Stephen Howard is set to replace brother, Patrick, as Chairman of the British Caravan Company
British caravan and motorhome manufacturer, Bailey of Bristol keep it in the family with the appointment of Stephen Howard as company Chairman, effective from 1 October 2014, following the retirement of current Chairman, who also happens to be Stephen’s brother, Patrick Howard, after a long and distinguished career within the Leisure vehicle industry. This follows the successful buy back of Patrick’s company shareholding earlier this year. Meanwhile, Stephen’s sons, Nick, Managing Director, and Simon, Marketing Director, will continue the family legacy, heading up the Senior Management Team. Quite the caravanning family.
Stephen is taking on the position of chairman at a great time for the company, with news of the new Bailey Unicorn being the talk of the town among the caravanning community.
With 65 years of experience and expertise under its belt, it is no surprise that Bailey is one of the largest caravan brands in the UK, accounting for around one in three new caravan sales and is also one of the largest on the continent.
Patrick Howard commented, “I have enjoyed every minute of the last forty years at Bailey. It has been incredibly rewarding seeing our business grow from a small caravan producer £5 million in size in 1973 to become the second largest leisure vehicle manufacturer in the UK with a turnover currently approaching £100 million.” We’ve certainly enjoyed it too.
We’ve only seen great things from Bailey in recent years, what with their patented Alu-Tech construction hitting the scene in 2009 along with their advancement into areas such as coach built motorhomes. It will certainly be interesting to see what will come under Stephen’s leadership. No pressure. Patrick went on to say, “The business remains in excellent hands and I wish everybody at Bailey continued success in the future.”
New Chairman, Stephen expressed his gratitude for all the work his brother has done for the company, saying “I would like to thank Patrick for all of his hard work over the years and the tremendous contribution he has made not only to the growth of Bailey of Bristol but also to the development of the Outdoor Leisure Vehicle Industry as a whole.”
Furthermore, Managing Director, Nick Howard had this to say on the change of leadership, “I am looking forward to continuing to drive the business forward with my father, my brother and the existing Senior Management Team. Bailey has a bright future ahead with a number of exciting new developments due to be announced shortly as we start to write the next chapter in our company’s distinguished history.”
