Swift Leisure are a British manufacturer of leisure vehicles, including caravans and motorhomes. Started in 1964, the company is based in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire.
It celebrated its Golden 50th year in 2014,[1] 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.
Swift was founded in 1964 by Ken Smith.[1] 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 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, the Netherlands and New Zealand.[2]
The company moved manufacturing from Hedon Road, Kingston upon Hull 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.[3][4][5]
Key events in the companies history:[6]
..Cottingham's own caravan maker, the Swift Group, based at Dunswell Road. The story of Swift Caravans is a rags-to-riches affair, since a company that in 2007 had sales of £191.3 million, began life in 1964 as a small operation located in a garage on Hedon Road, Hull. The company moved to Cottingham in 1970 and since then has expanded its facilities there with a training centre and a new factory complex
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