Poole-based watersports and outdoor education business Rockley has been named British Marine Business of the Year 2026 during its 50th anniversary year. Founded on the shores of Poole Harbour in 1976, Rockley has grown from a small family sailing business into a nationally recognised organisation offering watersports, outdoor education, RYA training and marine career pathways.
30th September 2026
One of Poole’s best-known watersports businesses has been given a major national accolade in the year it celebrates half a century on the water.
Rockley has been named British Marine Business of the Year 2026, becoming the first company to receive the national title at the inaugural British Marine National Awards.
The award was presented during the British Marine Trades Association annual dinner at voco Southampton on 21 September, bringing together businesses and professionals from across the UK marine industry.
For a business whose story began on the shores of Poole Harbour, the timing makes the achievement particularly special.
Rockley began in 1976 as a small family-run sailing business in Poole Harbour, operating with a caravan on the beach and just a handful of boats.
Fifty years later, it has developed into a much broader outdoor education and watersports organisation, operating several centres in the UK and delivering watersports courses, RYA training, school and group experiences and further education through Rockley College.
British Marine said Rockley was recognised for its50 years of resilient, values-led growth, its commitment to making watersports accessible to people of different ages and its contribution to developing skills and career pathways into the marine industry.
It is a particularly fitting accolade for a Poole business whose influence now extends well beyond Dorset.
Rockley owner Peter Gordon said the award recognised not only the company's achievements during 2026 but everything it had accomplished during its first 50 years.
He also highlighted the extraordinary number of people working throughout the UK marine industry who have, at some stage, worked for Rockley, learned to sail with the organisation or completed instructor training there.
At the heart of Rockley remains a relatively simple idea: encouraging more people to experience life on and around the water.
Over the decades that has developed from sailing tuition into outdoor education, residential programmes, vocational qualifications and routes into careers within the marine and outdoor sectors.
The organisation works with schools, families, young people, groups and aspiring instructors, while its senior team has also been involved with industry and advisory bodies working to support participation and development within watersports and outdoor education.
Managing Director Pip Woods described receiving the award during Rockley’s anniversary year as an “incredibly proud moment”, crediting the vision, passion and work of teams past and present for what the business has become.
The significance of the award becomes clearer when looking at how the winner was selected.
British Marine launched its new awards programme in November 2025 across its 11 member associations. Businesses competed in three categories, including Business of the Year, with association members initially selecting sector winners.
Thirty-three sector winners subsequently progressed to the national judging stage, where an independent panel selected the overall recipients.
Rockley ultimately took the national Business of the Year title.
It follows another success earlier in 2026 when Rockley was named Business of the Year at the inaugural Access to Boating Sector Awards, recognising its work to widen participation in boating and encourage young people to explore opportunities within the marine sector.
The national award is the latest milestone in what has already been a significant anniversary year.
Rockley marked its 50th anniversary with a gala at Lighthouse Poole in July, bringing together former and current staff, instructors, alumni, partners, friends and family.
The celebration also raised £14,000 for Julia’s House Children’s Hospice, a charity Rockley has supported for more than 12 years.
And despite reaching the half-century mark, the business isn't standing still.
Rockley says it intends to continue developing new opportunities while retaining the principle that has shaped the organisation since its earliest days: sharing a passion for water and the outdoors and creating experiences capable of changing people's lives.
For a business that started with a few boats and a caravan beside Poole Harbour in 1976, being named the UK marine industry's Business of the Year exactly 50 years later makes for a rather fitting anniversary present.
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