THE new boss of luxury boatbuilder Sunseeker has spoken of “tremendous opportunities” for the “world-renowned brand” to grow.

As reported on Saturday, Phil Popham has been named the company’s new chief executive after a 25-year career with Jaguar Land Rover.

Sunseeker announced recently that it intended to make around 300 staff redundant in Poole.

The company, which employs around 2,500 people in the town, said it was streamlining ‘non-core’ activities and investing in bringing new models to market more quickly.

A 45-day consultation over the proposed redundancies was announced at the end of October.

Phil Popham has worked at Jaguar Land Rover for most of his career, recently as group marketing director.

He has also been group sales director and managing director of Land Rover, as well as working for the company in North America and South Africa.

Sunseeker said he had presided over a period of rapid growth and success for the Jaguar Land Rover brands.

Mr Popham said in a statement: “I am delighted to be joining Sunseeker, a famous British luxury brand that I have always admired.

“It is an incredibly exciting opportunity to lead a company that produces the world’s best luxury performance motor yachts.

“Tremendous opportunities exist to grow this industry-leading, world-renowned brand and I look forward to working with the Sunseeker team to do exactly that.”

Sunseeker had been without a chief executive since Stewart McIntyre announced his resignation in July after five years with the business.

He had led the business through a change in ownership, with the Chinese-based Wanda Group acquiring almost 92 per cent of the company’s shares last year.

Founder Robert Braithwaite took up the reins as acting president, working alongside Sunseeker’s executive team and Wanda Group’s post-merger integration team.

Robert Braithwaite said Mr Popham’s experience made him “the perfect choice to continue developing world-class, innovative and dynamic yachts”.