Paul Adamson spent 25 years sailing yachts around the world, having taught himself business by running a sailing school during the Celtic Tiger.
Then Oyster Yachts, the luxury yacht manufacturer, collapsed into administration. Paul was brought in to help buy it back and rebuild.
When they walked in, there were 10 people left from 600. The order book was zero. Half-finished boats sat in the yard, the brand fully radioactive.
Four years later: 700 employees, an order book north of £150 million, and build slots filled four years in advance.
When I sat down with Paul for the latest episode, he told me stories about sailing around the world with Eddie Jordan, during which he pitched the next Oyster World Rally.
On one webinar alone, they sold 14 new builds. Boats starting at £2 million. Sold on Zoom.
The decision behind the Oyster turnaround
Paul says the rebuild centred on earning trust after administration. Buyers needed confidence in the yachts, in the people selling them and in the leaders behind the brand. His team listened, delivered on promises and rebuilt confidence one deal at a time. The world rally and the webinar were ways to reconnect with customers, but the work was proving Oyster could deliver. Paul sets out that approach in his own account.
Then, two weeks after stepping down, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
We talked about what that diagnosis forced him to confront & how he managed his emotional state through treatment, amongst many other things.
One thing he said that really stuck with me: great leaders are like lighthouses.
They get battered by storms, but they stand still and keep shining. That’s the job.
After the diagnosis, Paul describes applying the same discipline to his own response: managing where he put his focus, how he spoke to himself and whether he kept moving. His lighthouse image is about giving a team a steady point of reference while decisions remain hard and information is incomplete.