Pictured above: GMBA chairman David Lewin with Suzanne Blaustone, CEO of Barton Marine.

Global Marine Business Advisors (GMBA) has won the 2021-2022 David Coleman Excellence in Exporting Award, which was presented at the UK Marine Trades Association Awards dinner in Southampton, England, this week.

GMBA is a network of independent marine industry advisors, spanning 19 countries worldwide, including Singapore, UK, Australia, Italy, Dubai, Turkey, Germany, USA and China. The group, which recently appointed Godfrey Zwygart as its representative in China, continues to expand its portfolio of clients and advisors and is becoming a valuable resource for the marine industry.

British Marine is the largest leisure marine association for the UK leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry, boating over 1,500 members. Due to Covid, this was the first time the normally annual MTA Awards dinner has been held for two years. 

Receiving the award on behalf of GMBA was chairman David Lewin. “GMBA has created a unique group of some of the world’s most experienced marine professionals located in most of the developed boating countries around the globe, ready and able to help any company or organisation increase their business through enhanced foreign trade,” said Lewin upon collecting the award.

“It’s always nice to be recognised by one’s peers but I’m thrilled that the award went to a group of people who together have invested over 500 years in the leisure marine industry and have now come together to help others develop their global strategies. We’ve all known of each other during our careers, and now by forming GMBA we are able to invest our knowledge in international trade as well as local market intelligence.”

GMBA says the combined experience and expertise that its consultants have, and the extensive networks GMBA has access to, are assisting marine businesses across the globe to drive growth and success in this current environment.

In the past two years, the network has grown considerably and has placed particular focus on working with businesses who wish to expand their export markets. Currently, there is a strong emphasis from businesses wanting help with securing supply chains, developing award applications and support with environmental and sustainability issues.