Our Heritage

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A Heritage of Innovation

Premier Ship models began producing highly detailed models back in 2001 with a small but dedicated team and a simple website. Much of our business was acquired through boat shows across the UK, but we soon realised the importance of having an online presence in order to attract more national and international customers.

Investing in our digital real estate

Over the past two decades we have invested heavily in our digital real estate through several specialised websites. With an increase in orders and increasingly diverse requests, we bought out the workshop we initially partnered with. This gave us greater control over the building process.

Harnessing technology for continued growth

As we move into our third decade, Premier Ship Models intend to embrace technology in every aspect of our operations, including supply chain, design, manufacturing, marketing and logistics.

What’s more, we will continue to invest in our staff, broadening the skillsets we need to go on producing the world’s finest model ships.

Innovation has forever been at the forefront of our philosophy and we strive to develop our internal skill set, supply chain and access to technology in order to fulfil client expectations.

3D printing has evolved into a pivotal tool for Premier Ship Models. It is an incredibly complex profession. It requires you to understand three main things:

The material
The printer
The methodology of the piece and your desired end result

The entire process is extremely specialist. Our 3D-modeller focuses on two skillsets when constructing models: creating the model in a digital manner and readying it for printing, and the separate skillset to take the parts from the printer and get them to a professionally high-standard.

Company Milestones

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2011

2012

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Established

Premier Ship Models is established following our partnership with a workshop and with the goal to provide handcrafted models to the local market in the UK

The First Show

We exhibit at our first ever show (IFOS) and launch our first website. Our first corporate delivery to the USA ends in an international flight to New York followed by a train and taxi journey to the client

Yacht Shows

Following our first online sale, we exhibit at two renown Yacht Shows in the UK (Southampton and London)

Bespoke Models

Having previously only completed models of well known vessels, we build our first ever custom models for BT and the BBC. Custom Models would later go on to become our specialty

First Museum Project

We successfully deliver six museum quality models for the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and employ our first full time staff member in the UK.

International Shows

In order to develop our international reach, we agreed to exhibit at the Dubai Yacht Show and Abu Dhabi Interior Design Show

New Products

As we continue to grow and get more requests from customers, we decide to introduce a range of model kits on our website for customers to build themselves. Alongside this, we complete our second project with BBC

Greater Diversity

We continue to take on more challenging projects including our first shipyard order, an order from Taiwan Museum and our biggest model to date (3.8 metres)

Largest Ship in a Bottle

In partnership with the Mayor of London, we are appointed to build the world’s largest ship in a bottle (HMS Victory), which originally stood on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square and is now moored at the Greenwich Maritime Museum

International Websites

Following our success in our domestic market, we launch an international website for our US customers and later in Australia and France

Financial Investment

Following financial backing from an international investor, we open our first physical shop in London

Danish Maritime Museum

We complete one of our most interesting projects to date following the delivery of two 4-metre tankers, which were later presented to the Queen of Denmark at the launch of the museum

Bone Model

We complete the first restoration of a Bone Model, a difficult material to work with, for a museum in the UK

Introducing 3D Printing

Succesfull completion of one of our most complicated projects to date after we finish a 3D Printed model of the Glen Lyon FPSO for BP’s Head Offices in London and Aberdeen

More Museum Contracts

As the business grows and our manufacturing capability increases, we secure two new contracts with museums in Estonia and Australia

New Workshop

Following a partnership of 17 years, we decide to buy out our main workshop in order to have more control of our processes and a achieve an even better quality in our models

Awards Season

We continue to grow our international presence and earn a nomination for a UK Business Award. We took on several complicated projects including a feature wall for a new cruise ship, which involved a great deal of sourcing, manufacturing and design in order to deliver

Investment in Technology

To achieve a better level of accuracy and increase our capacity, we invest in new machinery including CNC and laser technology. This new technology helps us to deliver projects for museums in Australia, Singapore, Qatar and Dubai

Concept Builds

We win our largest ever contract for a museum in Oman. We are also asked to build our first ever model of a boat that doesn’t actually exist – completing a concept build of a superyacht

Lloyds Business Award

Following a great deal of work over the past 3 years, we are awarded with a nomination as a finalist for the Lloyds Business Awards in the category of Exporter of the Year. At this point in 2020, 80% of our turnover now comes from Exports.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise

After a fantastic 2021, Premier Ship Models are presented with the Queen’s Award. It is a fantastic way to celebrate the company’s success, as it truly recognises Premiership Models contribution to UK and International Enterprise.

Across the Ages Museum

2021 goes down as an incredibly productive year for Premier Ship Models. We successfully close the most impressive deal in the history of our company, a six-figure contract for the brand-new Omani museum, ‘Across the Ages,’ and it’s due to be delivered in March 2022.

Where we've delivered to

The map below is an interactive representation of where we have currently delivered to as of mid-2020. The countries in blue are where we have delivered (85 countries total).

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