Bec McKeever Dominique Smit

May I start with a HUGE thank you! An absolute honour, we are beyond grateful.

Dominique and I both started yachting at various stages; I’ve been in the industry since 2007 and Dom joined not long after that. Both of us have had the privilege to work on an array of prestigious yachts and fortunately crossed paths on M/Y Hampshire II back in 2015, and the rest is history. Even though we’ve since both worked on different vessels, our friendship remained close and we began to dream of creating something innovative within the industry, and eventually, Virtual Pursers was born in 2020.

Virtual Pursers was designed and developed to relieve the Captain and Senior crew’s daily administrative pressures in a flexible capacity, whilst streamlining onboard paperwork. Understanding first-hand the onboard stress of a busy yacht, with demanding guests, and an abundance of paperwork; our hours were always in the RED. Now that crew well-being has been pushed to the forefront, the need to alleviate that stress and provide a support network is thankfully being recognised across the board, and that is where we come in.

Virtual Pursers understand that crew accommodation on board is limited and those yachts that can’t accommodate a Purser would greatly benefit from the support of one! Virtual Pursers offer all the support of a permanent purser, without the onboard overheads.

We also assist Brokerages, Yacht management, as well as Maritime businesses, in filling in any gaps to offer full-service to their clients as maritime administration experts.

We started this journey with a goal in mind, to extend the life of the Purser beyond ships to shore. Encouraging a lifetime career, and supporting other Pursers who have also hit the ceiling and dreaming of land-based life. Our aim is to cement Virtual Pursers as the go-to for outsourced administration and to build a community of support for experienced Pursers.

Starting a new venture (in an industry not one for change) has been a wild ride. Every day has been an education and we are immensely grateful for the support and encouragement we’ve received from our team, our clients, industry peers, and leaders. It’s because of these people and their belief in us and what we’re doing,

• that we are inspired to go above and beyond every day.
• that we are motivated to bring positive change to the industry in any way we can.
• that we continue to work hard to build a company that we hope will be a household industry name for many years to come.

Thank you everyone from the bottom of both of our hearts!