridge, giving an extra level over the cabin. That means lots more space (an extra deck), and a wonderful panoramic platform to view frolicking dolphins, seals or (depending how much gin you have drunk) mermaids. There’s one in the picture above. Martin’s company has particular expertise in negotiating the price of the boat downward, having saved many clients substantial sums. His most recent example is a boat priced at €350,000 – which he eventually negotiated don to €285,000, a saving of €65,000.
Or you can own a €100 million superyacht, with many levels of magnificence – or a sailing yacht – or a narrow boat on one of our canals. Additional costs have to be factored in, such as mooring fees and the many “toys” that can go with it – chart plotters, for example. He offered two pieces of sagacity: (1) Never, ever, buy a boat on impulse at a Boat Show, and (2) Never ever tell your partner how much you’ve spent…
In the UK the rules are relatively lax, especially compared with car ownership. No licenses are required except on canals. Insurance companies will demand a ICC – “International Certificate of Competence” – which requires two days on a boat; plenty of training schools are found throughout the northwest and north Wales. A superyacht may come with a fully qualified and experienced crew; Go Earth can recommend crewing requirements and obtain the crew for a client via specialist crewing agencies.
A sail boat is a far more technical matter and needs more qualifications, “but they are beautiful boats,” Martin said with a wistful sigh. But sailing yachts have their limitations: “Jeff Bezos has a three-masted yacht, but he can’t use the galley while sailing.” Hmmm. We asked about the Bayesian, the fabulous 56 metre yacht with a 72m mast owned by Mike Lynch which sank in a sudden storm off Sicily in August 2024. Was the design wrong..? “Probably,” Martin said, and indeed the recent accident report suggests that the yacht became unstable when it shouldn’t have been. However, such incidents are fortunately extremely rare – which of course is why they make the press.
How does he, as a small business, make contact with potential customers? He sponsors YouTube’s “The Yacht Report” with over 400,000 followers. That’s brought in three clients in the first three months – one alone would have paid for the sponsorship. His company is also a member of British Marine, the trade body with over 1,000 brokers and businesses including suppliers, chandlers and marinas, which runs Boat Shows. So now he gets invited to superyacht events. And since nobody else is doing what he does – finds boats, checks them out, says “Don’t” or “it’s OK”, even negotiates prices, he has become a trusted name.
Occasionally a newbie will ask daft questions, such as “Can I sail a canal barge across the Channel…?” but mostly potential clients are looking for advice and assistance, as buying a boat can turn out to be vastly more complex than buying a car. Martin puts it like this – think of a boat as cross between a car (with engine, steering) a house (with a cabin, galley, toilet) that floats in the water. Getting independent advice such as Go Earth offers is just sensible. If you purchase via a broker, then these are private sales and it’s “Buyer beware” (and pursuing claims through other jurisdictions is a nightmare). You’ll probably need a surveyor before you buy, and Go Earth can recommend one. Martin charges for search and for negotiation, and has a day rate if the client needs it. But it’s clear that he has taken to heart Mark Twain’s dictum: “Find what you love doing, then you’ll never work a day in your life.”
He finished by outlining his experiences with two clients (with AI pictures, of course). “John” was into cars, McLaren, Porsche – he spoke to Go Earth at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, unsure whether he was into sailing but with £10k to spare – “Find me a boat; if I like it, I’ll buy it.” They did, on a beautiful river marina, and John was hooked. He upgraded twice, to £30k then £50k, and eventually the last boat was sold at a modest profit. “Bill” was a more complex project; too busy to sail himself, his company wanted to buy a yacht as an investment and charter it out from a luxury European resort, with a budget up to £400k. Martin did the legwork, flying out to check port facilities in Greece, Italy and Croatia, chasing suitable purchases, negotiating down the asking price, arranging remediations and linking up with a charter management company. This is how buying a boat can actually be profitable. Nice work if you can get it, we all agreed!
It was a glimpse into a different world. And yet.. if you’re interested, and almost no matter what your budget, here’s the website: