Factory deal for caravan maker

CARAVAN manufacturer Victory Leisure Homes is moving to a new factory facility as the company gears up for expansion.

The company, which is owned by Hull-based family firm J.R. Rix and Sons, is relocating to the former home of modular buildings firm Britspace, which went into administration last year.

Victory Leisure Homes had been searching for an alternative to its Stoneferry base for some time and had considered purpose-built premises before the Britspace site in Gilberdyke came on the market.

The Rix group has now completed a deal to buy the factory and land from the administrators for an undisclosed sum, and work to move plant and machinery to the new premises has got underway.

Peter Nevitt, managing director of Victory Leisure Homes, said the move would allow the company to expand its caravan and lodge-making operation as the factory is bigger than its present home.

Mr Nevitt said: “This move is about safeguarding the future of the business. We have been working at full capacity in our present factory for some time and have been looking to find somewhere new.

“It is a terrible shame, what happened to Britspace, but it has presented us with an opportunity that we could not afford to ignore and one that will enable us to continue the progress we have made.”

The new factory covers an area of 86,000 sq ft and Mr Nevitt said the company was looking to start full scale production at the site from April 1, the date of the company’s third anniversary.

Mr Nevitt added: “There is an irony in the fact that we started trading when the country was in a recession and precisely three years later, as the economy stands on the edge of a double dip, we are relocating with a view to expansion.

“Plant and machinery will be moved to Gilberdyke in a staged fashion so as not to disrupt production too much, and during this time we will only be building to order. However we have put a lot of planning into the move and are expecting an uneventful transition.”

Mr Nevitt added he hoped as production increased, the company might be able to take on some of the former Britspace workers who have lost their jobs.

Rory Clarke, director of J.R. Rix and Sons, said: “This move represents the evolution of the company and one that I am confident will lead to further, long lasting success.”

Fifth-generation J.R. Rix & Sons turns over £350m a year.

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