Peterborough's Pioneer Caravans invests in new look as holiday sector seems to shrug off cost of living crisis

A family owned caravan company in Peterborough is pitching a new look to customers.

Pioneer Caravans, which has its main base at Thorney Road, Eye, and caravan parks at Heacham and Cromer, has just completed a new investment in its showroom.

It is part of an ongoing investment in the 80-plus year old business, which has 45 staff across its sites and has enjoyed a number of years of growth.

Now the company is hosting an open weekend on April 22 – 9am to 5pm – and April 23 – 10am to 4pm for the showroom where caravans prices range from about £20,000 to the mid-£40,000 and with a number of exclusive offers for customers.

Peter Croft-Taylor, general manager, said: “​The old showroom was 30-years-old and had served its purpose and was a bit lacklustre.

"It needed an upgrade, so we stripped the building back down to its steel frame and put in new insulation, windows, and reduced its carbon footprint by removing an old oil burner heater and put in air conditioning and put solar panels on the roof.

"We’ve revamped and refreshed the entire showroom and put in some extra facilities that we need for the caravans.

"The car park has been dug up and re-laid

He said: "It's a lot more eco-friendly and a lot more inviting for our customers.

Mr Croft-Taylor said the new investment in the company had begun last year at its Heacham holiday park and further investment was planned for the next couple of years.

He said: “We had a good year through Covid-19 and have taken on the Adria brand which is part of why we are hosting the open weekend.

He said: “Despite the cost of living crisis, we are optimistic for the future.

"We are still showing good strength and people are coming in to change and upgrade their caravans.

He added: "If the market continues the way it has gone - and we’ve had several good years of growth – then we can’t see any issues at all and there is always the potential of taking on new staff.

"But we are treading very carefully at the moment because who knows what might happen this year.

He said: "The holiday parks are both doing very well.

"We do rental and buy-your-own caravans at Heacham and Cromer and the volume of tourism that we are turning over is very good.

"We are still seeing extremely high demand and still seeing new people coming into the industry and not just repeat customers.

"We’ve got slightly younger generations and families coming to us and we are still experiencing the growth we have seen over the last few years.”

Mr Croft-Taylor said: “During our open weekend we are inviting customers to come down and see the new showroom and the year’s new models including Swift and Bailey and the Adria models of caravan.

"There will be exclusive offers that are just for the weekend for people thinking of purchasing a new caravan and there’ll be offers in the Accessory Shop.”