
Kim Hollamby
After initially starting his career in project freight forwarding aged 18, Kim Hollamby soon switched to the marine industry by joining a motor boating magazine, inspired by his family’s connections to boating. His next career step was to become part of the start-up team for a new title called Motor Boats Monthly. He became its editor three years later, a role he held for 11 years.
Kim was invited to take on Group Editorship for the globally renowned business to business publication International Boat Industry and publisher for the marine portal ybw.com before serving as digital director for IPC/Time Warner in the UK. There he became responsible for the development of more than 70 websites for the company’s brands including Yachting World, Practical Boat Owner and Motor Boat & Yachting.
After a few years working away as a company director in the education and information technology sectors, Kim returned to his first passion. Today his partnership business serves in several capacities for small and large marine companies around the world, including people and business development, marketing, communications and events. Kim spearheaded several initiatives to encourage participation in boating for his national marine trade association and currently serves on the committee of the British Marine Trades Association.
As keen boating participants, Kim and his wife have owned everything from small sailing dinghies and kayaks to 14m motor yachts, including two Dutch built steel motor cruisers. In 1999 Kim undertook a 4500-mile circumnavigation of the UK with diversions to the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Ireland, calling in 147 harbours over six months.
Kim’s relationship with Metstrade dates to the turn of the Century. He collaborates with the show team on several initiatives including the world-renowned DAME Design Awards and IBI Metstrade Boat Builder Awards for Business Achievement. He blogs regularly on the Metstrade portal, plays an active role in the development of Metstrade’s Young Professionals Club and leads the tour programme.