Caravan Channel TV Show gets 'access all areas' at Elddis

Although Britain has an estimated three-quarters of a million caravan and motorhome owners, many people still like to think of the industry behind it as almost a cottage affair ... but at Elddis's County Durham factory, nothing could be further from the truth.

As the first instalment of The Caravan Channel's visit to Elddis factory in Consett demonstrates, it's a sophisticated modern industry, competing in a Europe-wide marketplace, using complex technology to build high-quality, award-winning products.

"Elddis factory is a massive place, which very few ordinary caravan and motorhome owners will ever have the chance of visiting - so when they invited us to film their production process, we jumped at the opportunity," said programme producer Chris Gosling.

"We looked at both their motorhome and their caravan lines, which we'll show in upcoming programmes, but the first instalment concentrates on the making of just one of all vehicles' most basic components - the side panels, which are manufactured in one pass by a massive £1.2M machine system."

Over the coming three or four programme slots, viewers will be taken around the whole factory, and will see most of the key stages in the building process. They'll also get Gosling's response to the visit.

"The overall experience was impressive," he said, "and the most interesting part was the way Elddis have mixed their use of high levels of technology with real time-honed craft skills. The workers on both lines put together products that are made using computer controlled systems and tools, yet their individual skills and knowledge play a major part in the construction."

The Caravan Channel is broadcast on Information TV, Sky channel 166 and Freesat 402. It is shown on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings at 7pm, and there's a new programme every two weeks, which replaces the previous edition.

The show can also be seen online at the same times at www.caravanchannel.tv

For more information and comment from The Caravan Channel, contact Chris Gosling on 07931 310 254.

Published: 11/05/2009