Marina: Falmouth Outside

After 23 and a half years, John Osmond, the General Manager at Falmouth Marina has retired. John started with Port Solent Limited on 18 April 1988 as a dockmaster at Port Solent Marina and he worked his way up through the ranks to become Assistant Marina Manager.

In May 2000 John was promoted to General Manager at Falmouth Marina where he has worked for the past 11 years. John's contribution towards the overall success of Port Solent was enormous and he played a huge part in taking the marina then in its infancy to being arguably the finest marina on the south coast.

When John arrived in Falmouth his enthusiasm did not wane and he battled for 11 years to obtain all the necessary consents, approvals and devising methodology to expand the marina by 23 berths and to dredge the outer basin. The total works finished just prior to John retiring and the project cost in excess of £2 million.

John now hands over the reins of running Falmouth Marina to Mark Evans. Brought up in his family's hotel in Falmouth, Mark Evans started at the marina as a seasonal member of staff in the summer of 1990.

At the end of that summer Mark decided not to go back to University to finish his geography degree but instead continued to work at Falmouth marina for further 12 months. He then made the decision to study Marine Leisure Management at Southampton institute.

In April 1995, Mark Evans was offered a job back at Falmouth by the previous marina owner - starting as a berthing master and then making the transition to a more office-based role.

When Premier Marinas acquired Falmouth in December 1997, Mark continued to work as a general all rounder - covering the office, pontoons and boatyard. In 2000, a few months before John Osmond became General Manager of the marina, Mark was promoted to Assistant Marina Manager and he worked alongside John until John's retirement.

Mark has completed the British Marine Federation's International Maritime Institute and Advanced Marina Management Course.

Mark loves everything to do with the water, especially the beautiful Cornish waters and coastline. But his real passion is for waterskiing and Berth Holders often see Mark coming back from early morning and late evening waterski trips. Off the water, Mark likes to play squash at his local club and snow ski too!

Premier Marinas would like to wish John all the best in his retirement and congratulations to new Marina Manager, Mark Evans.