[00:00:00] Keith Gooden: In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast.
[00:00:03] Matt Sims: An outsider to our industry joins us to give his honest and commercial view.
[00:00:08] Keith Gooden: In the news, Motorhome Dreams are launching their third competition, and the South West Motorhome and Campervan Show is just around the corner.
[00:00:15] Matt Sims: And we answer your questions on Chausson models, adding modifications and fog lights.
[00:00:30] Keith Gooden: Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
[00:00:32] Matt Sims: And I’m Motorhome Matt.
[00:00:34] Keith Gooden: Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans. And it’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com
and sponsored by Ripe.
[00:00:42] Matt Sims: Now remember, we always say this, but please do follow on your favourite podcast app. Or if you’re watching on YouTube, click subscribe and the little bell.
[00:00:50] Keith Gooden: In the news, it’s Motorhome Dreams’ third competition and it’s live. Can you just explain to people who’ve never heard about this before what this is?
[00:00:59] Matt Sims: Yeah, it’s an amazing competition called Motorhome Dreams, where you could win a quality motorhome, a real one. As we’ve joked before, it’s not made of Lego. It’s an actual motorhome with a typical value of around £50,000 plus, and you can win it by entering just £2.50 per ticket. I think you can buy as many tickets as you like. The lady that won the first time, do you remember this? She bought two tickets, £5, and won a beautiful Chausson Titanium motorhome. Family of four can go away in it and she was over the moon. So she’s now enjoying motorhome holidays with her twins. So you can find out more and enter for just £2.50. Go to Motorhome Dreams.
[00:01:39] Keith Gooden: That’s Motorhome Dreams. And if you win, tell us. It’s our product of the week. Matt, what is it this week?
[00:01:48] Matt Sims: It’s the ScorpionTrack Quantum 3, a brand new tracker from the guys at ScorpionTrack. This is a Thatcham S7 unit.
[00:01:57] Keith Gooden: And what does that mean?
[00:01:58] Matt Sims: So Thatcham are the organisation that set the standards for trackers and immobilisers.
[00:02:03] Keith Gooden: That insurers approve of.
[00:02:05] Matt Sims: That’s the key thing. Insurance companies refer to Thatcham for the quality of units that they’ve recognised and have graded, and the ScorpionTrack Quantum 3 is an S7 unit, often required by your insurance company before they’ll even insure you. And it’s a standalone unit with a three-year battery life and it gives you 24/7 theft monitoring and, above all, peace of mind.
[00:02:29] Keith Gooden: And all that for £249.99. Using the app, you can arm and disarm it manually. You can set safe zones. Can you explain what they are?
[00:02:39] Matt Sims: Yeah. So you can set little areas. So say you’re at home and your vehicle moves on the drive. You don’t necessarily want an alert for that because you know it’s happening. But if it goes through a perimeter fence, a virtual geofence it’s called, then you get an alert. So say you park up on a campsite. If the vehicle drives out the campsite, you get an alert, whereas if it’s driving around within the campsite, it’s not going to alert.
[00:03:03] Keith Gooden: I got you. So those safe zones, little islands of safety.
[00:03:06] Matt Sims: They’re trusted areas. Yes, it’s ideal for home or for a storage yard or, as I say, for when you’re away camping.
[00:03:12] Keith Gooden: So then the alert won’t go off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it’s professionally fitted. It’s discreet. In other words, robbers can’t see it.
[00:03:19] Matt Sims: Yeah, it’s hidden on the vehicle.
[00:03:21] Keith Gooden: And insurers approve it because it’s Thatcham S7 approved, which could shave a few quid off the insurance. It costs £119 a year for monitoring. That’s on top of the fitting of £249.99. And when I say monitoring, it means that if it goes outside the safe zone, they’ll send you an alert, say, hey, are you in the motorhome or is somebody else who shouldn’t be?
[00:03:42] Matt Sims: That’s right. Yeah, that is the monitoring service. And you can set all that up in the app. And loads have sold since its launch in April, and sales are growing fast, so don’t miss out. You can find out all about ScorpionTrack, who are Motorhome Matt Approved. Head to mhmp.info/scorpiontrack where you can find out more about them and this product and a 10% discount. Use the code MOTORHOMEMATT when you buy it and get 10% off your purchase price.
[00:04:10] Keith Gooden: The show of the week this week is the South West Motorhome and Campervan Show. It’s from the 5th to the 7th of September at the Bath and West Showground. You can save there as well, can’t you, Matt?
[00:04:21] Matt Sims: Yeah, absolutely. These are great events. This is another Warners show. The Western Motorhome Campervan Show is at the Royal Bath and West Showground. We all lovingly call it the Shepton Mallet Show or the Shepton Show because that’s where it is. And lots of names get used for the shows, but they are all brilliant. £85 for four nights camping, live entertainment across the whole weekend. There’s a small charge for the Saturday night headline act, but there’s multiple stages at all these events, plus the trade show as well, with hundreds of exhibitors, dealers, accessory sellers. That Leisure Shop are there, of course, and always the highlight for me is the Advice Centre. 18 free presentations across the weekend. I’ll be hosting them again at Shepton Mallet in the cinema area there.
[00:05:06] Keith Gooden: You’re going to be compèring, I hear.
[00:05:07] Matt Sims: I’m compèring again, yeah. So Motorhome Matt is at all of the Advice Centres this year. They are such a great resource and free. And the ticket prices are, say, £85 for a weekend or just £7.50 for a day visitor pass, but you can get 10% off the day visitor pass. Just head to Freshwater and use the code MOTORHOMEMATT and save on your day ticket.
[00:05:31] Keith Gooden: It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me, Keith Gooden.
[00:05:36] Matt Sims: And me, Motorhome Matt.
[00:05:38] Keith Gooden: Brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com
and sponsored by Ripe. Now the main part of this week’s podcast is, we’ve got a special guest. What, you know then, Matt, who has got an outsider’s view about Motorhome Matt and the business aspect of it.
[00:05:56] Matt Sims: Yeah, we are opening a new shop, as you know, in Wellington, just south of Taunton, and that’s opening today as our official takeover, with an opening weekend at the end of September. I wanted to really up the ante with our operation of the shop business, and we want to grow and scale it. So an old friend of mine, Martyn Ibson, has worked at Next for 31 years. He was their commercial manager, and Martyn and I have been talking for a little while about him potentially joining our team. And he has. He has literally joined us now. He’s been in post for a month, and he brings to us 31 years of commercial retail experience. Now we all know the clothing brand Next, don’t we? We shop in there for years.
[00:06:40] Keith Gooden: Yeah. And they really did innovate in that sector, didn’t they? I mean, think of the Next sales, which are still major retailing events around the country.
[00:06:50] Matt Sims: Well, people would queue up, wouldn’t they? Was it Boxing Day or the day after Boxing Day?
[00:06:54] Keith Gooden: Queue all night?
[00:06:54] Matt Sims: Yeah. For hours. It was amazing. And they created a real buzz and they still do. And they have been innovating for years online as well. And they were one of the big brands that during the pandemic, when we couldn’t go out and shop, did really, really well online. And Martyn was a big part of that success and looked after the Next stores, which are huge in and around Bristol, was part of their buying team as well. So when Martyn joined us, the first thing I wanted him to do was really take a helicopter view, as I call it, of our business here, particularly That Leisure Shop, and tell me what we’re doing well, what we’re not doing very well, and what as an industry we need to be doing better. And so I wanted to pick his brains to really get into his view of our industry and our marketplace and find out what he thought we are doing great, and we could be doing better at.
[00:07:44] Martyn Ibson: It’s most people’s lifetime that I’ve done within that business. And I needed to move on. I need new challenges. But also as well, for me to move out of that business, I needed a company to move into with the right fit for me. It’s things like, are they dynamic? Are they forward-thinking? Are they on the curve of a business growth? All those kind of areas. Because I can’t leave a business for something that I don’t believe in. And That Leisure Shop has ticked all those boxes.
[00:08:19] Matt Sims: Fantastic. Well, you’re a very passionate guy and we are delighted to have you. You know we mean that. Yeah. So you’ve been in our industry for a month now. You have been. It’s worth saying as well, you’ve been kind of pursuing the pastime in many ways, you know, for years personally. But you’ve joined us professionally for just a month. What early impressions so far do you have?
[00:08:42] Martyn Ibson: The business is something that I can see that will grow. There’s certain parts of the business that we need to develop. We need to move forward. However, the customer experience for me is a major thing that we can look at, improve, develop. I’ve gone to quite a lot of dealerships out there. I’ve actually done mystery shops to go and have a look at what I’m stepping into, because I need to know the benchmark of where we’re at.
[00:09:08] Matt Sims: We love a mystery shop here.
[00:09:10] Martyn Ibson: You’ve got to do them on yourself. I’ve actually had people come in to here. You might know this, but they’ve come in here as a mystery shopper as well, because I want to see when I’m not here, what are they doing exactly? And there is a different, varied responses I’ve had in various retailers out there. As in the leisure industry, you’ve got some that are trying to make things different, but you’re also getting, on the flip side, ones that they’re not doing anything at all.
[00:09:38] Matt Sims: They’re not innovating at all. I always say if you don’t innovate, you evaporate. I firmly believe this, and I believe that we are constantly trying to do it. But this is where you hold me and the team to account. Because if you see if we’re not innovating, you’ll call us out, won’t you?
[00:09:55] Martyn Ibson: Yeah. This morning, I’ve already moved stuff around in the shop. Yeah. Tried to innovate, try to do things differently as opposed to doing things always the same way.
[00:10:05] Matt Sims: Well, I noticed when I arrived, we’ve got double sofas outside the shop displayed for sale in a pile, you know, stacked up on display beautifully.
[00:10:13] Martyn Ibson: Yeah, we could not say stacked up, but yeah, we’ve displayed them in a different way. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I’m trying to, every time that customer comes into our stores, they see something different. It might be the same product, but I’ve displayed it in a different way so it catches your eye.
[00:10:30] Matt Sims: Yeah. Love that. That’s all about merchandising, isn’t it? Now, we are often described as a cottage industry where we’re kind of quite a niche industry, and it’s very much a close-knit group of people. People come into it like you, and often people leave and then they come back. Nonetheless, what has really impressed you so far? Because sometimes we’re seen as a bit lacklustre. There’s a lot of complacency in our industry. I’m sorry to say. But what has impressed you about us?
[00:10:59] Martyn Ibson: Definitely going into them, the ones that are doing it well, their service is on point. They’re trying to merchandise their products in a different way. They’re trying to innovate there. And I can definitely feel you step into a family. When you said about that cottage industry, yeah, I definitely see that. Whereas I’m used to very hard-nosed, cut-throat business, especially corporate. In the fashion industry, it is that way. Yeah. You have to be to be ahead of the game.
[00:11:27] Matt Sims: So is there anything that completely surprised you when you came here to our little business? I mean, we’re still in infancy and really in start-up as That Leisure Shop because we’re only a few years in. But was anything that surprised you?
[00:11:38] Martyn Ibson: Surprised me in the right way is that you’re trying to be that bigger business than what you are. Okay. Whereas I would have thought it would be a smaller business. This is where we’re at. We’re kind of maybe 0.1 or 2, but you’re already up on the 4 or 5, 6s in the scale out of 10 of trying to develop your brand.
[00:11:55] Matt Sims: There’s still a long way to go.
[00:11:57] Martyn Ibson: Yep. But that’s with any business. Even when you think you’ve got there, there’s still going to be more that you can do because the market will change, the business will change, the dealers will change. Yeah. The weather will change. So that’s what surprised me. But it was in a good way that you are already moving yourself up that scale and scaling up. That’s good.
[00:12:18] Matt Sims: I’m keen. We’re looking further into the future when we’re planning campaigns as well. So we’re talking about Christmas in the summer rather than in November, because we’re so in the weeds in this business, we’re massively stretched. We’re too small a team for what we’re trying to do. So having that foresight is really key. And of course, we’ve been talking a lot about doing the shows that are almost every other week, and we’re constantly trying to reorder stock and so on. So we’re trying to get a bit more established. And you refer to Next as very corporate, where I can imagine things are very established. But how do you perceive our motorhome leisure market? How does it compare to that Next corporate model?
[00:12:58] Martyn Ibson: It’s something that I think you can develop into. When you say the cottage, I definitely agree with that. We have to get things organised and planned, which you touched on earlier. So if I was putting our Christmas sale on, remember our Christmas sale? Massive.
[00:13:10] Matt Sims: Because, oh, Boxing Day, because, yeah.
[00:13:14] Martyn Ibson: Exactly. That is a military operation. I would have in excess of 250 staff on Christmas Eve. We would shut at three and we’d all get out at 6:30. And that’s a complete store of maybe 80,000 square feet. We would change, right? So that goes hand in hand with the show’s Christmas. I’m already trying to think now about Christmas. So about ordering, what we’re going to do, how we’re going to display it, what promotions we’re going to do. Because by November it’s too late.
[00:13:42] Matt Sims: We’ve gone. Of course it is.
[00:13:44] Martyn Ibson: Yeah, we need to go now because we want to be ahead with ordering our stuff through the suppliers. We want to be first dibs on everything, whereas if you snooze, you lose. That’s another saying that we use. That’s true. And what we’re really trying to do here is develop it, organise it like a corporate business.
[00:14:01] Matt Sims: So is it possible then to build that structure in and that forward planning and that kind of corporate back office, which you’re going to bring to the party, which I am a huge supporter of, but still retain that sense that we’re a cottage industry, that we are a family business, we’re very welcoming, and when people come into a That Leisure Shop or indeed a competitive shop, you’ve got that corporate back end? Is it possible to still have that sense of belonging? Let’s call it that.
[00:14:27] Martyn Ibson: 100%, because you can say if you see a swan going across the lake, his little legs are paddling. But at the moment the leisure industry, he ain’t got no legs. He’s only got one leg and he’s going round and round and round. Whereas I want to bring the swan with two big legs. So underneath the front part of it, which is customer-facing, doesn’t have to change. But think where you are at the moment, customer-facing, where you haven’t got the stock, you haven’t got the right idea of what’s going on within that shop, or you haven’t got the right parts, and that will affect your customer-facing experience, of course. Whereas the corporate side will always back up the front-facing part of your business, always.
[00:15:10] Matt Sims: And have you identified in the industry any shortcomings compared to the corporate retail world?
[00:15:15] Martyn Ibson: So I rang a couple of dealers and asked them, could I order a part? They said, yeah, yeah, without hesitation. That’s either going to be six weeks, up to six months for a part. In my old industry, it was either free next-day delivery or within three days. Yeah, three days still isn’t acceptable. It should be next day. So why is the industry allowing people to have six weeks or six months? Well, that’s your summer over with. So if you’ve broken something at the start of the summer, by the end of the summer you’re packing it away and you still haven’t gone on holiday because your parts haven’t come. You can’t run a business that way.
[00:15:50] Matt Sims: And that’s a massive issue in our industry with supply chain. How do we fix that? It is not a quick fix. No. I think a lot of that is about us holding stock that we know is hard to get hold of. And there are probably core items that we should identify that That Leisure Shop can keep in stock. We do do this, particularly with brands like Adria. We keep stock of parts here. To bring them into the UK, they have to come from Slovenia and from the factory, and often they don’t have it in stock so they go to their supplier. So we keep them here, and then someone breaks a rear tail light and they can’t use their motorhome. Would you say they lose their summer if they’ve got to wait months for it to come? If we’ve got one, one or two days’ delivery.
[00:16:29] Martyn Ibson: But it was how the dealers said, yeah, that’s fine, it’s going to be six weeks or six months. That to me doesn’t compute.
[00:16:36] Matt Sims: So what you’re saying is that they treated that as the norm and that was acceptable.
[00:16:40] Martyn Ibson: That was the norm. It just tripped off their tongue. Well, that’s not acceptable. If I can’t get something, I should be able to get it next day or within three days or a week. Six weeks or six months, that’s not acceptable.
[00:16:50] Matt Sims: And if you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing, is that what it would be? Or is there something else you would focus on?
[00:16:56] Martyn Ibson: I think that is one thing that will hinder the business going forward, because we need to change that perception of getting the products in. But also as well, I think how the stores look as well. I think that has a lot to do with the experience of the customer, because at some point you’re going to get the younger age coming into our industry. They’re already online, they use every single app going, they want to buy things the next day. If we can’t facilitate that, where are they going to go? So if we can, That Leisure Shop can be the innovator of that, of getting things, then we’ve suddenly got a brand new wave of customers that we can take with us on that journey, and they experience a new way of living that kind of life.
[00:17:40] Matt Sims: But also the established audience are also getting online and using every app going. They’re learning to do it too. So my age and above, I’m a little bit older than you, but there’s a number of things we’re doing, and our e-commerce manager, Ben, is working really hard in the background to get us online in all kinds of different places. And he’s told us we’re not allowed to talk about it, so we’re not going to or we’ll be in trouble. But it is exciting how we are evolving the brand. And what’s interesting is there’s not much competition there. And I’ve always joked, you don’t have to do a lot in this industry to innovate and be different, sadly, because I think there’s a lot of complacency. And we have been mystery shopping, as you said, other shops, and I was in a few yesterday and they were fantastic. But I’ve been in some and frankly it just looks like a jumble sale. It’s a car boot sale. It’s just chaos.
[00:18:34] Martyn Ibson: Yeah, I think that’s a positive thing to say about them because they are even worse than that.
[00:18:40] Matt Sims: But how is that acceptable? Why is that acceptable? What’s caused that? Is that just complacency?
[00:18:45] Martyn Ibson: I think also as well, you have to embrace change. Change, if you change, will bring new things with it. If you don’t change, then you’re happy with what you’ve got. You’re happy with how things look. You’re happy how things are because you’re not challenging yourself. So you have to change to bring change, but you’ve got to embrace change and not be scared of it. I know at some point I’m going to do something that isn’t going to work. Yeah. However, I will try it. Okay. I don’t mind failing because if I fail, I review what I’ve done. But also as well, I will make a note of what I’ve done with the shows. It might take three or four ways of doing something to get the best way of doing that.
[00:19:28] Matt Sims: Sure. And that’s interesting, and that’s exciting for me as the owner of the business, that we’ve got someone prepared to take that risk. Because often in any business environment of any size, people are afraid to do stuff wrong so they won’t try it. So what if it doesn’t work? Yeah, but what if it does and it’s brilliant? This could just be a different way of doing something. And I think there’s always that case of checking in with the way we’ve always done it. Is it just we’re doing that because that’s the way we’ve always done it? Or is it because that’s the best way of trying to do it?
[00:19:57] Martyn Ibson: But I think you’ve got to bring people in who have done that always that way. So I had a phone call meeting yesterday with two of the people, the show team and Andy. Yeah, I spoke to both of those in an hour and 20 minutes. I was on the phone to them because I want to know their knowledge. Knowledge you can’t buy. People have knowledge. So if I can use that knowledge and develop that knowledge and use the system and include them in decision-making, at the end of the day I’ve got to make a decision, but I can make an informed decision about what I’m doing by using yourself, using people at the show, even looking at other traders at shows. What are they doing? Because at one point we’re going to get it right. However, if we’re at that point, we need to change because everything moves. Yes. And we have to keep up with the curve, the trends, the trade. We have to keep up with that.
[00:20:45] Matt Sims: Which I think is something we’re good at here. But you be the judge of that now. We are passionate here about customer service, and I always say that the relationship with the customer really starts at the point they make the purchase, not at the point they make the inquiry. Once they’ve made the purchase, often it’s seen, well, that’s it. They walk out. Game over. For me, I want to have an ongoing relationship with that customer. And how can we evolve that relationship so we can sell to them again and they can get even better service from us here? That’s our passion here. Is there anything you can see in our industry where there is an opportunity to increase that?
[00:21:18] Martyn Ibson: I think it’s the whole experience of when they pick up the phone. I would even start with a phone call. How do we treat them on the phone? Are we getting back to them? Are we delivering the results that they want? If we don’t, be honest with them, but try and deliver what they need. When they’re in the stores, it’s their experience, a lifestyle, it’s an event for them. What’s different about a leisure industry? The old industry I was in, you could walk out of a shop and you’ve got 20 other shops similar to me, a local place. There’s a shopping mall up the road. You can walk out of there and there’s 20 other retailers selling similar things. So if I don’t get it right in that particular store, they can walk out and go to somewhere else and get their goods. Normally within the leisure industry, it is a destination area. You drive. You choose to go to that shop. So if you choose to go to that shop and you don’t get what you want or you don’t experience what you want, you will never go back to that place again. And that’s what I think we can do. Other dealers can do and other outlets can do. It’s a destination. They are coming with their wallets hopefully open to purchase items in that store. So we have to keep them in the store. Even if they buy one fuse, that one fuse might go to a bumper top, to some other products. So suddenly, like you say, you get a return customer because they know they can get that item, they know they get that experience. And that’s what is different between the retail sector and the leisure. Leisure is normally a destination area that you go to to purchase.
[00:22:48] Matt Sims: We are a destination business here and our new store, which we’re really excited about, which we’re taking over today. So from here we are hotfooting it straight down to Wellington, to Chelston, to start taking over the shop. And at the end of September we have a big open weekend. Just looking ahead, Martyn, in 12 months’ time, what would you like to say you’ve achieved?
[00:23:11] Martyn Ibson: There’s a couple of things I would like to achieve. One, I want to be an innovator in the industry, to change the perception of our industry, where we’re going with the industry, because it takes one person to make a change and other people to follow, to make a change. So can we make it a better experience? Can we help with the distributors and manufacturers to supply us better? There has to be conversations from one person to the masses because then the masses will follow. I would like to do that. And obviously at That Leisure Shop we are an innovator to that sector, and I would like us to be more active in that sector. So we can make changes with other dealers.
[00:23:54] Matt Sims: So an influencer within the niche?
[00:23:56] Martyn Ibson: Correct.
[00:23:56] Matt Sims: Yeah. And I think we’ve achieved that with the podcast.
[00:23:58] Martyn Ibson: Oh, 100%.
[00:23:59] Matt Sims: So the Motorhome Matt brand is really powerful in the industry now. We’ve built something we never intended to achieve, but that undoubtedly brings people into That Leisure Shop. That’s why we launched the podcast, is to promote the shop. But they have to work hand in hand, don’t they? They have to innovate and influence and be a positive for change.
[00:24:16] Martyn Ibson: Because it is coming into this industry. Is it, do I call you Motorhome Matt or just Matt because I know you as Matt?
[00:24:23] Matt Sims: You can call me whatever you like.
[00:24:24] Martyn Ibson: But in here do I call you Motorhome Matt? I don’t know. But you are definitely an influencer in that sector. But we need to go hand in hand with all the other parts of the industry and our brand to move that forward.
[00:24:36] Matt Sims: And what excites you most about the road ahead then for this industry? So the bigger picture of our marketplace. I mean, it’s a challenging landscape at the moment. Lots of our competitors have disappeared. Yeah, some have sold up, some have given up. That creates an open landscape for us. I’m a firm believer in that. But what excites you most about the future?
[00:24:53] Martyn Ibson: It’s that opportunity to grow That Leisure Shop brand into different retail space. Any retail space. So it could be from a retailer who is giving up their space. We can go into there. It could be another section. It could be a campsite that we’re there. I want us to be a household brand. Yeah. I’ve come from a household brand. After 31 years being in a house, I want that for That Leisure Shop and I know I’ll get there.
[00:25:19] Matt Sims: Amazing. I’m very excited to be a household brand. So quick fire, just to wrap up then. What are you most excited about for the year ahead here at That Leisure Shop?
[00:25:28] Martyn Ibson: Where we are at the moment, to move us up the exciting chain of events that we can get to. Yes, by the end we are that household brand. I still believe we’re going to be that household brand.
[00:25:39] Matt Sims: Do you think we can achieve that in a year?
[00:25:41] Martyn Ibson: We can get out there. Why not? If people are closing, that means then the market isn’t, so to speak, in there. We can take that space over. Yeah. My old retailer that I was in, that’s what we did. We took space from other people to get the bigger market share. Yeah. And it’s an easy format. It’s a risky format, but it works.
[00:26:01] Matt Sims: I’ve quoted Bill Gates in the past who said, most people overestimate what you can achieve in one year, but hugely underestimate what you can achieve in ten. And we’re only four years in here, and it is remarkable what we’ve achieved in terms of our online presence, where we’re now springing up and you’ll see us appearing in other websites. News to come on that. But just quickly, what was the first product you bought here?
[00:26:23] Martyn Ibson: Well, I must say that I was told don’t buy anything, but on my first day I was told, don’t buy nothing.
[00:26:29] Matt Sims: By the other half.
[00:26:30] Martyn Ibson: Correct.
[00:26:30] Matt Sims: Yeah. She knew that was never going to happen.
[00:26:32] Martyn Ibson: So I bought a light that is a speaker. I took it home.
[00:26:36] Matt Sims: Yes.
[00:26:37] Martyn Ibson: Played it, and I had two friends over. Next day I bought two more.
[00:26:42] Matt Sims: These are beautiful orb lights. I forget what they’re called. Their Bluetooth speaker box make them. Yes, they are stunning, aren’t they? And what’s been your biggest learning curve thus far? A month in, what have you learned?
[00:26:51] Martyn Ibson: Language. The language that we use. I’m used to knowing every single product, so my learning curve is every day now, knowing codes, what the product is, how to speak to the customer because I didn’t understand the product. But to me a product is a product. Yeah. And I can learn that product. That’s my biggest curve, is learning the language of this.
[00:27:11] Matt Sims: And what’s your favourite product we sell?
[00:27:13] Martyn Ibson: The Pathway.
[00:27:13] Matt Sims: Okay. Pathway 4G. Love it. And your dream motorhome destination.
[00:27:18] Martyn Ibson: I’ve got many. However, it has to include my wife, my two dogs, my two cats, and sometimes my horse.
[00:27:26] Matt Sims: Sometimes the horse. Okay. And where would that be?
[00:27:29] Martyn Ibson: Anywhere that they’re included.
[00:27:31] Keith Gooden: So that’s Martyn Ibson, the commercial and operations manager at That Leisure Shop, otherwise known as Marty.
[00:27:38] Matt Sims: Actually, we call him E-Bow. So if you see him in the shop, come and say hi. E-Bow? Bo. Yeah. He’s thrown the gauntlet, that is for sure. We are on a big journey with That Leisure Shop, and Martyn is very, very much invested in that and a big part of that. So I’m dead excited that he’s part of the team. And we have a fantastic team taking this project forward. So do, if you’re passing, pop in, won’t you? Come say hi. If you’re like me and often working, browsing and using your data on the road, especially if using campsite WiFi or random hotspots abroad, you’ll want to listen up. I’ve been using NordVPN for a while now and honestly I wouldn’t go without it. Whether I’m parked up in the van somewhere remote, or grabbing signal in a service station, NordVPN gives me that extra layer of protection. It basically creates a secure tunnel for all your online traffic, so no one can snoop on what you’re doing, not even on dodgy public WiFi. But it’s not just about security. Say you’re in Spain, but you want to watch your favourite show back home. NordVPN lets you stream as if you’re still in the UK. Dead handy. It also has this clever feature called Threat Protection. It blocks pop-ups, trackers and dodgy websites before they even load, so everything’s a bit quicker and cleaner too. And setup, well, it couldn’t be easier. Just download the app, tap to connect and it just runs quietly in the background. It works across your phone, your tablet, laptops, in fact whatever you’re using. So if you fancy giving it a go, head to nordvpn.com/motorhomematt and you’ll get four extra months free when you take out the two-year plan. And there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee too. Honestly, it’s one of those things you don’t realise you need until something goes wrong, so get it sorted before your next trip. That link again, nordvpn.com/motorhomematt and get four months free when you take out the two-year plan.
[00:29:45] Keith Gooden: It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
[00:29:47] Matt Sims: And I’m Motorhome Matt.
[00:29:48] Keith Gooden: It’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com
and sponsored by Ripe. It’s that time again. It feels like ages since I’ve done one of these. Oh yes it is, because you’ve got somebody else in to do this last week, didn’t you?
[00:29:59] Matt Sims: You won’t let it go.
[00:30:01] Keith Gooden: It’s the Q&A, the questions and answers, where Matt auditions. Sorry. No. Where Matt answers the questions and you ask them. And if he doesn’t know, he’ll ask somebody who does. First of all, Steve Edwards is in King’s Lynn.
[00:30:14] Steve Edwards: We came to the Lincolnshire show currently looking for a motorhome. We’ve had a bad experience. We bought an Elddis Affinity 550 and it spent more time at Greentrees in Dereham than what it did having trips in the first five years, and the end result was it had to have a new front in because of damp. So we’ve had it repaired and we’ve moved on. We’re looking at a Chausson. We was looking at the 610, 620, and I think we might be going for the 630 now with the two single beds. Also, we have been looking at the Benimar. I don’t know if these motorhomes are any good to look for. Common sense prevails, but the question I’d like to know is, please be honest with me, I think you are. I sit here watching your podcast now. Are Chausson 610, 620, 630, 650 okay? Or are they, like most other things, there was a company there what said Chausson and Benimar are the cheapest of the cheapest. My budget is 50, 55K. Many thanks, Stephen and Mandy from King’s Lynn.
[00:31:27] Keith Gooden: Steve wants to know about his Chausson.
[00:31:31] Matt Sims: They get called all sorts of things. It’s a French brand. They are great layouts, the ones you’re looking at, Steve, for sure. And they are lower in terms of spec levels and more affordable, let’s not say cheaper. We’ve got 610s. We’ve been running on our hire fleet for a couple of years now and they’re brilliant. If you see a brand on a motorhome hire fleet, it’s going to be reliable or easy to fix. That’s the key. And I want to give a shout-out to a couple of great Chausson dealers who have helped us in the past. That’s River Motorhomes and Southdowns Motorhome Centre. They are dealers for Chausson, and we take our Chausson motorhomes to them to be looked after. They are prone to some damp. I think anyone with a Chausson would agree with that. Sadly, a lot of them suffer with this. Often the windows aren’t fixed in properly, so the first thing we do when we add one to our hire fleet, if it’s new or second-hand, is we remove all the windows and reseat them and reseal them. It sounds mad. It’s just a manufacturing foible. It’s annoying. Benimars are a lovely-looking brand. I’ve never owned one. It’s one of the few brands I’ve not owned. We’ve never had one on a hire fleet.
[00:32:36] Matt Sims: I remember them launching into the UK. They came from Spain and they were at the time exclusive to Marquis. Highbridge Caravans in Somerset now stock them as well, and I was really impressed. The designs were great, finish was good, and I reckon they would be good for hire. We’ve just never embraced the brand and never done it. It’s not to say I wouldn’t, but again, a lower price point. But even both these brands, you’re still looking at 60, 70K for a brand new one. Maybe you can get a deal on one. But I wouldn’t say it’s fair to say they are the cheapest of the cheapest. They’re absolutely not. That implies they’re rubbish. I would suspect that was a dealer selling a different brand trying to talk you into what they are selling. But I’d suggest with a budget of 50, 55K, I would be looking at three years old. There’s lots of brands to look at. Consider Roller Team, Etrusco. Look at service history, that’s so important. Get a damp check done. And the great benefit of buying a pre-loved motorhome is all those foibles when they’re new, and warranty issues, have hopefully been sorted and they can offer you great value.
[00:33:39] Keith Gooden: You don’t want to get caught by the foibles. So a budget about 50K. You mentioned the window, so I mean, you can knock them down a bit. Can you buy five grand and just do the windows yourself with some mastic for your bathroom? Can’t I?
[00:33:51] Matt Sims: You’re not coming anywhere near any of our motorhomes here. No. No, it’s a specialist job. So one of the issues with the 2019, 2020 Chausson motorhomes is the windows just weren’t torqued up correctly.
[00:34:02] Keith Gooden: Not talked.
[00:34:03] Matt Sims: Yeah, yeah. Not talked up. And one of the issues is that the window manufacturer created a frame that just clamped into the wall. It didn’t need sealing. And this was deemed to be a huge benefit. No sealant, saves time, saves money. And they weren’t tightened up properly, and thus they let water in. And water gets down inside the wall onto the floor, which is wood. And that’s the issue. So we would remove all the windows and we’d reseat them with sealant and tighten them properly. That is something you need to get done professionally. I would suggest it’s not a huge job, it’s not expensive. And the other thing to consider is reseal around all the outside. At the bottom you’ve got this trim that goes down, sort of like a side bumper. There’s never any sealant on it, and water runs down the side of that into the floor. It’s ridiculous. So we have resealed all of ours all the way around the perimeter. Cost about £120. Worth doing.
[00:35:03] Keith Gooden: But with a proper professional sealant, not just the stuff you buy in the DIY.
[00:35:07] Matt Sims: No, definitely not. Other sealants are available. But you know what I mean. It’s a professional mastic of sorts that often never dries, so it remains pliable so the motorhome can flex. But go and see an Approved Service Centre that I’m sure would do this for you.
[00:35:27] Keith Gooden: Next question from an anonymous. Getting our first motorhome soon. When insuring, they ask about modifications on the van. How do I know what is a modification by a previous owner or what comes as standard? Do I, for instance, tell them about the alloys, solar panels, for example? Well, we asked our friends at Ripe, didn’t we, Matt? And they sent us a statement.
[00:35:49] Matt Sims: They did. They said, how exciting for you. We get so many questions about modifications, so I’m happy to help. With us, we just ask that you get any of your more dangerous bits, such as heating and electrics, done by a professional. Aside to that, we only want to know about any modifications that affect the performance of your van, braking or suspension in particular. But if you’re unsure about anything, it’s always worth asking the question. If you know a modification has been made, even if it’s just for your own peace of mind. Hope that helps. That was Mel from the team at Ripe.
[00:36:19] Keith Gooden: And remember, you can get an exclusive 15% off your premium, which will apply automatically if you click the link in the episode description. It’s worth checking to see how much you could save.
[00:36:32] Matt Sims: Definitely. And Ripe are also giving away over £3,000 worth of prizes in their Big Summer Giveaway. Prizes include an insurance policy with them for your van up to the value of £1,000, a £650 voucher from Owning Solo, a Stove bundle worth £600, plus our very own Pathway 4G mobile router and £150 voucher from That Leisure Shop.
[00:36:58] Keith Gooden: To enter, all you need to do is go to Ripe Summer and you could be one of the lucky winners. That’s Ripe Summer.
[00:37:10] Matt Sims: The competition closes on the 14th of September, so be quick.
[00:37:14] Keith Gooden: Mike Holland is in Honiton. He says, hi Matt. One observation I have not heard mentioned is that three-quarters of motorhomes, of whatever price, only have a single fog light. Consequently, when they go into Europe, it’s on the wrong side because the steering wheel is. I’m not sure how many people think about this. I changed my reversing light to a fog light and added reversing lights. Secondly, which SIM do you recommend for Europe for your new WiFi? Most unlimited data SIMs are limited when roaming in Europe. And Mike says thanks in advance.
[00:37:49] Matt Sims: Well, okay. Under the Vienna Convention, our fog lights are accepted in Europe. So yeah, you’re right, they’re on the offside where of course when you go onto the continent, they’re on the other side because we drive on the other side of the road. But changing your reversing light to a fog light is a great idea, but you should add reversing lights too. So that is a very helpful bit of advice. Well done. But you don’t need to worry about it. It’s accepted on the continent. In terms of a SIM card, my recommendation is always buy one when you’re there. There is a risk that you buy one in a huge supermarket and you take it out to the motorhome and you need an address to register it. So I remember once we were in Belgium, and this is in my talk when I give a talk about getting good WiFi on the move. We were in Belgium and we needed a SIM card and we went to a corner shop, and I reckon there was about 3,000 people living at this shop because the lady there said, use my address. So she gave us a piece of paper with her address on, and we registered our SIM card at that address as if we were living there. So if you go to a big supermarket, the lady or gent on the checkout probably isn’t going to want to give you their address to use. So my advice would be consider buying a data bundle when you’re on the continent, maybe for the country you’re in, and use that. And then there is no restriction on what you can use.
[00:39:01] Keith Gooden: But can you buy that before you leave then from this country?
[00:39:03] Matt Sims: To buy it? When you get there.
[00:39:04] Keith Gooden: You buy it when you—
[00:39:05] Matt Sims: Get there in every corner shop, every supermarket, as they are here. So you go into a big supermarket and by the till they’re all piled up.
[00:39:10] Keith Gooden: And I presume Mike is talking about your Pathway 4G lick and stick.
[00:39:15] Matt Sims: The lick and stick, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And of course that takes any flavour of SIM card. So you may have to change what’s called the APN settings in it. It’s all in the instruction book. If you’re stuck, just ring and one of the team will schedule a call with you and talk you through it.
[00:39:30] Keith Gooden: Okay then Matt, how do people get in touch?
[00:39:32] Matt Sims: We would love it if you did. I always say, if you’ve got a question, I guarantee hundreds of other people thought, that’s a good question, I wish I’d asked it. Head to Ask Matt. You can record it on the orange button. Tell us where in the country you are or where in the world you are. Or fill in the form and we’ll read it for you.
[00:39:48] Keith Gooden: If you’re looking for trusted brands and services, then make sure you visit the Motorhome Matt Approved directory. It’s at mhmp.info. That’s mhmp.info.
[00:40:00] Matt Sims: And if you’re listening, please click follow on your favourite podcast app. Or if you’re watching on YouTube, click subscribe and the little bell.
[00:40:07] Keith Gooden: So it’s goodbye from me, Keith Gooden.
[00:40:09] Matt Sims: And goodbye from me.
[00:40:10] Keith Gooden: Motorhome Matt, and goodbye from the fly which has been buzzing around.
[00:40:12] Matt Sims: It’s really annoying. It keeps landing on my face.
[00:40:19] Keith Gooden: Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com.
