I recently searched online news archives for news about Prout and was astonished to see that they managed to enter receivership/bankruptcy for the second time in six months.
At the end of February 2002, the yard personell got a call and was told to pack up personal belongings and close the facilities. Apparently, the company had run out of cash again.
A former chairman of Prout then put a freeze order on the assets via a High Court in England as he claims he has not been paid his royalties. This is where it gets ugly.
Allegedly, the Canadian owners then orderd their employees to crate up the molds for shipment (presumably to the Concordia yard in Thailand where some Prout production had already migrated). When the employees refused to break the law, they were fired.
Now, a new set of administrators have taken over the operation, though a sale seems unlikely because the company is no longer trading. 11 boats were in production at the time and some seven of them are now being assembled in a new operation headed by the former GM of Prout.
I guess this might be the end-of-life for Prout. Too bad, they did design a heck of a cruiser with a good eye for cruiser-specific details. If only their quality control had been better... Anyway, as I find more information, I will post it in the <a href=http://www.vonwentzel.net/Prout/>Prout section</a> of my <a href=http://www.vonwentzel.net>web-site</a>. Cheers! Constantin