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skyrider

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Brownhills Preston is closed and all sales, service etc relocated to main branch at Newark. Was speaking with one of the Directors a couple of weeks ago, who said sales on Preston site were poor and this together with fact that an investment of more than one million was needed to bring site up to standard gave them no choice but to close. Newark branch seems secure; well we feel confident enough to have ordered a new van for March delivery.
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It does concern me the way the closure was handled,it was made public with about 2 days notice,the 'financer' who bought the operation have certainly made their own future secure with little consideration for the very skilled work force. My Hymer is nearly 2 years old and in order to maintain the Warranty I will now have to travel to Newark or Durham which will involve an overnight stay, I did tread that Brownhills are doing w/e servicing,if this is the case it will make things easier.

How secure are the other depots and is this Auf weiderschein to Hymer in the UK?

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You might be more encouraged by this (later) story about Hymer from the "news" section.

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/General/Hymer-to-stay-in-UK-market/_ch1_nw1828

 

....of course, it all has to happen yet, but if it does, then you might ultimately find yourself in a better position, with some new locations and a bit more competition in the Hymer market.

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Robinhood - 2011-12-24 10:52 PM

 

You might be more encouraged by this (later) story about Hymer from the "news" section.

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/General/Hymer-to-stay-in-UK-market/_ch1_nw1828

 

....of course, it all has to happen yet, but if it does, then you might ultimately find yourself in a better position, with some new locations and a bit more competition in the Hymer market.

 

There is an inaccuracy in the Hymer sales/marketing representative's statement:-

 

“We are quite optimistic now – we have the right product and will have the right dealer network,” says Jorg, who points out that no British manufacturer makes A class models. This means it is an equal battle between European imports to attract British buyers to their A-classes. Of course Hymer makes more than just A-class motorhomes and as the models decrease in size and weight, so the competition gets tougher."

 

In fact, there are British motorhome manufacturers who do produce A-class motorhomes. Admittedly these are not mass-market manufacturers, but they should not be overlooked. Probably the best known is RS Motorhomes that build the "Elysian" and "Evolution" A-class designs as well as the "Endeavour" luton-coachbuilt and "Equinox" PVC models.

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Guest Peter James
Robinhood - 2011-12-24 10:52 PM

 

You might be more encouraged by this (later) story about Hymer from the "news" section.

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/General/Hymer-to-stay-in-UK-market/_ch1_nw1828

 

....of course, it all has to happen yet, but if it does, then you might ultimately find yourself in a better position, with some new locations and a bit more competition in the Hymer market.

Interesting link, and confirms what I thought from looking at the price tags. Hymer have ben making a lot more mark up on the A class than the regular motorhomes, where there is more competition.

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yeti - 2011-12-24 10:39 PM

 

It does concern me the way the closure was handled,it was made public with about 2 days notice,the 'financer' who bought the operation have certainly made their own future secure with little consideration for the very skilled work force. My Hymer is nearly 2 years old and in order to maintain the Warranty I will now have to travel to Newark or Durham which will involve an overnight stay, I did tread that Brownhills are doing w/e servicing,if this is the case it will make things easier.

How secure are the other depots and is this Auf weiderschein to Hymer in the UK?

 

Brownhill in Birtley Co. Durham is very secure. We stored our Hymer there before going full time. Servicing parking is in a separate compound to sales and storage. There is a night security patrol. Overnight parking with EHU is available and the whole place is covered with CCTV.

 

John

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Guest Peter James
John J Thompson - 2011-12-25 1:54 PM

 

Brownhill in Birtley Co. Durham is very secure. .........Servicing parking is in a separate compound to sales and storage. There is a night security patrol. Overnight parking with EHU is available and the whole place is covered with CCTV.

 

John

 

Same at Newark. Both sites certainly look better than Preston did.

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Rayjsj - 2011-12-28 10:55 PM

 

Site at Swindon was very good, BUT it did'nt stop them closing it, or Canterbury.

'Local' dealerships seem to be getting Further and further away .

Seems like a trip to 'the Dealers' is meaning a night away for more and more people.

Ray

 

I would have thought the 'coverage' of a dealership network in the UK will largely depend on which make of motorhome is involved. For instance, if I was interested in buying a motorhome made by the Swift group, there are currently 4 dealerships within an easy 1 hour drive of where I live. If I wanted an Auto-Sleepers motorhome, there are 2 dealerships less than 30 miles away. But if I wanted a Chausson, then I'd have a longer drive (say a couple of hours) to find a Chausson dealership.

 

When one door closes, another larger door may open. For example, when I bought my Hobby in 2005, Brownhills had a UK Hobby monopoly and mandatory conversion checks/servicing and under-warranty work could only be performed in the UK through a Brownhills branch. Nowadays (at least according to the Hobby website!!!) there are 29 UK dealerships for Hobby motorhomes. Conversely, vice versa - until fairly recently, there was a Chausson agent 40 miles from my home, but that dealership no longer handles the Chausson brand.

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