Swift celebrates record-breaking year before heading into 60th season
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2023 was a record-breaking year for Swift, and looking back, it has been an incredible and rewarding 12 months.
Most importantly, we helped thousands of new and existing customers create long-lasting memories in their motorhomes, caravans and holiday homes.
As the trend for staycations and having the flexibility to go and explore the UK continues to increase in popularity, we have seen a record year for sales across motorhomes and campervans.
Let’s take a glance back at everything that happened:
January
The year kicked off with us spending some very cold nights in Manchester filming our very first TV advertisement. Our ‘magic boxes’ featured the Monza, Voyager and Basecamp, to help promote the joy of adventure and creating memorable holiday experiences for years to come.
Behind the scenes we launched the new Management Development programme, which saw significant investment in our current and future leaders. Swift also joined the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
We relaunched the Approved Dealer Standard which aims to again, raise the bar and improve customer experience right across our dealership network. More exciting news on this to come throughout 2024.
February
We hosted a stand dedicated to our Monza pop-top campervan range at the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham.
Back at our Cottingham site we continued our investment in state-of-the-art equipment within the machine shop. We also installed a £400k holiday home bonding line with laser plate guidance for product manufacturing in 2024 and beyond.
March
Our Every Swift has a Story advert went on air, reaching over 11 million viewers, a campaign that was a first for the caravan and motorhome sector.
One of the many great reasons to work at Swift is the fantastic facilities and March saw the grand opening of our new £2million Hub Sixty-Four cafe that serves superb food to the 1,300 employees on site.
Swift collaborated with Ford to run a donation drive and offer aid to those affected by the earthquake disasters in Turkey and Syria. We sent vital supplies of bedding, equipment and food to those in desperate need of help.
April
We invited over 80 members from the caravan owners club Driffield Rally for a factory tour experience at our site in Cottingham. We wanted to show them the care, dedication and skills that go into manufacturing our market-leading ranges of touring caravans, campervans and motorhomes.
May
We sponsored Dan Keeley’s Home to Rome challenge, a 1,100 mile run from London to Rome whilst his family followed alongside him in a Voyager motorhome which we donated for the trip.
June
A number of Swift employees took part in the MKM Hull Half Marathon, with the team coming in first place whilst supporting the Dove House Hospice and Daisy Appeal.
We launched our internal recognition programme EPIC, driving our core values within energy, professionalism, innovation and community.
July
We launched the newly redesigned Toronto Lodge, for luxurious family living, this top-of-the-line lodge is available in two stunning schemes, the Country Cottage, and brand-new for 2023, the Urban interior.
August
We attended the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, in what was the UK’s biggest outdoor holiday home show. We showcased the new S-Pod range, offering ingeniously compact living, modern style and enviable luxury.
September
We launched the Challenger Exclusive and Challenger Grande Exclusive touring caravans which have been a huge success so far. The range comes with exclusive premium features such as onboard 4G Wi-Fi, Swift Command and full diamond cut alloy wheels.
Also joining the touring range was the all-new Voyager 4 series, an exciting addition to the much loved Voyager range. With a refined and sleek interior, Voyager 4 Series maximises space without compromising on design or on-board amenities.
Swift welcomed 34 new apprentices to the company as we continue to support young talent and kick-start engineering careers with opportunities across our manufacturing operations.
46 Swift employees took to the hills to take on the 3 Peaks Challenge in cold and windy conditions. It certainly was a challenge but an incredible effort by the team raised over £3500 for our chosen charities.
October
We returned to the NEC in Birmingham for the Motorhome and Caravan Show, featuring over 50 leisure vehicles, including the new Basecamp EVO. EVO is an all-electric prototype concept vehicle, showcasing a myriad of environmentally-friendly features.
We relaunched the new Swift Go website as the motorhome and campervan hire side of the business goes from strength to strength. The website features a new cleaner design, a seamless and user-friendly booking process and easier navigation and user experience.
We held an awards evening for our tourer and motorhome dealers, recognising the best dealers across our 12 award categories including ‘Best Customer Service through, Best Dealers in several categories’ plus the prestigious Overall Best Dealer of the Year.
November
We love to receive feedback from all our customers, and were very proud to have gained ‘excellent’ status on Trustpilot with almost 500 reviews. This is testament to our high standards of product quality and committed work from the Customer Experience Team.
Our incredible stand at the NEC in 2022 was a runner-up for the Best Production Experience Award with Campaign Magazine Experience Awards.
We took nominations in Developing future talent, Apprenticeship scheme, Step in Programme, Swift Active and Management to the Make UK Manufacturing Awards. We also scooped the HTAE employer of the year award.
Individually, many of our employees excelled too. Our very talented Angel Doherty won the HTAE engineering apprentice of the year at the Graduate and long service awards. Senior Designer Jessie Milburn was a winner in the Hull and Humber Top 30 under 30, and Ben Wright our Finance Director won the Yorkshire Finance Leader at the prestigious Yorkshire Finance awards.
December
Our range of amazing caravans, motorhomes and campervans have been nominated for a record number of awards throughout the 2024 season.
This season, we are thrilled to commemorate a significant milestone - a decade of SMART Construction. SMART is an ingenious blend of materials and construction techniques that guarantee enhanced structural integrity.
As we head into our 60th year of innovation and trusted performance, with new products in the pipeline including the incredible new Trekker campervan, 2024 looks a very exciting year for Swift.