Bailey of Bristol appoint Ian Rawlings as their new Chief Operations Officer

Ian has been at Bailey for over 20 years, where, as the company’s Sales Director, he has helped the business successfully navigate the recent twin challenges of Brexit and the COVID pandemic. Under Ian’s stewardship, through establishing excellent long-term working relationships, the Bailey Retailer Network has grown to more than 60 caravan and 45 motorhome retailer outlets. This, in turn, has helped Bailey continue to grow its share of both the caravan and motorhome markets, as well as quickly establishing itself as a new campervan manufacturer.

The company, therefore, believes that the time is right for Ian to take the next step in his Bailey career, and he has been appointed as their new Chief Operating Officer. In this new role, Ian will continue in his capacity as Sales Director but will now take on overall responsibility for both the Operations and People elements of the business.

The creation of this new role will assist with the harmonisation of both the supply and demand functions within the business to allow it to more accurately reflect the needs of the market going forward. Central to this will be a major drive for new improvements to both people and processes throughout the manufacturing facilities to ensure our products continue to provide our customers with the highest possible levels of satisfaction.

As a result of this restructuring, Steve Bruce (Operations Director – Production & Procurement) and Dan Clay (Director of Human Resources) will now report directly to Ian. The remaining functions within the business—Finance, Product Development, Marketing, PRIMA Leisure, and Aftercare—will continue to fall under the remit of Managing Director Nick Howard.

Founded in 1948, Bailey of Bristol is the longest-established UK independent caravan manufacturer with over 75 years of experience in leisure vehicle production and design. During this period, our family-owned business has grown to become not only the Nation’s Favourite brand, accounting for approximately one in three new caravan sales, but also one of the largest in Europe. In 2011, the company successfully introduced this same level of expertise to the UK motorhome market, as well as expanding its operations into new export markets as far afield as South Korea and New Zealand. Then, most recently, in 2023, as part of its 75th-anniversary celebrations, Bailey began production of Endeavour, its first-ever campervan range.

Today, Bailey employs over 650 local people across its three sites in Bristol and currently manufactures 6,000 touring caravans, motorhomes, and campervans per year, generating a group annual turnover of more than £145 million.

Commenting on this new appointment, Bailey Managing Director Nick Howard said, “Ian is an extremely experienced and hugely respected member of our Senior Management Team, and his promotion to the new position of Chief Operations Officer is well deserved.”

“Using his sales experience, he will be able to bring a more customer-orientated approach to the way we design and build leisure vehicles in the future, ensuring that we continue to retain our position as the Nation’s Favourite leisure vehicle brand.” he added.