By Carole Dennett
Today (Friday, August 22) marks exactly a year since the Hythe Ferry was “temporarily suspended” due to damage to the pontoon, with Red Funnel promising prompt repairs and a swift return to service.
Twelve months on, the ferry sits idle, and the issue has become a saga of delay, confusion and dwindling public confidence. Since it was bought by Red Funnel in September 2023, the ferry has been out of service longer than it has been running.
A crowdfunding appeal launched by Hythe Ferry subsidiary of the cross-Solent operator raised just 2 per cent of the £250,000 target for pontoon repairs, and became a public relations disaster after people started asking why a multi-million-pound company was holding out a begging bowl to the public. Red Funnel itself pledged no clear financial commitment. Williams Shipping then stepped in to carry out work free of charge, a goodwill gesture that only highlighted the absence of the much-needed investment by the company’s owners.
Increasingly frustrated, Hythe & Dibden Parish Council asked whether the ferry would return to service by the end of August.
On July 17, Red Funnel’s CEO Fran Collins responded, outlining a three-phase plan, with phase 1, “lifting the walkway and securing the beam” already completed. Phase 2 would involve installing a temporary platform, which could not be used until Phase 3 was completed, which involved repairing the pontoon beneath it, to be carried out by a “local contractor.”
Yet this week, Hythe Ferry posted a website update claiming Phase 2 was “completed.” Strangely, they did not post the update on their Facebook page, where it might have caused embarrassment.
Ms Collins also said the “ambition to have the service operational by the end of summer” – a deadline which now looks very likely to be missed.
Meanwhile, the company has not filed its 2023 accounts, now 11 months late. For such a small subsidiary, such a delay is extraordinary. It begs the question: “What is being hidden?” The company used the controversial “one-day diddle” twice to extend the accounts by five months later, and five months later again.
For the residents and businesses, the loss of their ferry has meant longer commutes, lost tourism, and economic damage. With no clarity on whether Phase 3 has begun, no named contractor, and no confirmed return date for the ferry, that looks set to continue.
It may be hard to see what relevance this all has to the Isle of Wight, but as previously reported, Red Funnel’s own financial situation is dire. Its 2023 accounts showed £196 million in losses, £306 million in debt and auditors warning of “material uncertainty” over its future. Several potential buyers are known to have walked away, and its current suitor refuses even to talk to the Island’s elected representatives (see page 3). A critical end of September deadline now looms, when banks warned they may demand repayment of their loans in full – something Red Funnel has admitted publicly that it would be unable to do.
On this first anniversary of the Hythe Ferry suspension, Red Funnel owes the public some straight answers to serious questions. Is the company solvent? Can it safeguard the Island’s lifeline transport system? And what happens if no investment appears by September 30? The time for vague promises, failed commitments and accounting tricks is over. Yet Fran Collins and Red Funnel’s chairman, Stephen Ridgway, did not respond to questions put to them this week.
Almost 164 years after it was founded in September 1861, the company that once styled itself as the lifeline of the Solent now risks running aground on a tide of debt, delay, and distrust. Does its refusal, or inability to fund even modest repairs precede impending disaster. Without urgent answers and real investment, there are fears that Red Funnel may not survive to see its 165th year.