Harmony ii luxury mega-yacht is docklands conference venue

By Tom Derbyshire on February 27, 2008 3:21 PM |

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BOATS are the new buses – you wait for ages then two come along at once. Last week Rum Jungle arrived at South Quay and now it has a new neighbour: Harmony II.

The luxury mega-yacht,, a labour of love by two furniture magnates, is the latest venue to hit the Wharf.
It can accommodate 150 people for parties or conferences, sailed in last week and its owners are hoping it has found a permanent home in Docklands.

Marketing manager, Sarah Brockwell, said: “We brought it here really because of the audience. She was rebuilt in Ipswich but was moved to the Wharf because of the forward-thinking feel around here. They seem to like a bit of innovation so it’s the perfect setting.”

Alan and Martin Pedley own a furniture business in Saffron Walden, Essex, and originally bought the ship to show their products off around the globe.Costing just £100,000, they refurbished the boat for six years and it’s now valued at around £7.5million.

The ship was built in Croatia in 1954, the same year Neville Pedley, the duo’s father, began his furniture business. It was Mr Pedley Senior who inspired the brothers to buy a vessel after he made his own boat, Harmony, when he was a student. The Pedley brothers told their father that when they bought a boat they would name it after the original.

Although all the furniture onboard is from the Pedley business, Harmony II’s purpose is now much more than a showroom.

Managing director Alan Pedley said: “It’s a three-pronged business. When we rebuilt it we meant it to show off our furniture, but now it’s also for cruises and corporate hospitality for Canary Wharf.

“I’ve looked at boats around the world but I’ve never seen one like this.”

Past roles for Harmony II have included being a 220-capacity passenger ferry across the Adriatic Sea and a conference suite at Greenwich Pier.

Now it’s available to hire for about £10,000 a day. The boat has a dining room, cinema, main
entertaining room, two master bedrooms and six other bedrooms.

It will be at South Quay until May when it sets sail on a cruise in the Mediterranean. It will then return to Docklands in October.

For more information go to www.harmony2.co.uk, email enquire@harmony2.co.uk or call Sarah Brockwell on 07955 132149.

Story written by Rob Virtue
rob.virtue@wharf.co.uk