Caravan retailer comes unhooked with jobs lost

Cost-of-living pressures have brought down the Chesterfield site of a caravan retailer, with jobs lost.

Ryan Grant and Chris Pole from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to Golden Castle Caravans and Robinsons Caravans Limited on 11 March and 14 March respectively. Both companies are part of the Robinsons Caravans group which retails caravans and motorhomes from dealerships located across the Midlands and the South West.

Robinsons Caravans Limited sells new and used caravans and motorhomes from two sites in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

Based in Twigworth, Gloucester, Golden Castle Caravans Limited sells new and used caravans and motorhomes, including from some of the UK’s leading manufacturers.

The administrators said that while certain companies across the Robinsons Caravans group have been historically profitable, others have experienced lower than expected sales volumes in the wake of the cost-of-living crisis and pressure on household disposable incomes. This in turn served to place financial pressure on the wider group, which in recent times had become “increasingly unsustainable”.

Immediately following their appointment, the joint administrators sold the business and assets of Golden Castle Caravans Limited to Gloucestershire Leisure, a connected party by virtue of one of the directors. Some 17 members of staff have transferred to the purchaser as part of the transaction.

Separately, following their appointment to Robinsons Caravans, the joint administrators sold certain of the business and its assets to a Storebon Holdings, part of the Couplands Caravans group.

While nine members of staff based at the Robinsons Caravans site in Worksop have transferred to the purchaser as part of the transaction, the Robinsons Caravans site in Chesterfield is not included in the transaction and will close with immediate effect – with 16 jobs lost.

Grant said: “These have been testing times for many businesses across the leisure sector as a result of high cost inflation and fragile consumer confidence. We are pleased to have secured these two transactions which safeguard the future of Golden Castle Caravans and the Robinsons Caravans operations in Worksop.”