50 | AUTOMOTIVE RV Direct T T Richard Loader New location and new showroom The 580 square metre facility will include a fully equipped service workshop, spacious showroom, office and meeting rooms. RENOVATIONS | MAINTENANCE | NEW BUILDS 027 631 1618 - AFGPLUMBING.CO.NZ Proud to support RV Direct Whether it's improving your existing home through renovations, extensions, or even building new, we are there to assist you all the way. M 021 499 361 E sam@birminghambuilders.co.nz | W www.birminghambuilders.co.nz Designed to provide one-stop-shop convenience to the growing number of Kiwis choosing the freedom and fun of a motorhome and caravan lifestyle, RV Direct’s new location and purpose-built dealership showroom is due to open its doors in July this year. Positioned on a prominent and easy to access 3000 square metre site at No. 2 Broken Hill Road, Porirua, the building’s footprint encompasses 580 square metres and will include a fully equipped service workshop, spacious showroom, office and meeting rooms for the sales team. Mezzanine floors provide an additional 100 square metres that will be utilised for storage, parts and more office space. Looking forward to the shift into the new promises, Managing Director Craig Welsh says the luxury of displaying the motorhomes and caravans under a roof is a key benefit of the showroom. “While the majority of our stock will be held outside, the showroom will provide a snapshot of what we stock, along with a wide range of accessories including bike racks, awnings and TVs. “If a client is coming in to see a vehicle and it’s a wet day, we can bring it inside, towel it down, get it dry so the client can view it at leisure in the warmth of the showroom. “With the internet, we do a lot of on-line sales and deliveries around the country, so this facility will provide just a little more professionalism to those customers. But we get a lot of customers over from the Wairarapa, Kapiti Coast and Wellington, and it will provide them with a touch and feel scenario that a growing number of people want now with rising interest. They want to see what they are getting for their money.” As well as viewing, and experiencing the range of vehicles in stock, customers will also be able to bring their motorhomes and caravans in for maintenance and servicing, which Craig says is quite a unique offering for the region. “Because we sell predominantly new vehicles, we can now provide the twelve-monthly servicing along with courtesy cars for clients with motorhomes, so that they can go away, do their shopping, and come back when the vehicle is ready.” While RV Direct has been operating since 2011, Craig and his wife Penny have owned the business since late 2019 and have progressively grown the business substantially in that time. “We were in Europe travelling around in a motorhome for six months with the kids, and really enjoying that experience. We had sold our last business and were looking for something along the lines of motorhomes and that is when the opportunity arose to buy RV Direct.” At the time, RV Direct was based in Hamilton, and focused only on Motorhomes. Upon returning to New Zealand, Craig and Penny rebranded the business while retaining the name, and relocated it to their lifestyle property in Plimmerton, where it is currently operating. “Since buying the business we have modernised it, added caravans, accessories, parts and servicing to our offering but we have just outgrown our current location, which was only ever meant to be temporary anyway.” For Motorhomes and Caravans RV Direct has the dealership for the Swift brand out of the UK and is an exclusive New Zealand agent for the Chausson brand, which is a French brand of motorhome. “They are very popular with people who are wanting a lot of space in a smaller vehicle,” says Craig. “We also have an exclusive dealership for the Elddis Rambler brand of caravan.” While Kiwispan Wellington has been contracted to construct the building’s exterior structure, Burmingham Builders has been engaged to do the internal aspects of the build, except for the steel fitout.
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