One of the country’s largest caravan dealerships has collapsed into administration this month, leading to the closure of one site and the sale of two others.
Robinsons Caravans Group, which included two branches of Robinsons Caravans in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and Golden Castle in Gloucestershire, went into administration in the middle of March, with Ryan Grant and Chris Pole from Interpath Advisory being appointed administrators.
Golden Castle was immediately bought out by one of its directors, Alex Pennington, while the Worksop branch of Robinsons has been bought by the company that owns Couplands Caravans, with staff transferring in each case.
But the Chesterfield branch of Robinsons has been forced to close, with the loss of 16 jobs. Police initially had to be called when the branch first shut, as angry customers turned up outside to try to recover their caravans.
Interpath Advisory says it is now in the process of contacting all customers with vehicles at the Chesterfield site due for warranty work or repair.
Anyone who has a deposit down on a vehicle at the site should email [email protected] with details of the vehicle.
In its last published full year accounts, for 2022, the group had reported a full year profit of £603,253, although it said it had made a loss in the final quarter. Administrators say it went on to make a loss in 2023 as it faced inflationary rises in costs while the cost of living crisis led to an impact on margins.
Shortly before the group went under, its major shareholder MBH Corporation, which had bought Robinsons from its original family owners and subsequently bought Golden Castle, also went into administration.
Alex Pennington said his new company, Gloucestershire Leisure, will be honouring all deposits made to the old Golden Castle company. “It’s just been an episode in our history and we wish we had never got involved with MBH,” he said.
Anyone with queries about a vehicle at Robinsons’ Worksop site, now part of Couplands, should ring 01909 475220.
MBH had also taken a stake in White Arches, a two-depot dealership in Northamptonshire. However that company remains trading.
In a statement it said, “While this news is disappointing, we expect this will have limited impact on White Arches, as MHB is a shareholder only – White Arches was not relying on funding from them.”
The company is currently exploring options to bring additional investment into the business. That could include a potential sale.
It is the second caravan dealership closure in Chesterfield in six months, after Kimberley Caravans’ site in the town closed at the end of last year.
Update: it has since been revealed that White Arches is now owned by Spinney following the Robinsons Caravan Group collapse.
See what the Caravan and Motorhome Club had to say in its update on the recent cyber attack.
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