The Peterborough Show - is it worth going

[TheTwoOfUs]

We went yesterday. Talked to Jim and Sian and spent time with a friend who has an accessory stand. From his account and from what we saw the show is definitely smaller than previous years, and by a considerable amount. I think we have reached the stage where quality is suffering at the expense of quantity and that we now have overkill. The dealers can't afford to attend all the shows and some won't have the staff to man the stands even if they did.

 

[Minxy]

We found out yesterday that Brownhills aren't doing ANY outdoor shows any more so, regardless of people's views of them, this had reduced the number of vans for sale, we've also noticed that there are less stalls than usual - still a fair number to waddle around, but definitely less.

It surprised us about Brownills though as when we visited their Newark branch last week they didn't have that many MHs for sale so we assumed they were on the way to the show ... so if they aren't here and aren't at their premises ... where are all these MHs they supposedly have ....????

 

[haganap]

I've always found the shows great for research and getting a party going. Not done any though for some time now but in answer to your question I would say don't bother. You have decided on what van you want and narrowed it down. I really like the bailey 730 it's a great layout and one that actually works in this country.
Ignore the anti brit van drivel, we love ours and it's as good as anything else we've come up against. My tip would be if you really want to save a few quid, hit the Bailey, I reckon it's far better value than the Autotrail, we hope to buy one in December.

 

[jezport]

It quite a good show this year with a good assortment of stands.

We still have a few travel washing machines available and will give any funsters a £10 discount if they buy at the show.

 

[BMStewart2004]

Putney to Robertsbridge, not as far as Peterborough!

have a chat to Andy Paul about this one Auto-Trail Tracker RB
Yes we've seen it on the website and am intrigued by the 4 belt arrangement as we thought the RB only came with two.
Unfortunately we're not ready to buy yet

Peter

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[laird of Dunstan]

it looked to me that the MH dealers were doing allright from the show ,there were a lot of sold signs on the vans, as for Peterborough showground or arena as they call it now,the grounds are slowly being sold off for housing development , the owners have been putting up the prices to event organisers for a long time , several events have now moved to the Newark showground

 

[Sandancers]

Peterborough was our first "big" motorhome show. We spent all day there on Saturday. Looked at lots of accessories, even bought some odds and ends.

But you know what the most interesting thing was ? We had bought a Chausson Flash 10 last year and we expected to look at loads of different motorhomes at Peterborough and be saying to each other, "if only we had bought that" or "wish we had the cash for that". But NO !! We could not find any vehicle which suited us better than the Flash 10 !!! How great is that ???

Tell you what shocked us tho. Many MHs had TINY payloads !!! One we saw had a payload of 370kg. Get in a couple of decent sized adults, a couple of pallets of brown ale and there will be no capacity left for daft stuff like clothes and food !!

 

[MJG1959]

Our first visit and to be honest it was a big disappointment.

We have already decided we are going down the car and caravan route rather than motor home but kept to our booking anyway.

Where were the British made vans? It should have been titled the 'continental motor home show' surely? Lots of French and German made stuff and a number of used (some very obviously damp smelling) motor homes.

The beer in the bar on Saturday was crap and they had ran out of white wine by 2pm. Not good.

 

[AMK]

Really disappointed this year, it's getting smaller every year.

Best part of the weekend was Jim Davidson.

I don't think I will bother next year, I will try Malvern for a change.

 

[Minxy]

Well, I'm now at my static caravan at Chapel Hill having a nice cuppa before bed.

We enjoyed our 'expensive' stay at the show (Thurs to today) but there certainly were not the usual number of dealers or accessory stands as usual, dealers notable by their absence were Brownhills who are no longer doing outside shows, plus some other smaller companies who we usually see. I agree there was a very poor showing of UK MHs but overall the number of vehicles on show seemed to be well down.

Regarding accessories, Towsure weren't attending and there seemed to be less 'choice' of suppliers of similar types of products/accessories, no Safeguard insurance stand (I like the 'spin the wheel' game and the usual tat I get as a prize) and very few selling awnings and the like. There was at least 1 row less overall of accessory stalls and some of the outside space usually occupied by these had been filled by park home displays. In the wooden sheds it was very obvious that the number of stalls was less and others had 'expanded' in an attempt to fill the massive gaps left. We heard the Diablo chap this afternoon commenting to another stall holder that he'd sold 4 today ... enough to cover the cost of his day's fuel! I don't think many will have had a great weekend sales wise, although some seemed to be doing a really stonking trade such as the 'really useful box' company. Of those who were there some had 'lost' suppliers (due to them going bust/closing down) so their choice of goods were reduced too.

For many years we have always, with the exception of last year when we were abroad on holiday (had to use Tesco Eurotunnel vouchers before end of May), gone to the Peterborough show and really enjoyed it and whilst we still enjoyed it this year I doubt if we'll go next year as we'll probably be abroad again and if not, don't' feel it will be worth the travelling/expense.

We're giving the new Norfolk show a try in July this year and hopefully we'll enjoy it as much as the Peterborough shows of the past, at least it should be a bit warmer too - this morning I was walking round the show with my gloves on!

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[Langtoftlad]

There are too many "shows".
In just the few years I've been looking, the number seem to have exploded.
Traders/dealers can't afford to go to every show, showgoers only have so much money to spend. Net result is a vicious circle, not so many stands, higher prices, fewer sales, less people go because of fewer stalls, no bargains, decide not to go next time, traders decide not to go next time...