1993 Fleetwood Report from Mr Richard Allen at the AGM
Mr Allen said that since he had spoken to us last April the ensuing twelve months had been a satisfactory period for Fleetwood. During that period they had produced 1260 caravans of which 330 were Colchesters, 750 Garlands and 180 Crystals. For the 5th year running the Company have shown an increased level of profit and encouragement should be gained from this when put into context, with the consequences of the deepest and longest recession that we have endured since the two world wars. There is little fact that this particular downturn has affected the industry and, regretfully, we have received casualties at all levels, including manufacturers, dealers, suppliers and services.
There has been evidence of over production from the manufacturers. I know and I am not proud to report, all evidence suggested to the contrary and sadly this has resulted in the twin spectre’s of high stock levels and heavy discounting, which does the industry no good at all. However, by appraising a tight control over all areas of planning Fleetwood have managed to avoid so far the worst aspects of this, but there are no guarantees in this life and, despite the up beat messages coming out of Whitehall and the press, there is no real evidence that we have turned the corner and, indeed, any green shoots that can be seen so far are coming up through the A-frames of caravans that the dealers have had in their back yards for far too long.
The traditional spring business shows some encouraging signs but this improvement will have to be maintained if we are to have any confidence that we have really turned the corner. This confidence factor, or lack of it, can to each be readily seen at the four major shows which the company has attended over the last 12 months, the organisers of Earls Court, G Mex Manchester, Scotland and NEC Birmingham, all reported a drop in overall attendance and those who did intend to buy exercised great care and consideration before parting with their money.. It is not easy to be accurate in such matters but I suspect that all manufacturers who attended the major shows reported a drop in sales. For the report Fleetwood took 168 orders at Earls Court, 35 at G Mex, 20 at Scotland and 78 at NEC Birmingham, at all the shows we reported a drop ourselves. The organisers at the Earls Court Show have done nothing to ease the uncertainty by moving the date. What effect the show in December, with just one weekend will have, remains to be seen – we are not looking forward to it, I can tell you.
The great successes of the 1993 Fleetwood model year have been the Colchester 1650/4 and the Garland 165/4. This layout has really captured the imagination and has been purchased equally by two and four berth markets. In any event the importance of these two has had an effect on our traditional best seller the Garland 165/5 but generally the whole of the Fleetwood range has sold well and is particularly pleasing to see how well we have done with the Crystals. We revamped the Crystals at the start of 1993 season, dropped one model and introduced another and they have done very well indeed.
We must, whenever possible, promote the virtues of caravanning, and this, a particular hobby horse of mine, we are not will served by the magazines and our masters in promoting caravanning. Too little is done in that direction and, when you consider that the industry as a whole only makes 24,000 tourers and this number has been gradually diminishing over the last five years, you will understand what I mean. We do need more caravanners coming in ground floor level buying used tourers which has a knock on effect up to new caravans which is most important.
Clearly thanks are due to all of you for your part in promoting Fleetwood and its name and with the support given by those of you who have given up their time to foster the Fleetwood name at the Caravan shows. Can I also give special thanks to your committee, Mr Chairman for their work and support over the past twelve months and particular for those who including yourself are retiring today. This year the factory visit will be in the autumn and those who can attend will be hopefully among the first to see the 1994 model range. We look forward to seeing you. Thank you for inviting me, I think this is my third time here and I have enjoyed every occasion. All Fleetwood wish you well and hope the club will go and continue to go from strength to strength.
