An entrepreneurial Leicestershire couple who turned their passion for motorhoming into a lockdown business say they have seen interest soar after appearing on a Channel 5 series.
Trudi and Adam Lilley, who run Hey Campers, featured on Million Pound Motorhomes at the weekend following a stint filming with the production company during their busiest months of July and August.
A crew followed Trudi and Adam to document the day-to-day running of the business from its Coalville depot, and went with them to Southampton as they collected a new motorhome to add to their growing fleet.
The Lilleys featured alongside actor Ricky Tomlinson and chef James Martin on the programme, and are set to appear again at 8pm on Sunday, September 26.
They said traffic to the Hey Campers website received more visitors in one night than for the previous month following the first show – and said they had and hundreds of enquiries.
Trudi said: “We had over 4,000 website visitors during the evening the show aired, which is fantastic.
“We only launched the business last year, so to feature on a primetime TV show is brilliant, it will definitely keep us busy.
“It was a really positive experience, albeit a bit exhausting. The crew felt like part of the family during the months they were with us.
Most Read
“What was great was that they put themselves in our shoes, taking the time to understand what it means to run a luxury motorhome hire company and sharing some laughs and mishaps along the way.”
Trudi and Adam – who have run an accountancy consultancy together for the past seven years – decided to turn their passion for motorhoming into a business last year.
Their north west Leicestershire depot is now home to ten vehicles – named Alfie, Charlie, Rosie, Maisie, Tillie, Beni, Lexie, Lillie, Minnie and Poppy –with the pair now planning to double their fleet into a million-pound venture, with 10 new motorhomes on order.
The programme followed the ups and downs of the Hey Campers team, notably including when a customer returned their motorhome smashed up from a crash – leaving just hours to fix it before a family of holidaymakers arrived to collect it for their booking.
Trudi said: “The air turned a bit blue at that point!
“We tried very hard not to bicker while they were filming, and we mostly achieved that – although I can honestly say it was a real test of our relationship.
“But it also made me realise just how much Adam and I do enjoy working together.”
Don’t miss
The Lilleys watched the Million Pound Motorhomes episode with their family and friends Gogglebox-style, and have penned a blog about the filming experience.
Trudi said: “We have no real expectations from the show, except we hope it makes viewers realise how much fun and magic there is in having a motorhome holiday.
“We do have big plans for the business though. Our aim is to become the 海角视频’s first luxury staycation provider.
“We want our customers to have trips that are truly memorable, so for us that means added extras like luxury bed linen, made to order food hampers, 5G enabled WIFI fitted as standard and premium sports and movie channels.
“We hope to add even more to that in future, such as chartered boat trips and money-can’t-buy experiences, so watch this space.”