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.
It celebrated its Golden 50th year in 2014, [1] with the launch of SMART HT, the first fully composite caravan without any timber and ply in the body, and using a patent pending aluminum jointing systems and a patent pending floor construction .
Swift was founded in 1964 by Ken Smith. [1] The company started with the single Swift brand of caravans, based on a distinctive tri-front window design (all of which opened - unique at the time), which also allowed easy see through to the rear for the driver whilst travelling.
Following the break-up of the travelling caravan business of Cosalt plc, in 1994 the company acquired the Cosalt brand of Abbey, followed in 1994 with the purchase of Sprite leisure and the Ace brand in 2001. Since late 2008 Swift Leisure has dropped the Abbey and Ace brands of touring caravans. Within the Swift International division, the company has operations in Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand. [2]
The company moved manufacturing from Hedon Road, Kingston upon Hull to Dunswell Lane, near Cottingham in 1970. In the early 2000s the company moved to an adjacent site in Cottingham to allow expanded production facilities. [3] [4] [5]
Key events in the companies history: [6]
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a county in Northern England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west and North Lincolnshire to the south. The coastal towns of Bridlington and Hornsea are popular with tourists from inland areas, and the port city of Kingston upon Hull is an economic, transport and tourism centre which also receives much sea freight from around the world. The current East Riding of Yorkshire came into existence in 1996 after the abolition of the County of Humberside. The county's administration is in the ancient market town of Beverley. The landscape is mainly rural, consisting of rolling hills, valleys and flat plains with many small villages and some towns scattered amid the Yorkshire Wolds. Major settlements include Kingston upon Hull, Beverley, Bridlington and Goole. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, its population was 334,179.
Hedon is a town and civil parish in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Hull city centre. It lies to the north of the A1033 road at the crossroads of the B1240 and B1362 roads. It is particularly noted for the parish church of St. Augustine, known as the 'King of Holderness', which is a Grade I listed building.
Cottingham is a large village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England with average affluence. It lies 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) north-west of the centre of Kingston upon Hull, and 6.2 miles (10.0 km) south-east of Beverley on the eastern edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. It has two main shopping streets, Hallgate and King Street, which cross each other near the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, and a market square called Market Green. Cottingham had a population of 17,164 residents in 2011 making it larger by area and population than many towns. However, it is one of the villages claiming to be the largest village in England.
Haltemprice and Howden is a constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by David Davis, a Conservative who was also Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union until his resignation from that role on 8 July 2018.
Skidby is a small village and civil parish in Yorkshire Wolds of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated about 6 miles (10 km) north-west of Hull city centre, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) west of Cottingham and 5 miles (8 km) south of Beverley.
Willerby is a village and civil parish located on the western outskirts of the city of Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic diocese based in Middlesbrough, England and is part of the province of Liverpool. It was founded on 20 December 1878, with the splitting of the Diocese of Beverley which had covered all of Yorkshire. The Bishop's See is in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, at St Mary's Cathedral.
The A1079 is a major road in Northern England. It links the cities of York and Kingston upon Hull, both in Yorkshire. The road is noted for its past safety issues, and regularly features in the Road Safety Foundations reports on Britain's most dangerous roads. Campaigners have been calling for the entire route to be made into a dual carriageway.
The Kingston upon Hull tramway network was a network of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge tram lines following the five main roads radially out of the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Two of these lines went west, and two east. The fifth went to the north, and branched to include extra lines serving suburban areas. Additionally a short line linked the city centre to the Corporation Pier where a ferry crossed the Humber Estuary to New Holland, Lincolnshire.
Patrington Haven is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in an area known as Holderness. It is situated approximately 8 miles (13 km) south-east of the town of Hedon and 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of the village of Patrington.
Dunswell is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, and in the civil parish of Woodmansey.
Stagecoach East Midlands is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East Midlands, the city of Kingston upon Hull and Lincolnshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group.
The A1033 road is a main arterial route across Kingston upon Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire connecting Hull with Withernsea. The road carries traffic to and from the Port of Hull and Salt End at its western end, and local and holiday traffic at its eastern end. It is a primary route from the junction of the A63 road to the Salt End roundabout and is maintained on that section by Highways England. The section by the docks is also part of a designated abnormal load route.
Cosalt plc was a diversified marine safety and leisure company, based in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. It was a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index.
Samuel Alper OBE was an English caravan designer and manufacturer responsible for the famous Sprite caravan, founder of the Little Chef chain of roadside restaurants, a viticulturist who revived the ancient Roman winery at Chilford Hall, a sculptor, the founder of the Curwen Print Study Centre for teaching printmaking and a philanthropist who sent caravans abroad to aid in disaster relief programmes.
J.R. Rix & Sons Ltd is a family-owned British business that is headquartered in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. The roots of the company date back to 1873 when founder Robert Rix, the son of a Norfolk farmer, established a ship building business in Teesside, which he subsequently moved to Hull in 1883.
Bailey of Bristol is one of the UK's biggest manufacturers of leisure vehicles – touring caravans and motorhomes. In 2017 it achieved a record turnover of £144 million. It has about 450 employees, and an annual production of around 6,500 vehicles.
Auto-Trail is a motorhome manufacturer, set up by Bill Boasman and Barry Holmes in 1982. Fast forward to 2022 and the company now employs more than 200 staff members at their manufacturing site in Grimsby, North-East Lincolnshire. Auto-Trail is now the UK's leading motorhome manufacturer, offering a wide range of campervans and larger coachbuilt leisure vehicles.
Hedon Haven is a waterway that connected the Humber Estuary with the port of Hedon, in Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The waterway allowed ships to unload at the port in Hedon, which was also known as Hedon Haven and had, at its peak, three canalised arms that stretched into the town. The port at Hedon was the main port for south Holderness between the 12th and 13th centuries, and was the busiest port in Holderness before the docks at Hull were built.
Elddis was a caravan and motorhome manufacturer based in Consett, County Durham, England.
..Cottingham's own caravan maker, the Swift Group, based at Dunswell Road. The story of Swift Caravans is a rags-to-riches affair, since a company that in 2007 had sales of £191.3 million, began life in 1964 as a small operation located in a garage on Hedon Road, Hull. The company moved to Cottingham in 1970 and since then has expanded its facilities there with a training centre and a new factory complex
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