No longer a chicken coop, now a luxury maker

Kip, the Dutch caravan manufacturer, whose name translates to mean 'chicken', has been saved from the bankrupcy of the Tirus caravan manufacturing group, due to a buy-back from its employees.

Established in 1934, by Jan Kip, a wagon and trailer manufacturer, who built his own caravan after he needed a sleep-over stop to visit his long-distance girlfriend, now has a 30 strong workforce who have rescued their hand-built, custom made, Hoogeveen factory output. They manufacture about 1,000 caravans annually.

Director, Maarten de Roos, told Reuters: "Their appeal to families is obvious, and, with the number of retired people growing throughout western Europe, the number of potential customers is also expanding.

"We expect sales to go up in the second half of this year."

Kip's caravans are created from the inside out, and are renowned for a compact interior but innovative use of fold-out shelves and concealed closets.

The Dutch buy about 20,000 new caravans every year, with approximately half a million owners listed amongst the population of 16 million residents.

04/02/2008 20:35:55