Richard is an experienced sales and marketing manager with a maritime background that spans more than 25 years. He became a partner at Burgess in 2023.

Richard’s introduction to the nautical world came through working in a chandlery in his youth. He later embarked on a yacht design course, but side stepped to become a trainee yacht broker selling small production boats on London’s River Thames. A move to the British Marine Federation as export development manager saw him forging relationships with companies looking to grow their export market, after which he settled into a 16-year career at Time Inc. (UK) Ltd as head of marketing for the company’s diverse marine publishing portfolio.

In 2016, Richard joined Burgess as brokerage sales and marketing manager and is responsible for the marketing activities across the global brokerage team. His all-encompassing cross-departmental role includes monitoring and tracking of the company’s revenue, marketing Burgess’ CA sales fleet, managing the entire support team and liaising with charter and charter management.
 
‘There’s always been an element of yacht marketing in every role that I've had,’ he says. ‘I’ve been to virtually every boat show in the world, many times over, so I always have my finger on the pulse of consumer trends, market developments, and new shipyard models, etc.’

His broad reach of knowledge extends to the global marine market, underpinned by his forte in building client relationships and strengthening team bonds. He formed part of the team that implemented the development of Burgess’ digital marketing strategy, including enrolling his 120-strong team on social media courses, driving online video content and initiating the use and development of 360 virtual yacht tours and conference calls, which came into their own during the global pandemic.

Richard is intrinsically involved in the company’s future working task force and is a founding member of Burgess’ Blue Oceans, which works to create a more sustainable superyacht industry. He is also an active committee member of Superyacht UK.