Company type | Private |
---|---|
Founded | 1986 |
Founder | Jim Hibbs & George Kemp |
Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Number of locations | United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, China and South Korea. |
Key people | Jim Hibbs |
Products | Caravans |
Number of employees | 167 |
Parent | Kabe AB |
Website | https://www.coachman.co.uk/ |
Coachman Caravans Company Limited was set up in 1986 on a green-field site at its current manufacturing base on the Sutton Fields Industrial Estate in Hull. The company was set up to produce touring caravans, vehicles equipped for living in, typically towed by a car and used for holidays [1] and also known as a travel trailer in the United States. [2]
The company was founded by Jim Hibbs and George Kemp, [3] [4] two former directors of a leading motorhome manufacturer. [5] Coachman also recently appointed a new managing director, Martin Henderson, former Sales and marketing director at The Explorer Group. [6] [7]
In the summer of 1997, the company was taken over by the Explorer Group Limited of Consett in County Durham. Under the new ownership the company's fortunes flourished and the directors organised a management buy-out in the Autumn of 2001, returning the Company into the ownership of four Hull families. [8]
In 2013, Coachman Caravans ventured into exporting caravans to Australia and New Zealand. [9] In 1994, the company exported to the Benelux countries of the Netherlands and Belgium.
Coachman Caravans has a formal apprenticeship programme, where they are keen to pass skills down to the next generation. [10] [11] [12]
Coachman was successful in Caravan's 2013 awards and won three awards including the Caravan of the Year for the Coachman Pastiche 525/4. [13]
In 2014 and 2015 the company won more awards from both Practical Caravan and Caravan Awards including the "Best Family Caravan" for two years in a row. [14] [15] Following on from this success with their 2016 season collection Coachman has won 4 awards from The Caravan Design Awards and "Best Mid Range" from Scottish Caravanner. [16] [17]
In July 2018, the Swedish caravan manufacturer KABE AB acquired 21.5% of Coachman. On 19 February 2021, KABE AB acquired the remaining 78.5% shares of the company. [18]
Coachman returned bigger and better than ever in 2024, working with many established motorhome brands, they produced their very first A-Class motorhome. The Travel Master Imperial range is the epitome of home-style living.
A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans, fifth-wheel trailers, popup campers, and truck campers.
Haymarket Media Group is a privately held media company headquartered in London. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and previously on behalf of organisations such as the BBC. The company expanded outside the UK in 1999.
Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
A motorhome is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which is as the name suggests, like a home on wheels.
Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England.
Airstream is an American brand of travel trailer easily recognized by the distinctive shape of its rounded and polished aluminum coachwork. This body shape dates back to the 1930s and is based on the Bowlus Road Chief, an earlier model of the all-aluminum travel trailer.
Hymer AG is a motorhome and caravan manufacturer, located in Bad Waldsee, Germany. One of the largest manufacturers of motorhomes and caravans in Europe, the listed company Hymer AG owns several brands, including; Bürstner, Carado, Sunlight, Etrusco, Elddis, Hymer, Laika, LMC, Niesmann + Bischoff, Dethleffs, Eriba, as well as camping equipment wholesale Movera. In February 2017 it acquired The Explorer Group based in Consett, UK adding the Elddis, Buccaneer, Compass and Xplore brands to its portfolio. In 2018, Thor Industries acquired Hymer.
Auto-Sleepers Group Limited, trading as Auto-Sleepers, is an English manufacturer of campervan motorhomes, based in Willersey, a small village near Broadway, Worcestershire.
Thor Industries, Inc. is an American manufacturer of recreational vehicles (RVs). The company sells towable and motorized RVs through its subsidiaries brands including Airstream, Heartland RV, Jayco, Livin Lite RV, and others. The company's headquarters is in Elkhart, Indiana. It has manufacturing facilities in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Idaho and Oregon.
Adria Mobil is a Slovene speciality vehicle manufacturer company based in Novo Mesto that specializes in production of travel trailers and recreational vehicles. The company's products are branded under under the "Adria" brand name, and it markets and sells its entire stock within the European single market. Adria motorhomes are commonly based on Fiat and Mercedes vehicles.
Qserv Ltd. specialised in oil-well services operations, including slickline, coiled tubing and pumping services. In July 2008, the company was acquired by Aker Solutions and it was acquired by EQT AB in 2013.
Mark Hammerton Group Ltd was a UK-based travel organiser and travel publisher specialising in camping, caravanning, motorhome and mobile home holidays on campsites in France, Spain, Italy and other European countries. The Group published the market-leading Alan Rogers campsites guides and offered a European travel service for readers including ferry bookings. The Group was acquired by The Caravan Club in 2012 under the brand Alan Rogers Travel Group, along with its subsidiary company Belle France, which offers walking and cycling hotel holidays.
Swift Leisure are a British manufacturer of leisure vehicles, including caravans and motorhomes. Started in 1964, the company is based in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire.
Tourism Holdings Limited usually called 'THL' and formerly known as The Helicopter Line is a New Zealand tourism company that has been listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange since 1986.
Jayco Inc., a subsidiary of Thor Industries, is an American manufacturer of recreation vehicles. The company manufactures fold-down, also called "Pop-up" Camping Trailers, Conventional Travel Trailers, Toy Haulers, Fifth-Wheel Travel Trailers, and Motorhomes. Jayco is based in Middlebury, Indiana, and about three-quarters of its 3,200-person workforce is from the Amish and Mennonite communities of Indiana.
Holiday Rambler Corporation is an American corporation which primarily manufactures recreational vehicles. It was founded in 1953. In 1961, Holiday Rambler's introduction of aluminum body framing ushered in a new era of lighter, stronger and more durable recreational vehicles (RVs). This aluminum frame (Alumaframe) became the standard for lighter and stronger RVs for 40 years. Holiday Rambler was also responsible for many firsts; built-in refrigerators, holding tanks and aerodynamic radiused corners. As Holiday Rambler moved into motorhomes, they were the first with tag axles and the kitchen slide-out revolutionized "interior engineering" in the field. Holiday Rambler was sold to Harley-Davidson in 1986 and later in 1996 to the Monaco Coach Corporation where its future, then under Navistar International Corp., was difficult in 2010 as it was for most motorhome manufacturers.
Truma Gerätetechnik GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of leisure products for caravans and motorhomes. The company develops, manufactures and sells heating and air conditioning systems, hot water boilers, maneuvering systems and products for energy and gas supply. Truma was founded in 1949 in Munich, Germany. Today the headquarters is located in Putzbrunn near Munich and the company operates worldwide sales offices. Since the introduction of the first Truma heater in 1961 the company remained the market leader for LPG air heaters for recreational vehicles in Europe.
Bailey of Bristol is a British manufacturer of leisure vehicles, including touring caravans, motorhomes and campervans.
Auto-Trail is a British motorhome manufacturer, established by Bill Boasman and Barry Holmes in 1982. As of 2022, the company employed around 200 staff members at its manufacturing site in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.
Elddis is a caravan and motorhome manufacturer based in Consett, County Durham, England.