The Great YorkshireProudlyStaycationBritish:MadeIn
WRITTEN BY Laura Watling PROJECT DIRECTED BY Glen Newton Open-plan living space from one of Atlas’ new Oakwood Lodge homes. 2 Issue 107 · Business Enquirer Magazine
Atlas Leisure Homes
Steven McGawn, MD, Atlas Leisure Homes
Despite international travel opening up again for holidaymakers and business people alike, staycations are here to, well, stay. According to the Staycation Market Report delivered by Parkdean Resorts, 53% of Brits intended to holiday in the UK in 2022. This data is reflected by the booking sheet and growth story of Atlas Leisure Homes. Proudly based in Hull, the business has been in the leisure home market for over 30 years. Managing Director, Steven McGawn, speaks to Business Enquirer about Atlas’s plans to develop both the business and the local community.
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The YorkshireMadeProudlyStaycation:BritishGreatIn
In answer to this, Atlas leased a new production site, adding two additional production lines and a brand-new machine shop, with the business investing in excess of £1 million. Now, the busi ness has four production lines, two catering for high-end twin lodges.
Atlas Leisure Homes
“Within three months of signing the new lease we had fitted a brand-new manufacturing facility and completed the first holiday home of the line. It was a team effort and a testament to our staff,” shared AsSteven.part of the production facility expansion, At las grew from 250 employees in 2020 to 465 by completion of the new site. Within three months of signing the new lease we had fitted a brand-new manufacturing facility and completed the first holiday home of the line. It was a team effort and a testament to our staff. “ “
Market upswing After 25-years in banking, Steven joined Atlas Leisure Homes in 2017 as Commercial Director. He was tasked with a specific remit of leading an MBO and allowing the existing shareholders to Theexit.buyout completed on 31st January 2019. This meant the new management team (with Steven now as Managing Director) had little over a year of ‘normal’ trading prior to the COVID lock downs in the UK. “After the initial scare of lockdown, the vast ma jority of holiday park operators could foresee the potential upswing in the staycation market. A com bination of an order backlog from the mandatory COVID lockdown and increased demand meant we needed to find a solution to fulfil orders at our usual rate,” explained Steven.
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Focussed on delivering leisure homes driven by quality design and innovation, Atlas Leisure Homes is one of the most recognised holiday home brands on the market. The leisure homes range from the smallest 28 x 10 foot, 6 berth Festival, through to the highspec, top of-the-range 44 x 22 foot, Debonair Lodge, complete with Belfast sink and range cooker. “At Atlas we aim to cater for all budget require ments, without sacrificing luxury,” said Steven, “all of our homes are well made and robust” Nearly all of Atlas’ suppliers are UK based. “We’ve not been immune to the supply chain pressures, but we work closely with them to ensure they have vis ibility of our upcoming workload,” said Steven.
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Construction underway at Atlas’ new production site.
for over 15 years with all aspects of soft furnishings
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A unique offering Atlas’s longevity in the marketplace can, in part, be attributed to its unique offering, with every leisure home being built to order. The manufacturer’s products are known for be ing robust and well made, as well as handmade. “We cut and mill the majority of our own wood, so most of our wooden furnishings are bespoke and handmade,” explained Steven, “we also have the ability to press our own doors” Steven also highlighted that a changing demo graphic has meant the business has had to de velop its offering. “Although our key demographic is still 50 years old and above, we are seeing younger families using our product. They are more tech savvy and desire a higher finish,” he said, “the Oakwood Lodge is our newest twin lodge designed to meet the modern needs,” Featuring a large, light and airy living space, along with a modern (and hidden!) ensuite, the Oakwood is inspired by loft living, and looks to rival AirBnB properties. Although designed with the end-user in mind, Atlas’ buyers are mostly the holiday parks in which the leisure homes reside. “We work closely with our customers to ensure they are offering their end-user the best experience on site. However, it is imperative to us that we don’t allow parks to over order - offering that guidance is key to our relationship,” said Steven. Oakwood Lodge is our newest twin lodge designed to meet the needs.modern “
One of the bedrooms of Atlas’ new ‘Oakwood Lodge’ line of homes
The
Atlas Leisure Homes
“We’ve reintroduced committee meetings to give staff a voice, as well as giving them the opportunity to develop through training,” he said, “we like to be able to promote within, encourage colleagues to learn from failures and ultimately want our staff to come to work and be proud of our product”.
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What Atlas’s scheme currently lacks is an offi cial qualification at the end of the 13 weeks. The business is working with other leisure home manufacturers in the region in partnership with local schools, colleges, and authorities to create a certified programme. “It’s still in its infancy, but we think this step for ward will be good for the city as well as the indus try,” shared Steven.
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Atlas Leisure Homes
Steven’s leadership ethos, which is now part of the business’ culture, is simple: “Treat people how you want to be treated, and allow people to make mistakes,” he said.
Tackling the labour shortage Like many industries, caravan manufacturing faces a labour shortage. The issue is compound ed by a majority of caravan manufacturers being based around the Humber, making the pool of qualified staff more diluted. In answer to this, Atlas has created its own training academy. “We take on a cohort of 10 at a time, placing them on a 13-week inhouse training programme, designed to skill them in a niche area we have a requirement for,” explained Steven. Since starting the programme 9 months ago, Atlas have trained over 40 young people, with a retention rate of 65%. “We’re really proud of this achievement, and enabling young people in the area to start a career,” he said.
The Managing Director shared that Atlas’ cul ture has changed dramatically since the buyout in 2019, from a top-down approach to one which en courages collaboration throughout the business.
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Supporting Atlas Leisure Homes From the core up Gateway Chassis Solutions Ltd 01482 485 www.gateway-chassis.co.ukinfo@gateway-chassis.co.uk170 Gateway Chassis Solutions is one of the UK’s leading dedicated manufacturers for the caravan holiday home, leisure lodge, residential park home and bespoke modular build sector.
DESIGN EXCELLENCE At Gateway Chassis Solutions, every chassis is designed to suit the home that is built on it, whether it’s a chassis in the main range or a bespoke option. Care and consideration are given to the load distribution of the building, positioning and siting of heavy components such as kitchen and bathrooms. Using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) & 3D CAD model ling the chassis are assessed against the anticipated home weight to ensure it meets the structural requirements of the building it will be supporting. This is also where Gateway’s ‘Value Ad ded, Value Engineered’ ethos really kicks in. With global steel prices conti nuing to rise, there is an ongoing deter mination to minimise the cost impact to customers through this smarter, more efficient design and manufactu ring process, while not compromising the strength of the chassis’. Quality and safety are paramount requirements, so each individual chassis is manufac tured to the National Caravan Council Code of Practice.
He continued; “Chris and the wider team at Gateway have been integral to our recent growth and are very easy to work with. Excellent communication between both Senior Teams has been fundamental in growing this relations hip and we look forward to the conti nued innovation and success of both businesses.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION To find out more email info@gateway-chassis.co.uk, call 01482 485170 or visit www.gateway-chassis.co.uk
this year with a 40% increase in the shop floor workforce, and a firm bol stering of the management team to support the new growth. Chris added; “It was important for us that this was carefully managed. Like our products, core stability is our mantra, and we re main in a solid position to respond to fluctuations in demand going forward, while also matching our customers’ re quirements fully as they also experien ce significant growth.”
When the completed home is transpor ted from the factory to the site, this is probably the furthest the home will ever travel in its lifetime and it must survive both the elements and vibrati on caused by road surfaces. When the home arrives on site, the design also facilitates easy positioning. The de tachable jockey wheel, which can be quickly released and moved from “front to back” gives the chassis maximum manoeuvrability before it reaches its final Stevendestination.McGawn,MD at Atlas said; “Our manufacturing supply partners have to work to the same high quality and key objectives that we do, and we work clo sely together to ensure that. Solid and reliable partners like Gateway Chassis Solutions who can deliver reliably at a fair price point are paramount, and with their keen eye on introducing further cutting-edge technologies, we are con fident that they are constantly striving to give us good value for money, even with the challenges the marketplace has seen in the past couple of years.”
Talking about the partnership between Gateway and Atlas, Gateway Chassis Solutions’ Managing Director Chris Ramsden said; “It’s a pleasure to work with such a progressive company as Atlas Leisure Homes, and to be wor king on holiday homes that will bring so much pleasure to holidaymakers. “While the UK staycation market has boomed, the park and leisure home industry has seen unprecedented chal lenges in the supply chain in the past couple of years, both in the logistics of supply and the pricing. This has undoubtedly put pressure on suppliers, manufacturers and parks to work har der than ever to manage these chan ges so transparency, trust and good working relationships are paramount in terms of getting the best for the end buyer, without delays or unnecessary price loading. That makes a difference for everyone involved, and we’re happy to be established as one of Atlas’ tru sted partners. He continued; “Market forces have me ant growth for us. With the increase in demand for holiday homes we’ve all gone through a period of growth to scale up production. For us, there were three clear priorities; consistency of supply, managing the cost of supply to our customers as carefully as possible, and managing the quality benchmarks during that growth period.”
TRANSPORT AND SITING
Gateway Chassis Solutions
ADDING VALUE AT EVERY STAGE It’s not just at the manufacturing point that value is added. The chassis is the foundation of the completed home, although normally it is not even visible after it is sited, it goes through quite a journey before it reaches its destinati on. Gateway considers all these stages to ensure that the home gives the ow ner the safe, comfortable, secure and sustainable structural foundation they should expect and deserve, taking into account the practicalities of siting from a park and transport perspective. Consideration is given during the de sign stage to assist all Gateway’s home manufacturing partners with the as sembly, taking into account their own production needs. Things such as siting of utilities, ease of assembly, mano euvrability and accuracy are conside red to make things run as smoothly as possible. Care is also given to ensuring the chassis’ are safely transported and delivered in the same condition as they left the factory. To ensure the home ar rives on site in the best condition pos sible Gateway has factored in special anchor points within their designs to ensure that the chassis’ are transpor ted in a safe and secure way with mini mum movement, secured rigidly ready for transit with purpose-made frames.
Solid support for the holiday home GatewayindustryChassisSolutions has been supplying Atlas Leisure Homes conti nuously for a number of years, for all their ranges and on all types of chassis, from painted lattice through to the fully galvanised I-Beam.
CONTINUOUS INVESTMENT Recent investment in new plant and machinery has added a new automa ted saw, a punching and cropping line, and another new Gateway Chassis Solutions truck in addition to the three added in 2020 – all deployed to increa se output and delivery capabilities. The firm has also ramped up its operational capability from a staffing perspective
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JOINT SUCCESS AND GROWTH
A period of calm In the next 12-18 months, Steven foresees a pe riod of consolidation for the business. “After the growth period we’ve seen, it’s prudent for Atlas to consolidate, review how we’re working and then look at how we can make the business more effi cient,” he said. Next steps for the business are to assess how it can fulfil sustainability briefs. Atlas’s leisure homes are already made of many sustainable el ements - using wood and steel for the shell and interior fixtures, fitted with LED lighting, supe rior insulation and some with alternative heat ing sources.
“We need to investigate how we can make Atlas’s leisure homes better,” explained Steven, “for ex ample, could we incorporate solar panels or electric “Thecharging”.challenge here,” he continued “is ensuring the parks are onboard and fit to host these im provements”.
Made in Yorkshire With the next two years looking more than com fortable for the firm, the leadership team are looking at further ways to develop the business. This includes conversion of an area within their own 18 acres of land currently used for storage.
With a new Marketing Manager in place at Atlas Leisure Homes, Steven hopes to make commu nications stronger both internally and external ly. Part of this communication plan will be pre senting to local schools to encourage leavers to buy into the Atlas ethos, seeing the opportunity for a career, rather than “just a job” “Atlas are proud of its product and where it’s man ufactured in Yorkshire - the industry should be rightly proud of its collective achievements too,” he closed. www.atlasleisurehomes.co.uk
To see our full range, please contact your local carpets retailers Condor Carpets is proud to be supplier of Atlas Leisure Homes
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Lifestyle Feature
Atlas are keen to make the potential show ground as sustainable as possible. With the de velopment in the early stages, ways to make this happen are under research.
“With the annual trade shows being cancelled during the pandemic, we realised customers didn’t have an opportunity to physically come and see what we have to offer. We have plans to launch a showground here, on site,” explained Steven, “this would allow our Park customers to visit yearround, and not need to search out a park that has one of our models in situ”.
Atlas are proud of its product and where it’s manufactured in Yorkshire - the industry should be rightly proud of its collective achievements too. “ “ Atlas Leisure Homes Issue 107 · Business Enquirer Magazine 13
www.atlasleisurehomes.co.uk
Atlas Leisure Homes
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