Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show 2025 Highlights

Keith Gooden

In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast…

Matt Sims

We’re back in Birmingham for the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show 2025.

Keith Gooden

And we answer your questions on getting finance without being a homeowner, adding a diesel heater and getting your motorhome floor templated. What does that mean?

Matt Sims

Stay tuned.

Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show 2025 Highlights

Keith Gooden

Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.

Matt Sims

And I’m Motorhome Matt.

Keith Gooden

Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans, brought to you by that leisure shop.com and sponsored by Ripe.

Matt Sims

Remember to follow on your favourite podcast app. And if you’re watching on YouTube, please hit subscribe and the little bell – brought to you by www.arobasecreative.co.uk.

Keith Gooden

We’ve got a very busy day ahead of us here, Matt, because you have been wandering around the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show 2025 and meeting the movers and shakers, the buyers and sellers. Let’s go.

Matt Sims

It’s February, and we’re excited to be back at the show, a show for the whole family – something to do, whatever age you are. So join me as we wander around and look for things new, exciting and hopefully, some innovation.

The show begins for us with an award ceremony. We were privileged to be invited to the NCC Approved workshop scheme awards. And this year, there are again two winners. The Fixed Workshop Award has been awarded to Kirk Caravan Services of Lanark in Lanarkshire.

They’ve been awarded AWS since 2013 and winners of best fixed workshop of the year, whilst Kirk mobile caravan services have been a member for 17 years. They’re based up in Thirsk in North Yorkshire and were represented with best mobile workshop scheme of the year.

New ACSI Camping Card

It’s always a great pleasure to welcome ACSI to this show all the way from the Netherlands, and I’m delighted to be joined by Jeanette. Good morning.

Jeanette Kasberg

Good morning.

Matt Sims

Welcome to the UK.

Jeanette Kasberg

Thank you.

Matt Sims

Now, you’ve launched something new as ACSI, but before we get to that, just explain what ACSI is.

Jeanette Kasberg

Very well. So ACSI is one of the biggest camping guide organisations in the Netherlands – over in Europe, not in the Netherlands! We are based in the Netherlands, that’s our office. But we are a very big camping guide organisation with a lot of countries – campsites in 25 countries over the whole of Europe. I think more than 10,000 campsites.

And we launched a new product that is the Camping Card Digital. Before, there was always a physical camping card, but since 2024 there’s also a digital version. And with this version, the campers get easier access easier to our camping card.

Matt Sims

So you’ve got the book, which is dead handy in the glove box, the camping card which you can show to the campsites that accept an ACSI card. But now you’ve got the digital app as well. Are you keeping the book?

Jeanette Kasberg

Yeah, we’re still keeping the book because a lot of people like the book. They want to keep a handbook in their camper, but yeah, for the younger people or the older ones that like to go more digital, we have launched the app. In the app are the same campsites as the book, only it’s on your phone now, so it’s much easier.

The app costs €17.95 and for that, you get the camping card digital, and you get all the campsites in the app. So then you can go to all campsites. And with camping cards, you can go in the low season to the campsites. You get fixed rates, and they are much cheaper than the normal rates. And for that, you get a pitch. You can have two adults and all sorts. So it’s a very good bargain, I think.

Matt Sims

It’s an absolute bargain. It’s £15 for the app. Now, in my experience, you save that in two nights.

Jeanette Kasberg

Yeah, we say normally you saved in four nights. But it depends on the rates of the campsite in the low season, because the fixed rates we use are based on the low season rates from the campsites, so that’s the way we charge it. I think you earn it back very quickly.

Matt Sims

Yeah, very much so. Now, we had a question from a listener, which I’m going to pose to you, if I may. Hugh Jones in Cardiff said, “Hi, Matt, really love your podcast, which I find very informative. I’m new to motorhoming, and I’m trying to book a three week tour of France, Spain and Portugal.”

“I’ve joined ACSI camping car and pitch up, but I can’t seem to find nicer sites. There are plenty of aires, etc, but I want to stay somewhere nicer,” he says. “Am I doing something wrong in my searches? Thank you for your consideration.” So what should Hugh be doing to find “nicer” sites on the ACSI database?

Jeanette Kasberg

You can do two things. You can filter on our website or in our app for the smaller campsites, because we have a lot of filters in it. You can filter whether dogs are allowed, smaller campsites, swimming pools, all sorts of things.

But there’s also a website for the smaller pitches. We call them the smaller campsites, and they have 50 places allowed. So you can go there and then see the nicer campsites, maybe, for this person.

Matt Sims

So it’s just about going on the app or going on the website, or even looking in the book!

Jeanette Kasberg

There’s also a smaller book for the little campsites. We’ve had that a few years. So that’s there. And this year we also have a new book for campers in the UK. It’s an English book, the old fashioned guide, but now for the English consumers with camping cards campings in it, and also camper places in. It’s a combination of it. But it’s also very nice!

Matt Sims

And you’ve added 6,000 aires to the database as well. Is that right?

Jeanette Kasberg

Totally. We have 10,000 campsites. I don’t know how many aires they are, but it could be around that too.

Matt Sims

So if you’re heading to Europe and you’re looking for campsites, an ACSI card is an absolute no brainer. If you’re going out of peak season, like me, you’ll save your money in two nights, maybe four, as Jeanette says.

Jeanette Kasberg

We are at all the shows in Birmingham, and you can also go to www.campingcard.com. On the website, you can buy it digitally. That’s no problem, yeah.

Matt Sims

Brilliant Jeanette, thanks for the insight. Nice to see you. Thank you. For Adria fans, this is a much anticipated and much publicised launch. Adria UK have the Adria Super Twin here, an all road four by four Mercedes Benz chassis that, frankly, is pretty stunning. This is the prototype.

You can’t have one of these until at least next summer, 2026. The bigger version, the 700 – which is, of course, longer than this 600 behind me, they’ve already sold two of them. And that hasn’t even been prototyped.

The extras list is actually really short, because it has everything on it. And what is remarkable is the price in the current landscape. This is ‘only’ £131,000. This is Adria at its best. And I have to be honest, I’m tempted.

Accessible motorhomes

Matt Sims

I’m joined by a familiar face and voice on the Motorhome Matt podcast. It’s the super driver of the show. It’s Jo.

Jo Woolnough

Thank you.

Matt Sims

Now, Jo, you always try and run me over in this amazing wheelchair of yours.

Jo Woolnough

Every time he says that… he lies. Honestly. Good lady driver, no record of injuries and no penalties!

Matt Sims

Right! Okay, I’ll be the judge of that. Now, Jo, in all seriousness, I was on stage a little while ago, and you challenged me on the adapting of motorhomes. You have an adapted motorhome, a lovely Swift which you bought second hand. It had already been adapted by Coachbuilt.

Now, we both know that Coachbuilt are one of very few converters in the UK that will adapt a motorhome for a wheelchair user, or someone of any special needs or limited mobility. And you said, “Matt, how do we get an industry to change?” And start to engage with your community, if I can say that-

Jo Woolnough

You can indeed.

Matt Sims

People who’ve got a special need and want to go away in a motorhome.

Jo Woolnough

Exactly, because there isn’t enough out there at the moment. And I want the industry giants to actually start changing the way they think. From the factory upwards, I want them to start offering as an option a wider door for a start. It’s a simple thing, but believe it or not, that’s a game changer. Anybody in a manual chair would be able to get in via a ramp or other means, and that leads us on to where we are today.

Matt Sims

So we’re here on the Kaktus Vans stand, and Paul and Magda have bought a van onto the stand, which is adapted for a little boy who has a wheelchair.

Jo Woolnough

Brilliant.

Matt Sims

And they’ve converted it. It’s a sold van, but it’s demonstrating the fact that you can convert a van for somebody with special needs.

Jo Woolnough

Which is exactly what we need.

Matt Sims

How does it make you feel seeing this?

Jo Woolnough

Honestly, I was so made up seeing it, because it’s a simple thing that they have done that can be done to any van. Even if somebody wants to do a build your own van, they would be able to put this in. It could hoist small, self-propelled wheelchairs. Now, at the moment, we say that because this one’s geared up for 100 kilos, but I’m pretty sure Paul and his team will probably come up with more that can actually lift the heavier ones.

They just have to remember the height room and obviously the floor clearance. But I reckon this could be the start of something really exciting. And it doesn’t look like a massive adaption. It doesn’t look clumsy, it doesn’t get in the way. I mean, you will see from the images, it is so good and so easily got round. I don’t know why somebody hasn’t done this before.

Matt Sims

So does it give you hope then, for our industry?

Jo Woolnough

It really does because this is something that, had we seen it at the beginning, might have taken us down the build your own route rather than getting the conversion. Because there are hoists that can take a chair of my weight. My chair is no lightweight, as you know. 195 kilos, and that’s without my big backside on it. So therefore, it is a big ask to lift a chair like this. You know, you’re talking a 300 kilo lift, and we’ve got a big cassette lift.

And so therefore, he’s got a big motorhome. It’d be so much better if we could have had a normal van. Not to bemoan the fact that we’ve got this van, but say we wanted to change it, say we wanted to buy another one, the resale on our van would be really hard, because it’s a fully converted van.

Whereas you look at the van that they’ve done, it looks like a normal van. You can park it in a normal place. You haven’t got to think about the height clearance. You haven’t got to think about 8.2 meters to get into a space that’s probably only big enough for a smaller one.

Matt Sims

I said to you, you are part of the solution to this challenge, where you’ve got to keep campaigning and encouraging others.

Jo Woolnough

I want to get other people to join in. I want them to start asking the industry giants why they haven’t done it and why it is so expensive. Because I don’t believe it needs to be. And I think this is the start. I think this is a good start, a really good start.

Matt Sims

I agree. I was amazed when I saw it. I saw the van and thought, “Wow, that’s a great van.” And then Kaktus said, “Have you seen this, Matt? We’ve adapted this.” I went, “No, you’re joking.”

Jo Woolnough

When you said to me, “Go and have a look and go and see what they’ve done,” I didn’t know from the outset, when I came on, that it was actually an adapted van. I thought, “Okay, well, I’ve found it. You forgot to tell me it was Kaktus with Ks, not cactus with Cs. That had me going around looking, I have to be honest, until I spotted the name and thought, “That’s what it’s going to be.”

Matt Sims

Well, now you know – it is indeed Kaktus with two Ks. Enjoy your wheel around and try not to run anyone over.

Jo Woolnough

I never do. It’s a myth!

An accessible campervan made by Kaktus Vans

Matt Sims

I’m delighted to have with me Paul Adams, the owner of Kaktus. Now, it’s great to have you here. Your product is something else. It is amazing. And you are absolutely making people’s days with the fact that you’ve been prepared to look at adapting a vehicle for a special need. Can you tell me the backstory to this one here on the stand today?

Paul Adams

Well, we had a family come to us who wanted a van, and then when we found out they had a eight year old disabled child and they really wanted an adapted van, we just couldn’t turn it down. So we had to do it. So we’ve worked with them to create what we’ve created, and hopefully it’s going to give them the freedom that they need.

Matt Sims

So you’ve unlocked that freedom for them as a family.

Paul Adams

Definitely, definitely. It was really nice to do.

Matt Sims

And what does the adaption include?

Paul Adams

It’s very basic, to be honest. It’s just the way of the wheelchair can be fixed in. There’s a hoist to get the wheelchair uponto the van. We’ve had to adapt the electric system because we need to make sure that it it never runs out of power for his needs. The main brief was making the van not look adapted.

Matt Sims

Well, you’ve certainly achieved that. And you made the windows bigger as well, and so you can see out when you’re sat in the back.

Paul Adams

Yeah. One of the things was that the lad likes to be able to see out the window and have a good look around when they’re traveling. So we made the windows bigger and just tried to do everything we could to make it as easy as possible for them to to enjoy it.

Matt Sims

Now, I understand they saw it for the first time last week. What was their reaction?

Paul Adams

Very emotional. It’s been a really nice project. It’s just been nice to be able to do this for a family.

Matt Sims

I see you’re getting emotional just talking about it now. And would you do it again?

Paul Adams

We would. Yeah, it’s a different challenge for a young child in a wheelchair than it would be for an adult. But yeah, we’ve overcome certain things. What we want to do is keep our brand and our layout, but adapt it to be able to work for them.

Matt Sims

Well, you’ve certainly pulled it off with this van, and thank you for doing it, because it is a challenge in our industry, having converters and manufacturers who are prepared to undertake it and engage with those needs.

Paul Adams

I’ve been absolutely shocked by the amount of people and the amount of attention it’s had for something that I think of as being actually quite a simple thing to do, and people don’t do it.

Matt Sims

Well, congratulations on doing it. I love that you think it’s simple. I love the fact that you’re unlocking freedom for families for whom often this is unaffordable, to have a motorhome that’s adapted for their needs. And they can get away and partake in this wonderful pasttime. Paul, where can people find out more about Kaktus?

Paul Adams

We’re on Instagram as @kaktusvans with a K.

Matt Sims

With two Ks!

Paul Adams

Two Ks! Or we’re on our website, which is www.kaktusvans.co.uk.

Matt Sims

Brilliant. Thanks for taking the time to speak to me.

Paul Adams

You’re welcome. Thank you very much.

The Pint Chasers from Brit Stops

Matt Sims

So I’m with friend of the podcast and well-known brand Brit Stops. I’m with Tom. How are you?

Tom Clark

I’m good thanks, Matt. How are you doing?

Matt Sims

I’m very well. It’s great to see you. So you’re here at the show. And how’s it been for you?

Tom Clark

It’s been a good show. It’s pretty much always good here. I mean, we do two a year, and it’s really nice. Most of the year, you know, I’m just working at my desk, so it’s a nice time to come and actually meet our customers and chat with people and hear all their stories.

Matt Sims

So a lot’s changed at Brit stops in the last year, which we talked about in the past. You’ve gone entirely digital. The app is amazing. But what’s been happening in the background, in terms of growth? I mean, there’s some big news, some big changes.

Tom Clark

I mean, we were up to about 28,000 members this year. And last year, 2024, we added nearly 100 non-pubs. So things like farm shops, vineyards, breweries, distilleries, loads of different things.

And that’s our big push, really, trying to diversify that network. We get a lot of pubs just automatically, basically. I very rarely have to call a pub and try and get them to join. But all of our vineyards and farm shops, I call every single one, and we have very long conversations about trying to get them to sign up. So we’re moving more into those industries now, which is really nice.

Matt Sims

Well, we love Brit Stops. We use it a lot. And unfortunately, we turn a free stopover into a £120 night out, because we tend to go to some really nice pubs! Often gastropubs with a famous chef in the kitchen. Have you ever considered a Michelin star restaurant kind of stopover guide?

Tom Clark

I would love to do that. That’d be very, very cool.

Matt Sims

I’m up for researching them all for you, if you like.

Tom Clark

I’m sure you are, Matt.

Matt Sims

Let’s call it the Star Gazers. Yeah.

Tom Clark

Okay, I’m in. Let’s do it, but don’t email me about it. Yeah.

Matt Sims

Don’t all apply at once. I do seriously get asked a lot, “Is there a guide to Michelin star restaurants where we can park the motorhome?” It is a great idea. So there you go. You can have that one!

But you have recently launched something called the Pint Chasers, and you put a huge campaign out to try and recruit people who had a van or access to a van and the ability to go and explore Brit Stops and create a lot of social media content for you. What happened?

Tom Clark

Well, we got a massive amount of applications –

Matt Sims

No surprise.

Tom Clar

From people who wanted to travel around in their van and drink beer and eat nice food at pubs.

Matt Sims

And get paid for it!

Tom Clark

Yeah, and get paid for it. And yeah, it took us probably about a year to decide on our final people and narrow it all down. And yeah, we’re really happy with it, and they’ve been doing it for about a year now.

Matt Sims

So who did you choose?

Tom Clark

Lois and Asa, who here with us today.

Matt Sims

Right guys, come on in. Let’s meet them. This is Lois and Asa. Are you sober yet?

Lois

Of course, how dare you suggest anything otherwise?

Matt Sims

So you’ve spent the last year – is it a year?

Lois

It’s been since June 2024, so not quite a year.

Matt Sims

So nearly a year, basically, traveling around in a motorhome which Brit Stops have supplied for you, and going to pubs and basically enjoying the food, enjoying the beer, enjoying the car park and getting paid for it. That sounds like the dream, doesn’t it?

Lois

You do make it sound very glamorous. It does certainly have its perks. It is really nice to go in. And people are always really pleased to see us, because they’re all, “Brit Stops, yeah, we love it.”

And they’re so willing to come out with stories about their locations. They say, “Oh yeah, we had someone from Brit Stops earlier. Oh, they were lovely. Oh, we had the best time.” So people are really pleased to see us, for one thing, but we’re always pleased to be there as well.

Matt Sims

So is this a living you’re going to continue doing, do you think?

Asa

Yeah, absolutely. We’re hoping that we can keep doing it forever. So far, we’ve done two trips, and we’re just about to go on the third tomorrow.

Matt Sims

And where are you headed tomorrow?

Asa

Straight from here, down from Birmingham, south-west. We’re going down through Wales, through the Brecon Beacons, because people really want to hear about what Brit Stops exist in national parks and national landscapes, and finishing up in the Gower. So it’s going to be hard work, but I think we can manage.

Matt Sims

That’s amazing. Now, you guys are social media gurus. That was your kind of work life before, wasn’t it? You’re just kind of living the dream, living in a van. I mean, what could be any better?

Lois

I won’t begin by saying, “Oh, we could be on a beach somewhere…” but this is the next best thing, I suppose.

Matt Sims

And you say it’s hard work. Why is it hard work?

Lois

Because we do have to cram an awful lot in. So not only are we going to all these places and experiencing them, we do have to interview people. You know how hard that can be. We interview characters, and we’re taking pictures. We’re always having to have the creative mindset on of saying, “Okay, what can we do here? How can we tell this story of this host?”

Matt Sims

Well, congratulations on winning the gig. But tell me, what is a Brit Stop experience actually like, then?

Asa

It’s really, really good. So one thing that I’m becoming more and more excited about with Brit Stops – we’ve actually been Brit Stops members since 2022 and we were using Brit Stops just as somewhere to park for the night on the way somewhere, just somewhere to sleep.

And actually, now we’ve done this, on the trips, one of the reasons why it’s so tiring is we’re visiting four Brit Stops a day, documenting everything. It’s a lot of pub dinners. What I’m realising by meeting these amazing people and going to these amazing places is actually, Brit Stops are destinations in themselves.

We’ve been to cider farms that we ended up spending the whole day at. We Brit Stopped right by the coast. You don’t need to go anywhere else. You’ve got a destination right here for a weekend or a quick overnight getaway. So it’s really, really good for that, as well as being a means to end for getting somewhere else on a road trip, it’s also a destination in itself, and that’s one of the best things about Brit Stops, I think.

Matt Sims

Very well summed up, I have to agree. We use it a lot, as I say, and we use it to find really lovely pubs with great food, and that’s the reason we choose it. So yeah, if you’re looking for somewhere alternative to a campsite, a Brit Stop may be the answer. Guys, congratulations again on winning the gig. Enjoy your travels and happy Brit Stopping.

Asa

Thank you.

Matt Sims

Don’t forget – get 15% off your insurance premium with Ripe. Just quote “Motorhome Matt,” when you ring them or click the link in the description. A brilliant free feature at the show is the canoeing lake. If you’re under five, you are allowed on with an adult. If you’re over five – and there’s no age limit – you can go on on your own.

The Canoe Lake by Canoe Trail

Matt Sims

I’m with an adult in a canoe right now. I’m with the lovely Richard Harpham. Richard, hello there. How are you?

Richard Harpham

It’s nice to be called an adult. I’m fine. Generally, people say I’m like a toddler with a credit card or like Peter Pan. So I’ll take that all day long.

Matt Sims

Now, Richard, you’re running this and looking after it. And canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, the great outdoors is in your DNA, isn’t it?

Richard Harpham

Yeah, so my wife and I, we are professional adventurers. That randomly ended up with us leaving proper jobs behind and ending up running a water sports and adventure business where we look after about 13,000 people a year.

Matt Sims

Wow. The benefits of being in the great outdoors. They do have a positive impact on us, don’t they?

Richard Harpham

I think the great outdoors has been there forever in our background. And one of the things at the moment is there’s a lot of distractions from the digital world and TV and multiple channels that blindside us from the fact that in the great outdoors, rain or shine, we’re going to have the best time.

And there’s lots of evidence, particularly around young people – Sport England and the Outdoor Industry Association commissioned a massive active people survey that said, if you get young people between the ages of 11 and 15 interested in outdoor activities, 75% of them will do it for life.

Matt Sims

Wow. So something like this at a show is really important, then, for far bigger reasons than keeping the kids entertained for 20 minutes.

Richard Harpham

I think that’s absolutely it. I was really lucky. I joined a kayak club when I was, you know, yay big. And every family holiday we went camping in Scotland or Wales. I never went overseas or abroad with my parents, and we just learned to love camping. I was a Scout, and I felt at home, and I’ve always felt home in the great outdoors.

Matt Sims

And it’s not just families you’ve been involved with. You’ve been heavily involved with our British Olympic team, haven’t you?

Richard Harpham

Well, you say British Olympic team. Weirdly, actually, I am the manager of the Ghana ski team.

Matt Sims

Are they like the Jamaican bobsled team?

Richard Harpham

Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, also known as the Snow Leopard, was very happy with that comparison to a team who were trying to do something seriously. But here’s a guy who learned indoors in Milton Keynes, didn’t start skiing until he was 26 or 27 and had no funding.

On the serious side, to qualify for a winter Olympics is like trying to run a Formula One team. He qualified. I got involved as the manager of this incredible story, and there we are in Vancouver with the most covered team of the Olympics.

Matt Sims

Wow, that’s quite a story. Now, you travelled the entire UK for your book in a motorhome or campervan. Tell us, what was the book about?

Richard Harpham

So we’ve just produced a book of 50 paddling adventures. And I like the word adventure, because adventure can be big or small. You know, my adventure might be different to your adventure, but that is also in our DNA.

So we probably paddled about 70 or 80 different destinations, on the sea, on lakes, on lochs, on rivers from flat and calm to white water. And we’ve, I would say, lovingly crafted this book by paddlers, for paddlers to get people out adventuring in Great Britain. You know, it’s called Great for a reason.

Matt Sims

Absolutely. Well, it’s great to catch up with you. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule as you manage all these people on the water. I’m going to get back on terra firma, if that’s all right.

Richard Harpham

That’s perfectly fine, but what I will do is hold you to getting you back in a boat some other time.

Matt Sims

Maybe you can do that. Let’s see.

Hydraulic levelling vs electronic levelling

Matt Sims

Now, on the podcast, we talk a lot about Motorhome Matt Approved brands, and I’m here with one of them now, and the main man behind the leveling system company, Ma-Ve. I’m with Will Bark. Now, tell me – I’ve got one big question that I want to unpack in some detail in the future. A hydraulic leveling system or an electronic leveling system?

Will Bark

Wow. I mean, I don’t even sell an electronic leveling system, but I was involved 10 or 15 years ago with a company that actually brought them to the UK. They’re now called TESA, but I can’t remember what they were called in the past.

And actually, they were never built as a leveling system. They were actually built as a stabilisation system .Not leveling, stabilisation. So hydraulic leveling is just more robust, stronger and better equipped for a bigger vehicle. But electric leveling systems do work. There’s a place for them in the market.

Matt Sims

And would you say they’re better fitted to caravans than motorhomes, then?

Will Bark

Not so much caravans, but small vans. So if you’ve got, like, an Adria Twin or a little day van from Auto Sleeper, brilliant. Electric leveling systems keep your weight down. They’re cost effective and they do a job, but they’re not leveling systems. They’re not hydraulic leveling systems.

You know, you take one of my systems, Ma-Ve, as you said, or you take an Amplo or an M-Level. You can raise all the wheels off the ground. You can put snow chains on if you’re abroad. We’ve all been in that field stuck because it’s a Fiat. So you can lift the front wheels up. You can throw some bricks under. You can drive off. You can’t do that with an electric leveling system. Just doesn’t happen.

Matt Sims

Now, you’ve mentioned some other brands, and you are the man behind them as well. So Ma-Ve you’re heavily involved with. Amplo, M-Level. You are Mr. Level!

Will Bark

I just like leveling.

Matt Sims

You do! So can we do a piece together where we unpack all the different types of leveling system?

Will Bark

I’d love to, I’d love to. I’m quite straight. I do predominantly work with Ma-Ve, but I know the brands. I have been around for a long time, 27 years doing this job.

Matt Sims

A long time. Well, I’ve got loads of questions, and I know lots of our listeners have too about which is best for them. So let’s do that in the future.

Campsite of the month

Matt Sims

One of the best things for me about coming to any show is meeting up with old friends, and I’m here with one of those. This is Rob, who is old! Now, we call Rob Alan because you are representing Alan Rogers, and it is time for the Alan Rogers campsite of the month. So Rob, where are we off to this month?

Rob Fearn

It’s Camping de la Côte d’Argent, which is in the Gironde region. Do you know it?

Matt Sims

South-west France. And famous for Médoc wine.

Rob Fearn

Yeah, yeah. It’s south of the Gironde estuary.

Matt Sims

I’ve never actually spent much time down there. As I said before, we’ve just kept going into Spain in the past. But is it worth checking out?

Rob Fearn

Absolutely. The beaches are stunning. On that course, you’ve got the Gironde region, and then you’ve got the Landes region, which is obviously famous for its pine trees. So this campsite is sort of partially shaded, slightly hilly, but all the pitches have got a little bit of pine shade. So, yeah, really comfortable. It gets a little bit hotter down there, but those trees give you a little bit of shade.

Matt Sims

Is this the campsite you’ve talked to me about in the past, with a massive investment in its swimming pools?

Rob Fearn

Yeah, it’s the one with the huge pool complex. So it’s all heated. There’s a 20-meter indoor covered pool. It’s got, I think 10 water slides. It’s about a kilometer square, this pool. It’s huge. It’s got jacuzzis, water slides, one of those lazy river rapid things. Yes, absolutely, absolutely huge.

Matt Sims

So a real family campsite, then?

Rob Fearn

Massively. Perfect for families. It’s great because it’s near the beach, 300 meters to the beach. If you want to take your own vehicle, then, of course, there are large, shady pitches. But if you wanted to meet up with family and friends, you drive down in your leisure vehicle. You can meet up with family and friends.

And you know, they’ve got a whole range of other accommodations. So you can take extended members of the family along as well. And the amount of money they invested in that pool is phenomenal. It’s a really standout attraction, yeah.

Matt Sims

Open all year?

Rob Fearn

It is not open all year. This year, it opens on the 23rd of May, and it runs until the 15th of September, and that’s sort of the average when they open and close. In the high season, they’ve got lots of attractions for everyone from teenagers, children, all those activities that are synonymous with a French campsite.

Matt Sims

Where does it sit on the Alan Rogers price matrix?

Rob Fearn

Well, for this year, we’re ditching the price complex, mate,

Matt Sims

No…! It was so brilliantly confusing.

Rob Fearn

I know, absolutely, So their starting price is 34 euros per pitch, and that is including two persons.

Matt Sims

That’s very reasonable. And that includes all the use of the use of the pools, everything, all the facilities?

Rob Fearn

Absolutely, 100%.

Matt Sims

When are we going?

Rob Fearn

I’m going this summer.

Matt Sims

Are you really?

Rob Fearn

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Sims

Got room in the van?

Rob Fearn

Probably not for you. This is camping Airotel. So Airotel is a French chain. They’ve got about 25 campsites, primarily in that region. I think there’s about 10 in that region, and then the rest are spread out through France. They’re all four and five star campsites. And this campsite that we’ve talked about today is Airotel Camping de la Côte d’Argent in the Gironde region.

Matt Sims

To find out more about all of Alan Rogers campsites, just head to mhmp.info/alanrogers.

The all new Aura campervan

Matt Sims

I ventured onto the Beez Leisure stand, and I’m with the king pink bee, Mr. Neil Boulton. You are in a bright pink shirt, looking suitably bright. Now, we first met back in 2007 and you were the UK Sales Manager for Adria at the time.

Neil Boulton

I was also slimmer.

Matt Sims

Well, we both were, let’s be fair. It’s a long time ago now. We called you the Bulldog because you probably put us through our paces with our pitch to become Adria dealers when we were launching our dealership.

Neil Boulton

I did, but fair play to you. You listened on everything that was said, took us on board, and there you were. You set yourselves up.

Matt Sims

We did and we became an award-winning Adria dealer. True. And I love the fact that years later, you took our pitch and used it yourself to launch.

Neil Boulton

It was a good template!

Matt Sims

Love that. Anyway, it’s good to see you now. Now, you’re here at the show. I’m very excited to see you launching a caravan and a motorhome brand.

Neil Boulton

So we are Knauss, Weinsberg and T@B dealers. Fantastic product for the industry, very good product for somebody who’s coming into caravanning. I mean, a quick example, you’ve got a lovely German-built caravan, German build quality, fixed bed, short, lightweight, narrow, brand new, with a 10 year warranty. And it’s a little over £20,000.

Matt Sims

That’s amazing.

Neil Boulton

I mean, you’d struggle to buy used caravans of that kind of money. You know, you’ve got a 10 year warranty of a product that’s built to last. The public are all over it. It’s got such a good response. Everybody is loving the product. They can’t pick a fault with it. It’s exciting. It’s really exciting.

Matt Sims

And the price is the most – I mean, the build quality is phenomenal, too. The finish is amazing.

Neil Boulton

The finish is good. The layout is very good. But we all know about German build quality. You know, it’s a cliche sentence, but it does what it says on the tin.

Matt Sims

Tell me a bit about Aura as well, because this is a new brand that you’re launching too.

Neil Boulton

This is completely hot off the press. I mean, this was finished and built this weekend, so it’s the first ever viewing in the UK. We’ve got the exclusive on it, panel van built in Nottinghamshire. Again, the quality and the furnish – but it can be bespoke.

Now, there’s umpteen choices of the wood, the furniture, the fittings, the soft furnishings. You can even change the layout inside to suit the customer. So, Mr. Customer, you don’t like all the drawers in the kitchen. Not a problem. We’ll put you a nice, big door in. And people are liking that. You know, you’re spending a lot of money. You want the right vehicle, and it’s very hard in a small box to get the right vehicle.

Matt Sims

But what’s interesting, on the money, this is a panel van conversion we’re looking at here. It’s British built. It’s beautifully done inside, and it’s under £80,000 at £77,777.

Neil Boulton

£77,777 gets you things like 200 watt solar, Avtex, Wi-Fi, underslung gas tanks. You know, the kit is phenomenal.

Matt Sims

And British built, and you’re the first dealer in the UK.

Neil Boulton

We are indeed, yes, and people are all over it.

Matt Sims

Well, that is really encouraging, and good for you. We’re going to catch up with Mike, the founder of Aura, in a second. But just tell me, how has the show been for you, and how is the landscape as a dealership for you?

Neil Boulton

Yeah, the show, surprisingly, is going very well. I mean, I know a lot of people are saying that the car that the caravan industry is dipping at the moment. We’re not seeing that. We’re really not seeing that. The attendance has been good. But more importantly, the quality of the customer is good.

This is not people who are just coming in to walk around the halls. They’re interested. If they’re not in caravanning, they want to know what it’s about. How do they get into it. What is it going to cost them?

And I think for us, we’re very fortunate with brand new caravans with a price starting at £16,500. It’s affordable to come into. Not everybody’s going to walk in here and jump straight into a £50,000 vehicle – they need a start points. But the the interest is there. And with over 30 years in the industry, as a gut feeling right now, I think we’re going back in the right direction, and I think the industry is going to have a really good year.

Matt Sims

Good for you. Well, I hope so. How are the sales for you this week?

Neil Boulton

We are above our targets.

Matt Sims

Amazing.

Neil Boulton

Very, very pleased.

Matt Sims

Well, have a great rest of the week now. It’s great to catch up with you. And it was a long paper round, is all I can say.

Neil Boulton

Get the diet on the go.

Matt Sims

I’m joined by one of the longest serving members of the motorhome and caravan industry. Mike Lake, has been around forever. How are you, Mike?

Mike Lake

You’re right. I’ve been around forever. In fact, the first caravans I sold, we had to sell a horse to tow them. It has been a long time.

Matt Sims

How many years have you actually been in this industry?

Mike Lake

In all seriousness, it’s only 34 years. Seems like a long time, but my first show here at the NEC was 34 years ago,

Matt Sims

And you’ve actually retired more than once, and you’re back.

Mike Lake

Oh, you can’t retire from this business.

Matt Sims

Last June, you retired from Knauss, where you’d been for 10 years.

Mike Lake

Yeah, 10 years with Knauss, super people, lovely products, highly recommended. Thoroughly enjoyed working with them, but the sheer size of the machine, eventually it’s just too much for one man. You know, they’ve put a team in there of extra people in the UK, which will be good for consumers. Yeah, it’s definitely not a one man job!

Matt Sims

So went home from work and announced to your wife, “I’ve retired. That’s it. I’m here.” What happened?

Mike Lake

Well, she was quite shocked. And she was very, very kind. She actually let me sit there in my pajamas till 12 o’clock for about two weeks, and then said, “Now that’s enough. Now it’s time to go back out into the real world and do something positive.”

Matt Sims

So rather than just, you know, get a paper round or drive an Amazon van, you decided to launch a motorhome brand.

Mike Lake

Well, yeah, why not? Doesn’t everybody want to do that? It was a long, long time ago when I was at school and I told the careers officer, “I want to design caravans.” He told me I was mad. He gave me a leaflet about becoming a radio operator on a Shell oil tanker instead, because I was useless at maths.

Matt Sims

But it’s here. So Aura has been launched. Beez Leisure are the first dealer here in the UK.

Mike Lake

They are indeed. We’re going to build somewhere between 60 and 100 units a year. So we’re not going to have an extensive dealer network. We will have an extensive aftersales network. We’re going to use a network of skilled engineers nationally to look after customers.

Retailer wise, we probably will have a network of three eventually. But to start with, early days, you need to work with the dedicated crew. Couldn’t have had a better choice than Neil and his boys. Known them for a long time.

Matt Sims

Well, I’ve been talking to Neil now. We’ve known each other a long time as well, and he was telling me how the product can be tailored and you can customise it to a customer’s exact requirements.

Mike Lake

One of the big frustrations when you work with one of the large brands, is customers will come to you at a show with a very, very reasonable request, and the phrase is, “Couldn’t you just?” And the answer is always, no, we couldn’t. Well, of course, it’s changed. Because the answer is yes, we can! Bit like Bob the Builder, but slightly more professional.

But yeah, if the customer doesn’t like the colour of the woodwork, if it’s too contemporary, we can build it with something traditional. We can change the cupboard doors. We can change the woodwork. We can change the upholstery.

We can even wrap the entire outside. Our dear friends at Stellantis now only produce these in white and 50 shades of grey. So we can have this in any colour you like. If you want a big photograph of your grandchildren on the side… Matt, if you’ve always dreamed of driving the Scooby bus, we can do it for you.

Matt Sims

Love that. Maybe I’ll do the Scooby bus rather than the picture the grandkids, although I love them dearly. But what’s the lead time to get one?

Mike Lake

Lead time – currently, if somebody rushes up today and says to Neil, “We must have one,” we would be looking at early June delivery.

Matt Sims

Okay, so not too bad at all.

Mike Lake

Oh no, no. Fairly quick.

Matt Sims

Yeah. Well, good luck, Mike. It’s great to have you back.

Mike Lake

Thanks so much. I was hardly away for a second. It’s good to see you.

Matt Sims

Have a great show.

Motorhome sales trends with Southwest Motorhomes

Matt Sims

Now, I’m joined by someone who could best be described as the show’s best impression of a hard-boiled egg. It’s Geoff from Southwest Motorhomes. I’m only kidding, you’re looking very dapper.

Geoff Fisher

Well, we tried to make the effort. We’re all branded Malibu and doing the right thing for the company.

Matt Sims

You’re doing very well. So tell me, how is the show been for you? The landscape has been challenging for the last few years. How has it been so far this week?

Geoff Fisher

So this is the first time Southwest Motorhomes have done the February show, and it’s been quite successful for us. We’ve put away several vans already for Malibu. We’re only on the Malibu stand.

And we’re also working forward to building our client database in working with bringing more people across to us. But talking about the changing landscape, we’re sort of seeing more non-seasonal trade bases now.

Matt Sims

What do you mean?

Geoff Fisher

Traditionally with motorhomes, we would normally see selling Easter onwards, sort of summer season, etc. And we had a very successful winter this year, and we think part of that is coming from where customers are more taking their pension lump sums, changing lifestyle, and the motorhome purchases come in when the money comes, as opposed to when the season starts.

Matt Sims

So what’s interesting then, on that point, I happen to know that Sarah, your esteemed owner, told you you were going to open between Christmas and New Year 2024. And you did, and you made sales!

Geoff Fisher

Yeah, we made sales. A lot of our competitors were closed, and we had people come in to see us. And it was a very successful period for us. Not big numbers, but the first time we’ve ever opened during that period. We’re also moving towards a longer trading pattern during the week as well.

Matt Sims

So is that why you’re at this show in February? Because normally you come to the October show, you do some of the outdoor shows through the year. Am I right in saying this is your first February show?

Geoff Fisher

Is definitely the first February show, as you know. You met us in October at the NEC and also in Shepton Mallet, etc., which we support heavily and have done for many years. But for us, it’s about engaging more widely with our client base, getting our name out there a little bit more over a longer period of time.

Matt Sims

Now, on the stand, you’ve only got 2025 models brought here by Malibu. I know you’ve got 2024 models still in stock, and you’re not alone. Most of the Malibu and Cathargo dealership or dealership network still has ’24 stock in stock. Are there big deals to be had?

Geoff Fisher

We’ve got certain things we can do during the show this week, which we would never, ever be able to do unless we were part of this show.

Matt Sims

It’s not necessarily a case of come to a show and buy – come to a show and have a really good look and then go and visit your local dealer and do a deal there. Is that what you’re saying?

Geoff Fisher

To a certain extent. But the offers that we’ve got available finish on Sunday.

Matt Sims

So the show offers are dead in the water on Sunday – on 2025 stock?

Geoff Fisher

2025 stock as well.

Matt Sims

But there are still deals around on 2024.

Geoff Fisher

Absolutely.

Matt Sims

So Southwest Motorhomes – where can people find out more about you?

Geoff Fisher

www.southwestmotorhomes.co.uk. We’re right at the end of the A303 in Ilminster, just before you hit the Blackdown Hills.

Matt Sims

Next to Costa and McDonald’s.

Geoff Fisher

Exactly, come again. Come and get your coffee, get your McDonald’s and come and have a little browse and a conversation with us at same time.

Matt Sims

So that’s a wrap on the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome show 2025 here at the NEC. And what a great success it’s been. It’s a show that caters for all ages. There is something for everyone.

Great to see people visiting it for the first time. Great to see businesses exhibiting at it for the first time. Stay tuned. We’ve got more content to come from the show, new innovations and new product launches. In the meantime, it’s back to the studio.

Audience Q&A

Keith Gooden

It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.

Matt Sims

And I’m Motorhome Matt.

Keith Gooden

It’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe. Time now for our Q and A, our questions and answers, where you ask the questions. Matt Sims, Motorhome Matt, he answers them. And if he doesn’t know, he asks somebody who does. First of all, Steven Bell is in Manchester.

Steven Bell

I’ve got an Auto-Trail Chieftan tag axle. Would it be worthwhile putting some Rogue alloys on it and BFGoodrich K2 all terrain tyres on it, just for general wear and tear. And would there be a lot of road noise for little tracks that you go on or when you’re going on grass? Is it worth spending the money and putting them on it? Thank you, Motorhome Matt.

Keith Gooden

There you go, Matt. What do you reckon?

Matt Sims

I recorded that in Manchester with Steve. Steve, it was great to meet you and your wife, and thank you for binge consuming the podcast while you drive your HGV up and down the country. BFGoodrich tyres – a lot of people say they’re really noisy. I must admit, I’ve had a motorhome with them on and they’re not.

They’re invaluable on grass, because they don’t wheel spin like a normal road tyre would. And if you put BFGoodriches on them and the Rogue alloys, you’ll be the most bling Auto-Trail Chieftain in the country. So it’s a certain look. And if that’s your thing, then go for it. And the tyres, yes, more expensive, probably, but they are certainly useful to have.

Keith Gooden

Peter Hadley’s in Hereford. He’s very cheeky. He’s got two questions. First of all, “Do you need to be a homeowner to gain Black Horse finance for purchasing a large brand campervan? Our background is we just sold our house.

We have half a million pounds plus in the bank, and we’re waiting to buy our ideal home. Being mortgage free, we’re currently renting. We’re due to pick up a brand new campervan scheduled in early 2025 on pre-approved finance, and we will have to reapply at the point of imminent delivery. Some say being renters will cause an issue with finance, and more importantly, the interest rate that they have to pay.” What do you think?

Matt Sims

No, you definitely don’t have to be a homeowner to get finance. It’s straightforward. There are lots of criteria that a finance company is going to look at. So whether you’re a tier one lend, or what’s called a tier two lend. So they look at previous credit history.

How long have you lived at previous addresses? Have you defaulted on any repayments? They’re not going to take any interest in the fact you’ve got half a million quid in the bank. In fact, they might say, if you’ve got half a million pounds in the bank, why do you need to take finance? Well, of course, you’re using that money to buy a house.

The answer is no. If you find that Black Horse are struggling to afford you finance, then go and talk to someone like Creative Funding Solutions. Motorhome.finance is their website. They’re a broker, and they have access to a whole panel of lenders who are used to lending to people of all different types of criteria. So it’s definitely worth talking to them.

Keith Gooden

And it brings us back, doesn’t it, to an argument which has been rumbling on for years in the mortgage market, which is that renters’ good payment record of their rent isn’t taken into account by mortgage lenders when they apply for mortgages.

And I suppose this could drip over, couldn’t it, into general financing? Because if a renter is paying a considerable amount of money with no breaks and no defaults, then surely that’s of use to people who lend money.

Matt Sims

I guess it depends if the rent is recorded on your credit history. So, you know, if your landlord is going to report you for non-payment of rent and you get a bad credit record for it, then, yeah, that’s going to impact your ability to borrow.

Keith Gooden

But they’re not giving you credit when you do pay.

Matt Sims

No, that’s right, yeah. And many landlords, private landlords, have no ability to report you. So it’s always worth taking a credit card and putting some money on it and paying it off every month to build up your credit score.

There’s lots of best practices on how to build up a credit score. Not having any borrowed credit is probably the worst thing you can do in terms of getting a good credit score, because a lender wants to see that you’ve borrowed and you can repay.

So, you know, that’s a great practice, to do that. So have a credit card and use it, even if it’s only a small amount, and clear it down every month and show that you’ve got a reliability of repaying finance.

Keith Gooden

Do your shopping on it. Put your big shop on it. Now, a second question from Peter Hadley in Hereford. I told you he was cheeky. “If you add a diesel heater to a new van on finance, does it affect manufacturers’ warranties, insurances, and do you need to let the finance company know that you’ve done this alteration?”

Matt Sims

That’s going to be down to the terms of the lender and the insurer. I know loads of people who have fitted a diesel heater, and I bet they haven’t told their insurance company. There’s probably no harm in telling them at all, because it is a modification, and actually it might be worth telling them, because you might have improved the value, increased the value of the vehicle as a result of doing it.

So you might want to up the value of the asset. In terms of a finance company, I don’t think they’re going to take any interest, but there’s no harm if you’re concerned that any modification you’ve done to the vehicle to let them know. If you change the numberplate, put a private plate on it, they’re going to get an alert from the DVLA. They’ll know probably before you. But any other modification, if you’re unsure, just tell them.

Keith Gooden

Rob’s in Bristol. He says, “Hi, Matt. I’ve been looking for somewhere to get my campervan floor templated and carpets made up. I live in the Bristol area, but I’m not having any success.” That’s what templating is. “Do you have anywhere that you could recommend?”

Matt Sims

You can do this yourself, Rob. I’ve done it many times. If you haven’t got the old carpets to cut around, then get a load of cardboard, tape it all together, lay it down in the floor, and cut it very carefully, and then take that to your carpet store, and they will make a carpet for you.

And you want to make sure that they hem all around the edge so the hem doesn’t stick out as well, and then it should – if you’ve done a great job – lay down perfectly. My advice would be to leave at least a centimeter gap between the wall and the edge of the carpet so there is room for it to move around. You can fix it down with double sided tape, or even the little poppers, you know, the male and female popper. Fix those to the carpet, fix them to the floor and pop them down.

Keith Gooden

Yeah. And if you do use different bits of cardboard, make sure you number them and also do a little map on a separate piece of paper.

Matt Sims

I would get a little parcel tape or gaffer tape and fix them all together so you end up with one big piece of cardboard or multiple pieces based on the motorhome floor.

Keith Gooden

You’ve clearly never done DIY with me.

Ask Matt

Keith Gooden

Okay, how do people get in touch?

Matt Sims

We’d love it if you did. Just head to mhmp.info/askmatt. If you’ve got a question, please ask it, because I guarantee hundreds, if not thousands of people may have the same question. Click the orange button and record it. Tell us where in the world you are, or you can fill in the form and we’ll read it for you.

Keith Gooden

And if you’re looking for trusted brands and services, then make sure you visit the Motorhome Matt Approved directory. It’s at mhmp.info/approved.

Matt Sims

And if you’re watching on YouTube, please click subscribe and the little bell – brought to you by www.arobasecreative.co.uk.