Love of Caravans

When away from my home city of Hull, East Yorkshire there is a certain comfort in something familiar. 

Take a static caravan as a prime example. 

You could be snuggling down in one on a Scottish clifftop, in the middle of a Devon meadow, in a North Yorkshire Coastal holiday park or amongst the trees on a Lakeland Fell.

Whatever the view and weather you can be almost assured that the caravan around you was made in Hull. 

It is a fact that 90% of the UK’s caravan industry, be it the large statics or more nimble tourers is based in and around the city. 

Just last week I spent a couple of days away with family in a forest green coloured 2 berth, sleeps six model made by Europa in 2012. There is something distinctive and of longstanding deep rooted memory in the smell of wood and plastics in a caravan. 

It started with me when my parents bought a tourer in the late 1970’s (sorry, it was from a Grimsby manufacturer who went bust) and it gave great and faithful service for over 40 years. 

So how is it that Hull has single-handedly cornered the market in caravan production? 

Some attribute it to its Port status with abundant imports through the docks of the raw materials of wood and steel from Scandinavia and Europe but that is not the full story as the same could be said for more than half a dozen other maritime cities on the same North Sea gateway. 

The key component lies in the entrepreneurial spirit of Hull businessmen and this was no more evident than in the post war period when the Yorkshire Apiary Company which made beehives switched to temporary buildings in 1946. 

Its products, which used the same materials and building techniques as beehives, were sent to the war-ravaged Continent being shipped out directly from Hull to docks such as Hamburg. 

The company, in a genius bit of innovation,started adding a chassis, and a caravan firm, Willerby Holiday Homes was born. 

Up until that time the concept of a mass produced caravan was unknown but families began to enjoy more leisure time and disposable income and sought to holiday on a more mobile or adventurous basis than the traditional hotel, guest house or bed and breakfast establishment. Willerby Holiday Homes brought out their first touring caravan, in that it was towed along behind the family car, in 1949. The “York” model was only 11 feet long but 1000 units were sold quickly in response to high demand. 

This was just the beginning of the modern industry. 

Holiday camps were booming and so it was a natural progression to the caravan park based static caravan. Willerby showed further enterprise by diversifying into these larger, permanently sited vans and these were eagerly bought by park owners for their seasonal pitches at the coast or in the countryside. 

Statics also appealed to families in that they could buy one for their own periodic use or let it out to holidaymakers to earn an income. 

It was a great time and there were, in the Hull epicentre, new start up companies by former employees of the larger concerns with such well known names as Cresta, Astral, ABI, Ace, Swift, Mardon, Silverline, Alpine (later A-Line), Abbey, Riviera, Sovereign, Haltemprice, Robin and  Arronbrook. (I apologise for missing out many others)

At its peak there were around 40 caravan manufacturers in Hull and East Yorkshire many of them combining production of tourers and statics.The caravan industry, being driven by the affluence and feel good factors of the British consumer, suffered in the inevitable busts that followed on from the booms so characteristic of the nation’s economic climate through the last quarter of the 20^th Century and more recently in the credit crisis of 2007/2008. 

Many went out of business or were taken over by dominant rivals over time. A conscious decision was taken by some companies to specialise and Willerby Holiday Homes sold their touring interests in 1987 to concentrate on the big statics. 

It was not just a home based market and thousands were exported to the resorts and holiday destinations of the Continent with the wallowing low loader transporters being a common sight and highway hindrance around roads and motorways emanating from the City. 

Sales of static caravans for 2015 saw factory invoiced numbers reach 18,611 units. The “Staycation”, which has naturally been evolving in recent years, has been moved into sharp focus for holidaymakers with the recent terrorism events on the continent affecting confidence about taking an overseas trip. 

UK Holiday Parks have reported that their rental business is increasing greatly and fleet purchases by the larger operators have increased.

The quality of the UK’s 3,500 caravan parks has also improved helping them to escape their historic stereotypical institutional happy camper status. Luxurious modern models are, fitted out with double-glazing, central heating and top-class showers, in fact possibly a better home from home than many of their users. 

The static market continues to grow and one of the industry’s biggest fears is that the parks will run out of space. According to the most recent tourist board statistics, caravans of all kinds remain the most popular paid-for accommodation. Caravan holidays account for 17 per cent of all UK holiday spend, with a value of 1.6bn a year. That also equates to around 60 million “in caravan” nights per year. 

Caravans continue to be an economic powerhouse for Hull in terms of employment and wealth generation. 

I thought about that a lot as I sat in the spacious lounge of the Hull made Europa listening to the roar and rush of a stormy October night in the Lake District.