S172 Statement

As Directors of Glossop Caravans, we have a responsibility to consider, in good faith, ways to promote the company’s success, and to have regard to the long-term effect of our decisions on the company. This statement addresses the ways in which we as Directors outwork this responsibility.

Promoting the company’s success

Glossop Caravans Limited was established in 1976 by brothers Stanley and Brian Laing. The company is still owned and led by Stanley and Brian. We are a family business and family is at the heart of what we do. We are pleased with our business history and growth over nearly half a century; we are also proud to provide employment, training and financial rewards for the company and its employees.

As one of the largest caravan and motorhome dealers in the UK we are constantly looking to maintain our standards and always look for new and innovative ways to engage with our customers. The customer’s journey is very important to us and much of our decision making and planning is centred on creating the best experience we can. The business works from a number of locations in the Glossop area, each with a specific role in ensuring the continuity of the business and providing excellence in customer service.

The aim across all sections of the business is to work in conjunction to grow profits and market share; we achieve this by making strategic decisions based on future potential for growth. The industry has a seasonal pattern and we work closely with manufacturers to negotiate quotas and prices as well as feeding back information from our experience and that of our customers.

We continue to invest annually in maintaining our properties and providing excellent workspaces for our employees and attractive setting for our customers to visit. We have invested heavily in technology as this becomes a more commonly used medium for buyer research and purchase. Other investment has enabled us to set up stand alone facilities for the motor home division. These investments will help to ensure long term success.

Our employees

Retail and aftercare in the caravan and motorhome industry is very hands on; skilled engineers are required to prepare, service and repair vehicles; the cleaning team perform a crucial role making both the inside and outside of each vehicle spotless; the sales team working with multimedia methods to bring in sales; despatch teams work with each purchaser to handover the vehicle and provide advice on using the equipment; awnings and accessories teams work with individual customers to supply their needs. All these front of house teams are backed up by IT, admin and site support teams to ensure smooth working practices and health and safety compliance.

Our staff retention is generally very good, with more than 50% of colleagues with us for between 5 and 10 years and 30% over 10 years; our longest serving colleague has clocked in for 40 years and 3 months.

We achieve this by:

– Providing remuneration in line with the industry norms and local salaries.
– An annual performance bonus is paid to all staff based on the sales figures during August.
– We provide training both in house and externally for specialist skills and encourage colleagues to develop their skills through additional training.
– We have a long service award which brings with it additional holidays.
– We allow the autonomy of various departments under managers and team leaders and encourage idea exchanges.
– As directors we have an open door policy and regularly speak with our team members.
– We hold regular management meetings and hold consultations with our teams to inform our plans.

Our customers

We invest time and money in ensuring that our customer’s journey matches and even exceeds the expectations of a customer buying a high ticket item. Customers increasingly go through the first part of the buying cycle on our website and therefore we allocate constant investment in IT to keep up with technology and ahead of the competition.

We source quality products and provide an excellent after sales service and warranties that provide peace of mind to the caravan and motor home owner.

Every customer that collects a caravan or motor home completes a customer survey. The survey provides welcome feedback on our service and helps to develop our practices; 97% of our customers give us a 4 or 5 star satisfaction rating.

We are associated with the Camping and Caravanning Club through which we have access to customer views this helps inform developments that we make to our service and our product.

We prioritise quality of service and attention to detail; our customers appreciate this and many of them return over the years to upgrade their caravan or motor home.

Our suppliers

We work closely with the three major manufacturers in the UK. We have a productive working relationship at all levels of the business. In addition we are well respected customers of numerous manufacturers and suppliers of parts and supplies.

Our Community

We are a family owned and run company and many of our staff live in the local area; many of our staff are not the only member of their family working with us. We value family and community and support both in equal measure. We have held a long association with a local children’s charity and this is the main area for our charitable donations.
However, we respond to other local needs too and regularly support events and causes especially those related to our colleagues.

We are conscious of our responsibility to the community and take care to maintain a good impression for visitors to our town. Our liveried vehicles are easily recognisable and we work hard to ensure that our drivers represent us well whilst on the road.

Our Planet

We generate a range of waste products in our daily activities and we have an robust recycling and reusing scheme. We use hazardous materials for some of our activities and these are carefully stored and disposed of. We have put in place electricity, gas and water saving practices to reduce our footprint.

We sell an outdoor lifestyle and we are serious about making sure that we help to keep the outdoors a clean and healthy place to spend time. We have invested in extensive well maintained landscaped areas on our sites which helps to attract wildlife and provide cleaner air.