Vanessa: More from Motorholme TV now and we’re talking to business founder Andrew Hughes. Welcome Andrew. 2011, we’re reaching the end of it now, has it been a good year for Motorholme?
Andrew: Yes absolutely it’s been a very strong year for us in terms of regular bookings and also for the first time we launched our depot idea. We piloted with our new Edinburgh depot where we put out our own fleet of vehicles for people to hire. We can now expand into other key areas that we would like to be in. In particular, Heathrow is our latest depot which opens in January and we’ve also got Bristol online and also Cambridge.
Vanessa: So how does this add value to somebody’s experience of hiring a motorhome from Motorholme?
Andrew: Basically the concept is that we will be providing just a uniform fleet of vehicles so they’re all new for a start. They’re all made by Chausson and of course by doing that we can actually guarantee the quality and the experience which is slightly different when you pick up from say an owner’s location and you use their motorhome because obviously they’re all very different. But we do know our business and we know that the Chausson range and in particular these models are ideal for the rental market.
Vanessa: And the depots are in very strategic locations, they’re really sort of areas that you’ve identified as gateways to great holidays.
Andrew: That’s right obviously Edinburgh goes without saying, that’s the second most popular tourist destination in the UK and the Heathrow depot is actually based actually at West Drayton train station, which is ideal in terms of communication links from both London, Heathrow and the M25.
Vanessa: And the other one is Bristol as well so that’s really access to the South West isn’t it?
Andrew: Yes absolutely it’s just off the M5and so you can access from there and you can go to the South West to Wales or north towards the Lake District. So yeah all of them are in key locations and obviously our head office at Cambridge is key for this eastern region as well. All of our vehicles are fully equipped so there’s nothing more to add apart from the family and your own food and basics, but for sure unlike any other traditional holiday where you have all the transfers both at the airport, to the hotel, all those things are avoided I suppose when you take a motorhome holiday. Like you say, once you put the keys in the holiday starts.
Vanessa: So how do you see the golden age of motor-homing developing next year?
Andrew: Well as you say it’s the start of the golden age and really this is down to the demand curve that we obviously are trying to accommodate through our expansion of our fleet and the depot idea is in line with that, but the reality is that a lot of people are going to be using motorhomes anyway in the summer particularly for events like the UEFA Cup finals, the Olympics of course and the traditional summer holidays that constantly people are choosing a motorhome holiday anyway. So our advice to people if they’re going to have a motorhome holiday this year is book one very early indeed because I do believe this year will be a record year for motorhome hire.
Vanessa: And all they have to do is put down a small deposit to secure the motorhome of their choice at the location of their choice?
Andrew: That’s right we operate on a small deposit initially which secures the vehicle at either a depot or one of our owner vehicles and the balance is due a few weeks before you actually depart.
Vanessa: And also you’re going to be doing a lot more with video in 2012 as well, explain a little bit of the strategy of the videos?
Andrew: Well we found a lot of people are not really aware of where you can go in a motorhome, how to get the best out of them, what’s the best way to equip them and also just places in Britain to visit. So what we’re trying to do is address that by offering almost like a news feature every month on both using a motorhome and where to go in one, not just in the summer holidays which is the traditional choice, but out of season as well. There are a lot of places and a lot of events and things going on in the UK which a motorhome lends itself to.
Vanessa: Absolutely so we’re going to be sharing some of those ideas and giving some inspiration of great places to go.
Andrew: For sure. I think as I say there’s a lot of what we could call hidden gems of England and we’re looking forward to shooting those and providing them free of charge to people via out Motorholme TV channel and it’s just a way of getting more out of a motorhome holiday or just changing your view on what you can do with a motorhome.
Vanessa: Absolutely. Well thank you very much for talking to us and as Andrew said you’re watching this video on the Motorholme TV channel and if you have a browse around you’ll see a lot of other videos that you can check out and give you some ideas of how you can get the most out of your motorhome rental. So thank you Andrew and thank you for watching.
Andrew: Thank you Vanessa.
Tags: summer holiday, Welcome Andrew, Edinburgh depot, Heathrow depot, home hire, hiring a motorhome
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