CATTERICK CARAVANS HAS confirmed the purchase of two new retail sites in the north-east of England.
The family-owned business, run by brothers Chris and Matthew Kinsell acted fast to acquire the premises, both of which were operated until October by Discover Leisure, the retailing group that went into administration in 2011. The two sites are at Birtley, Tyne and Wear and Flaxton Moor, York.
The new sites revert to names used previously – Tyneside Leisure World and Ebor Leisure World respectively. Both will retail new and used caravans and motorhomes. Negotiations over which franchises the branches will stock are yet to be agreed.
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Catterick has invested heavily in the main site in recent years
Growing influence in the sector
Catterick Caravans is a family-owned business, run by brothers Chris and Matthew Kinsell. They say: “Our approach is very much back to traditional values, restoring these sites to their roots as independent, family-run businesses.”
Sales Director Matthew says: “This move represents not just our growing influence in the leisure vehicle sector, but commitment to our north-east of England stronghold. We’re saving jobs, and will be creating them, too in the longer term.”
Managing director Chris adds: “Our success is very much based on our family ethos, and this is something we’ll be bringing to both new outlets. Today’s caravans and motorhomes are highly sophisticated machines and require a lot of back-up expertise allied to a genuine understanding of customers’ expectations and specific requirements.
“What we’re trying to do is to lead the industry in our after-sales approach. We want to be the best, we want to be special. Whether the customer buys used or new, from us or not, we want to look after them. So many of our customers are actually our friends. And for us it’s not all about making money. Obviously you’ve got to be successful financially to invest in your services. But, we wouldn’t be taking over these two new sites if we weren’t fully confident of our role and the market we’re in. We also know much of our success here at Catterick is down to what we believe is the largest accessories shop at any UK caravan dealership. Again, this is a concept we will be rolling out at Tyneside and Ebor.”
Catterick Caravans is a main agent for Swift, Sterling and Lunar caravans and was Practical Caravan’s Dealer of the Year in 2011.
The news follows on from last week’s announcement that another former Discover Leisure premises has been taken over by Kimberley Caravans
