STAFF at Kip Marina are hailing a fantastic achievement after the facility was given the prestigious Five Gold Anchors Award.

The 600-berth marina in Inverkip was given the honour by The Yacht Harbour Association after six months of rigorous assessments.

Marina manager Ian Rodger, who has worked at the site for 14 years, says the staff were over the moon when they found out.

He said: “We’re chuffed to bits to get it and at our first time of trying as well, it couldn’t have gone any better.

“We had wanted to go for it for a long time so we started the ball rolling earlier this year and we found out this month.

“We had to go through a lot of assessments, check all the facilities and equipment we have on site to make sure we had everything in place to achieve five anchors”

“We like to think of ourselves as Scotland’s premier marina and the five Gold Anchors will hopefully showcase that to everyone.

“It’s a real team effort here at Kip Marina and the award shows just how hard everyone works here.”

Ian revealed the marina is bouncing back strongly after being impacted by the pandemic and travel restrictions.

He explained: “The last few years have been difficult, with boats not able to come in from abroad at the height of the pandemic.

“The boats have slowly been coming back and we are continuing to improve the marina as we are over 50 years old”

“We’re trying to make sure we keep on top of everything, so that we can keep saying we’re the best marina in Scotland.

“We continue to improve our services here, from new machinery to new pontoons, we never stop.”

Gavin McDonagh, the marina’s managing director, says the award is a great achievement for the site’s staff.

He said: “It is a huge feather in the cap of all the staff at Kip, and I am quite sure that readers who visit us regularly will join with me in congratulating them for all their hard work.

“We have always enjoyed a close working relationship with TYHA who work tirelessly for the industry.

“The assessor was very positive on what the staff here had achieved, praising them for their enthusiasm and keenness to improve, and providing valuable feedback on future improvements.

“Currently we have staff from all our marinas participating in various programmes to ensure our staff are professionally trained and kept up to date with modern marina practices enabling them to provide the best service they can to our customers.”

The marina is asking readers to vote for them in the prestigious Marina of the Year awards. These can be cast at www.tyha.co.uk/marina-awards