New people and new premises – a successful start to 2025.
SMS Group has welcomed David McCarthy as Operations Director to its newly acquired interior outfit and marine refurbishment headquarters in Southampton, UK.
David joins the senior leadership team alongside Dan Lockyer, Director of Outfit, at Empress House – the group’s newly refurbished 10,000 sq ft industrial and office complex located in the heart of Southampton.
David’s background speaks volumes. He is an outstanding leadership professional with a career spanning three decades, including seagoing and land-based roles for P&O Cruises and Carnival UK, time at award-winning London-based design agency AD Associates to leading teams at Independent Maritime Advisors for numerous NCLH new building projects.
A strong advocate for the cruise sector, David has contributed to numerous panel discussions, including the gold standard, industry recognised ‘Cruise Ship Interiors Expo’ where he is a founding advisory board member.
David brings to SMS an exemplary reputation and extensive industry prowess and connections. He joins SMS Group at an exciting time.
Director of Outfit Dan Lockyer said: “Our growth story is somewhat unique.
“We’ve moved into new, dedicated premises perhaps 12 to 18 months earlier than we predicted, and our team, alongside our pipeline has grown considerably.
“To have someone like David join the business, at this key juncture, is genuinely exciting. We’re building something special, and I speak for the entire team when I say ‘welcome’, and we’re very much looking forward to working with David and seeing how we further enhance, improve, and grow the business.”
Dan added: “Moving from Western Avenue to Empress House is a huge step in the right direction. Having dedicated warehousing, logistics and storage – perfectly integrated with the office suite – is a big help.
“So too are our meeting rooms, breakout areas and social spaces. It’s the perfect home to grow the business.”
David said: “As Operations Director I look forward to developing the internal systems within the business further and supporting the continued growth of the company.
“I join SMS at an exciting time for the business, with a solid pipeline, including numerous major projects for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), a three ship, two-year, programme of works for AIDA, and many other work streams running right through to 2026/27.
“SMS has a great reputation and I relish the challenging of building the brand and helping scale the business.”
SMS Group is a marine engineering services provider and an interior outfitter; trading from eight locations in the UK, and Miami in USA.
