A WORCESTERSHIRE boat company is hoping to take £1m in orders at the Southampton Boat Show this week.

Walton Marine, which owns and operates Upton Marina at Upton-upon-Severn, will be exhibiting Prestige, Renaissance and Capriole boats at the show, which is one of the biggest in Europe.

"If we sell a dozen of the big boats we can certainly expect to hit £1m," said Upton Marina manager, Steve Arber.

"Most of the big boats are built to order so we're selling now for next year."

He said the income, however, had to "last the rest of the year".

"You see all your potential customers at the show and make your sales, which sees you through the next eight to 10-months," he said.

"We tend to plough profits back into development, so some would be used at Upton Marina," he added.

Walton Marine, which started in Walton-on-Thames, in Surrey, almost 30-years ago and still runs a marina there, bought Upton Marina in 1988.

The marina boasts a repair and maintenance area, a chandlery, a hire boat centre, a caf and a shop.

The family-owned and run company also runs marinas at Portishead, near Bristol, and at Norwich, on the Norfolk Broads.

Employee levels

Upton Marina employs a core of 20 full-time staff, from Upton-upon-Severn, Malvern and the south Worcester area, but employee levels fluctuate with the seasons.

Mr Arber, whose first job was running a chandlery and boat repair centre in Windsor, has managed Upton Marina for 12-years.

"I've always been in boats - I've never done anything else," said Mr Arber, who studied economics and philosophy at Sheffield University.

"I got the bug and that was it!"

He said the Southampton Boat Show, which runs until September 23, was one of the two "big" shows in Britain each year, along with the London International Boat Show at Earl's Court.

More than 800 boats will be on display at the world's biggest, purpose-built show marina at Southampton's Mayflower Park, including 300 boats that will be afloat.

This year, visitors will also be able to view the Bond boat collection, race in a Honda Formula 4-stroke powerboat and ride white water rapids in a canoe.