Staycations puts employee-owned Jerba Campervans on road to success

Jerba Campervans is an employee owned business based in North Berwick and they are looking forward to continued trading improvement in the second half of the year.

Theres is evidence from AutoTrader that demand for motorhomes will rise with the increase in staycations.

The company has already improved both productivity and profit in the most recent financial year. In the year to January 2020 the firm's team of 14 converted 54 bespoke VW T6.1 camper vans. While turnover was steady at £2.9 million the productivity boosted profits by 19%. The employees all share in the increase through their share bonus scheme.

Simon Poole, who with his wife Cath founded Jerba in 2006, believes the business model is already delivering far-reaching benefits.

He said: “Everyone has a voice and is very motivated to use it. The last financial year saw a bedding in of the new business model and its benefits start to really shine through.

“What that means now, is our team really is together and united. Everyone takes an active role in assessing our productivity, knowing full well that it boosts the business and directly impacts both their long term job security and their annual bonus.

“Since coming back from lockdown, the togetherness has been exceptional, as we strive to catch up on customer orders and ensure everyone feels safe and able to do their job to the fullest extent.”

Simon added: “Like with all businesses, the pandemic threw everything up in the air for us. But I’m relieved to be in the situation we are in – knowing we are in a very fortunate position.

“Whether or not the predicted boom in staycations fully materialises or not, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing, working with our small team to build bespoke campervans that we hope go on to become beloved by their owners.”

Simon and Cath had owned and hired camper vans all over the world and decided they could add their own flair to the design and the overall user experience. Volkswagen now supply all the van skeletons for them to transform into homes on wheels.

The company feel the employeeowned model enables greater transparency between all members of staff with everyone involved in decision making.

www.jerbacampervans.co.uk

Ian Adkins, Senior Mastercraftsman at work on a bespoke van