1996 'Thanks for your comments' says MD

In my first article, for the Fleetwood Flyer I concluded with this invitation; “As a group of people you know more about the practicalities of caravanning than anyone, I invite you to share your knowledge with me and my team at Fleetwood.”

Many of you, I am pleased to say accepted the invitation and sent me constructive criticisms, suggestions and ideas, all of which were gratefully received.

During your recent visit to the factory, for which there was an excellent turn out, I was able to meet many of you, in most cases for the first time.

Those of you unlucky enough to be in my party quickly became aware of my lack of technical expertise in the construction of our touring caravans.  Fortunately for you and me, Mick Shaw arrived and his knowledge of our products and how they are made was plain for all to see.

In spite of this you told me in a very frank but friendly manner what you thought of this season’s models.  Some of you liked what you saw, some did not but you were all interested, like me, in the well being of Fleetwood.  No more could be asked of any owners’ club, a fact which is appreciated by all of my team at Fleetwood.

You will recall in my last article, I said sales of touring caravans had fallen for the last three years and showed no sign of levelling off.  Happily we now have the first real signs that the decline has been arrested and we can look forward to the future with a little more confidence. 

It is too early to say if the Tourer Marketing Bureau is in anyway responsible but now that a public relations company, Brahm, based in Leeds has been appointed and a large number of suppliers to the industry, together with services like insurance and finance, have said they want to become involved, the campaign is gathering momentum.

So that we are ready to take full advantage of any upturn in the market, with products which we seek to improve and keep on improving, I am currently putting together a programme to invest in new equipment.  I intend to keep Fleetwood moving forward and to do this it is essential we make use of the best technology available.

We welcome a new member to our team Paul Telford-Dinamore.  Paul has an engineering and production background, and will strengthen our computer-aided designs, our material purchasing and systems controlling production.  He has a very positive attitude towards quality and will play an important part in our aim of continuous improvement. 

Rob Parnell has been appointed Commercial Manager of the Special Trailer Division, David Mead is now in charge of our final inspection and Alan Boldison has become deputy to the stores manager with special responsibilities for after-sales and the despatch of caravans.

These are some of the changes I outlined previously, all are intended to equip Fleetwood for a better and more prosperous future.

Please continue to write and let me know what you want to see from Fleetwood.  May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year with much good caravanning in 1997.

Roger C. Williamson – Managing Director, FLEETWOOD CARAVANS LIMITED