Swift Leisure are a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

manufacturer of leisure vehicles, including caravans and

motorhome A motorhome (or coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which is as the name suggests, like a home on wheels. Features Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed o ...

s. Started in 1964, the company is based in Cottingham,

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. It celebrated its Golden 50th year in 2014, with the launch of SMART HT, the first fully composite caravan without any timber and ply in the body, and using a patent pending aluminium jointing systems and a patent pending floor construction.

History

Swift was founded in 1964 by Ken Smith. The company started with the single Swift brand of caravans, based on a distinctive tri-front window design (all of which opened – unique at the time), which also allowed easy see through to the rear for the driver whilst travelling. Following the break-up of the travelling caravan business of

Cosalt Cosalt plc was a diversified marine safety and leisure company, based in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. It was a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index. The name ''Cosalt'' was a portmanteau of the company's original title The Great Grimsby ''Coal, ...

plc, in 1994 the company acquired the Cosalt brand of Abbey, followed in 1994 with the purchase of Sprite leisure and the Ace brand in 2001. Since late 2008 Swift Leisure has dropped the Abbey and Ace brands of touring caravans. Within the Swift International division, the company has operations in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The company moved manufacturing from Hedon Road,

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

to Dunswell Lane, near Cottingham in 1970. In the early 2000s the company moved to an adjacent site in Cottingham to allow expanded production facilities.

Timeline

Key events in the companies history:Swift Leisure :: History
*1964 Swift Caravans founded *1986 Swift Motorhomes launched, with the

Kon-Tiki The ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named ''Kon-Tiki'' after the Inca god Viracocha, f ...

motorhome, named for

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...

's expedition. *1992 Abbey Caravans purchased *1994 Sprite Leisure purchased *1995 Sprite Leisure renamed Sterling *1996 Bessacarr Caravans purchased *1997 Bessacarr Motorhomes launched *2001 Ace Caravans purchased *2001 Ace Motorhomes launched *2004 Swift Holiday Homes launched *2004 Sprite Caravans relaunched *2008 Autocruise purchased

Group brands

*Abbey **Caravans (until 2008) *Ace **Caravans (until 2008) **Motorhomes (until 2008) *Autocruise (purchased in 2007) **Motorhomes *Bessacar **Caravans (until 2006) **Motorhomes *Escape **Motorhomes *Mondial **Motorhomes *Sprite **Caravans *Sterling **Caravans *Swift **Caravans **Motorhomes

References

* * *

External links

*
Official Swift Owners Club UK website

Sprite Sterling Swift Caravan Owners Club website
Recreational vehicle manufacturers Manufacturing companies of England Companies based in the East Riding of Yorkshire Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire British companies established in 1965 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1965 Caravan and travel trailer manufacturers {{UK-company-stub