East Yorkshire’s council leaders have written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, adding their voices to the calls for support for the beleaguered caravan industry.
Hull City Council leader Stephen Brady OBE and East Riding’s Richard Burton have asked for specific measures, while also seeking clarification over potential business rates holidays, underlining the industry’s importance to the local economy.
It comes after the city’s MPs sought intervention to prevent a repeat of cuts suffered during the recession more than a decade ago.
Stating they “see a bright future for the caravan industry provided they are able to get through the immediate problems posed by Covid-19”, they said: “The prime selling period for caravan products is from March to August meaning there is an excess of unsold stock in the supply chain, with many businesses remaining at risk with no orders. As a high value discretionary item there is a real risk that the industry is likely to experience a significant downturn in at least the short term, with many in the industry suggesting this could be worse than under the previous recession given the expected extent of job losses nationally.
“Following the country entering lockdown, the industry has already witnessed a significant number of redundancies as businesses have sought to cut their costs.”
The sector includes static holiday homes, park lodges, traditional caravans and motorhomes, and has widened to include modular homes and buildings - many of which were involved in the push to expand hospital capacity.
The leaders continued: “The caravan industry is a major employer locally and is the centre for the manufacture of caravans nationally. Leading companies based in the area include, Swift, Willerby, ABI, Atlas, Delta, Coachman, Europa and Victory.
“Across Hull and the East Riding, major manufacturers amount for nearly 10,000 direct jobs, with a total of 20,000 including the localised supply-chain of components, transport and servicing. This area is the centre of the European industry.”
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Acceleration of capital write-down and VAT measures are put to Mr Sunak, alongside the rates request.
“There is no doubt prior to the crisis these companies had full order books with one company in particular looking to expand facilities,” they continued. “In the medium to long term it is also anticipated demand for static caravans and lodges - bulk orders emanating from lodge and caravan parks - touring caravans and camper vans will be significant and may in fact increase as people prefer to holiday in the 海角视频 on sites where social distancing can be achieved.
“If you now consider the manufacturing business for the caravan industry should be eligible that would help Hull City Council and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council support a number of significant local businesses and in turn help to keep people in work.
“Such stimulus measures would retain manufacturing jobs, encourage holidays at home and provide a much needed boost to coastal economies in the 海角视频.
“The success of this industry will be key to enable the city and surrounding region to bounce back quickly post Covid-19 and also ensure the tourism spend is retained in England and we sustain a major producer sector which has significant export penetration for the 海角视频.”
The sector is understood to contribute £9 billion annually to the economy.