The successful West Midlands Caravan and Motorhome Show in Shrewsbury attracted 2,000 more visitors than last year and sales were up in most departments.

The UK’s largest dealership show, which offers free admission, is hosted by award-winning caravan dealership Salop Leisure whose accessory shop reported a 25 per cent increase in sales. 

The number of holiday homes and luxury lodges sold was 10 per cent up, while touring caravan and motorhome sales and takings in the Love Coffee restaurant were both slightly up on 2014.

Salop Leisure’s sister business, Love Plants, saw a 20 per cent increase in plant sales.

Andy Harding, Salop Leisure’s accessory shop manager, was delighted with the increase in business during the show, which he attributed largely to sales of inflatable and traditional caravan awnings.

“Our side of the business tends to correspond to caravan sales,” he said. “If they are busy selling caravans, we tend to also be busy selling accessories.

“Because the summer weather was so good last year, it has put people in the right frame of mind for this holiday season and I think the recent election result has helped consumer confidence.”

Salop Leisure’s chairman Tony Bywater said the accessory shop had developed an excellent reputation for the help and advice that it gave to caravan owners, particularly first time buyers. 

Also popular with first time buyers at the 10-day show was Swift Group ambassador Lee Davey who spent time with customers giving advice on a range of topics related to owning a caravan or motorhome.

“Show-goers seemed to have already done their homework before the show and had a clear idea of what a caravan can potentially offer,” said Lee. “Even the financial side of things didn’t deter them and I guess that a budget was sorted beforehand.

“Making it clear from the outset that I wasn’t part of the sales team and would not be reaching for an order form was my greatest asset with people then opening up and asking questions.

“Although most questions had a common theme, there were a lot of potentially blocking questions that required a depth of knowledge to answer due to their random nature. Online guides seemed to compound people’s problems due to their technical nature but a bit of plain English worked wonders.” 

Visitors were able to see the latest innovations in new holiday homes, touring caravans and motorhomes. Several new holiday home and lodge models were unveiled, including the Brockenhurst and Aurora from Willerby Holiday Homes, the Carnaby Envoy and the Atlas Sherwood.

Twenty top holiday home parks across Mid Wales and the Heart of England exhibited at the show to help customers find their dream location.