This month has seen German motorhome manufacturer, Hobby, celebrate the fiftieth anniversary since the start of production at its purpose-built factory in Fockbek, northern Germany

The motorhome and caravan manufacturer was started by Harald Striewski after he built a caravan for his own family. From that, his ‘hobby’ turned into a successful business and has grown to be one of Europe’s largest motorhome manufacturers as well as the largest caravan manufacturer in the world.

There are approximately 1,100 employees at its Fockbek facility plus some 400 established dealers throughout Europe.

The company is continuing to expand with motorhome and caravan dealers joining from countries including Chile, China, South Korea, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Here in the UK, a new company has been established by Hobby, called Hobby GBI (Great Britain and Ireland).

It was created in September 2016 to coincide with the start of the 2017 season for motorhome and caravans. Since then the new agency has undertaken a full re-structuring programme of the dealer and service networks for Hobby in the UK and Ireland.

This has so far seen the introduction of eight new business partners and approximately 20 service partners and this is changing almost daily.

“The aim is to have sales and or service coverage nationwide so Hobby owners can receive the best aftercare anywhere in the country when they need it,” said John Hindle Hobby GBI MD.

“Hobby GBI has been working hard to introduce this new network and has been working closely with some of the industry’s biggest wholesalers to ensure there are spare parts available in some cases within 24 hours. An example would be if an owner was on holiday in Scotland and their fridge stopped working, one call to a Hobby approved service partner could see them up and running again in 24 hours, this is ground-breaking in the leisure industry.

“We have had a great response to the changes we have been making from both customers and people within the industry alike.”

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