nuCamp Hosts Creators of U.K.-Based Barefoot at Tampa – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
nüCamp RV, the teardrop manufacturer based in Sugar Creek, Ohio, had two special guests at the company’s display during the Florida RV SuperShow. The creators of the Barefoot Caravan, Cathy Chamberlain and Ben Matthews, traveled from the United Kingdom to Tampa to visit with owners and would-be owners of the North American version of the retro-looking travel trailer.
Chamberlain, who is the managing director of Barefoot Caravans, and Matthews, the company’s production director, were kept very busy during the five-day show as the curvy Barefoot was a popular attraction.
At one point, Chamberlain and Matthews were interrupted by a woman who yelled for her significant other to come look at the “adorable” 16-foot, 7-inch, 2,135-pound (UVW) monocoque fiberglass unit available in either Pearl Pink or Soft Blue.
‘Yeah, we get that a lot,” Chamberlain told RVBusiness.
The U.K.-based company currently manufactures about 100 per year in a production facility south of Birmingham, England, but expansion is in the works. In addition to the North American partnership with nüCamp RV, another U.K.-based production facility is due to come online soon. Also, while most of its units end up in the U.K., Barefoot Caravans is now shipping to other parts of Europe as well as Australia and New Zealand.
“The world market has not been brilliant for caravans and RVs, but ours seems to be because it’s unique. A product that people want and they also they keep their value very well because they’re built to last,” said Chamberlain.
“When we first produced it,” she continued, “we didn’t even know what people would think of it. It was so unique and we took it to the first show and we were quite frightened. We just didn’t know if they were going to laugh or what. And then they all came around the corner smiling, and that’s continued ever since. So, we knew fairly quickly that we were onto something good. I suppose from that point, we knew it would grow. But when we first revealed it, I couldn’t have told you whether we’d sell one or 1,000.”
While there have been a few changes over the years – many times Chamberlain would take a prototype out on a camping trip only to come back with a list of ideas – for the most part the U.K. version of the Barefoot now is much the same as the early production units.
“We were four years developing it. It was done deliberately, slowly, and trialed,” Chamberlain said. “I went to Glastonbury for a weekend and came back saying, ‘No, it’s got to have a full shower and toilet in there as well.’”
“I dreaded Cathy turning up in the factory because that meant we had something else we’d need to do,” Matthews added.
What follows is an edited account of RVB’s conversation with Chamberlain and Matthews during the Tampa show.
RVBusiness: So, tell us how Barefoot Caravans came about.
Cathy Chamberlain: We had the idea about 11 years ago in the UK. I had a wet weekend camping in a tent and decided I wanted a bit more luxury and was looking at people in caravans – which is what we call them in the UK – and thinking, ‘Oh, that looks cozy, but I wouldn’t choose one of those.’
So, I had a look around to see if there was something that I liked, and there wasn’t. Naturally, I decided to design and build one – which was a bit random, yeah.
But I realized that I wanted something that was going to be curved in shape, both for aerodynamics and just so it was stylish as well. Something that I’d be sort of proud to put on my driveway at home and own and tow, and that I could manage myself or with friends and yeah, proud to be out with really. Yeah. So decided to design something.
RVB: Did you immediately decide on a fiberglass shell versus a more traditional construction?
Cathy: I’ve got no background in the industry at all, but I think that’s why it’s such an unusual caravan because anyone in the industry would think it would be too complicated to make or it’s easier to do it another way. But I like a challenge. So, I decided that fiberglass was the best fabric, really, for creating all the curves. We wanted something that wasn’t going to leak, either. So, yes, a monocoque fiberglass construction, so it’s all one piece and the strength of it is in the shape as well.
So, we realized that fiberglass was a good material to use and Ben’s company, Watsonian Squire, makes motorbike sidecars out of fiberglass. That was the connection.
RVB: Ben, do you remember the first time Cathy contacted you about this?
Ben Matthews: We’ve been making sidecars for over 100 years, and we were approached … well, let’s just say we had a strange phone call out of the blue about 11 years ago from this lady who used to be a lawyer, saying, ‘I want to make a caravan.’
So, we invited Cathy along to come and talk to us, and at that time she had this concept in her head of this cool retro caravan made out of fiberglass. We liked the idea.
We’d worked with a local university that specialized in automotive design on some projects in the past, so we got in contact with them again. They put some really good ideas on paper of what we wanted from the design and what the specification was going to be. And then we had a couple of them working over a summer with us, and sort of Barefoot grew from that. We never thought that we were going to produce something that was going to be so popular overseas, let alone in the States.
RVB: And, a few years later, you had the Barefoot Caravan in production?
Ben: There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears and ‘Shall we carry on? Shall we give up?’ It’s like, ugh, but we stuck at it. We got some good partners on the way and launched it in ’16 to just loads of smiling faces and then lots of interest from overseas and particularly lots of interest from America.
RVB: And, at least at the time, there was nothing else like it in Europe?
Ben: Most caravans are built for ease of production. I mean, they’re built with a customer in mind, but in terms of the execution of it, it’s made to go down the production line, mostly working from the outside in and then put in the size and roof on. So, most manufacturers look at it like providing the equipment and services are what the customer wants, but also being efficient to build.
We sort of did it the other way around. We wanted to create something that was completely different – one-piece shell, watertight, and then the challenges of production come after.
RVB: Come to think of it, Ben, the Barefoot sort of looks like an oversized sidecar your company builds.
Ben: Some of the early ones we used to make were really just a small version of what we build now, but with less equipment in it. But yeah, we’ve got 100 years of experience of dealing with fiberglass and steel chassis, so it is like a big sidecar with much more stuff inside it.
RVB: So, let’s talk about how Barefoot Caravans made its way to North America – which took quite a bit of doing. The partnership with nüCamp was announced in 2019, but it wasn’t until December 2023 that the first production model rolled off the company’s line in Sugar Creek, Ohio.
Cathy: So, after I had literally thousands of inquiries from America, I thought, ‘We’re going to have to do something here.’ I started looking at manufacturers myself and doing some research and spoke to some, but the quality wasn’t there that we were after.
And then we were very fortunate, we were on the television a couple of times in the U.K., and one of them was BBC World News, which goes around the world. Through that we linked up with Bruce Bannister, who suggested nuCamp, who I hadn’t actually spoken to at that stage. They were a relatively new company. He said, ‘I think we’ve got the perfect partner for you.’
RVB: I believe I first saw a U.K. version of the Barefoot at one of our Open House events?
Cathy: That’s right. We shipped a unit over to Elkhart because Scott (Hubble, nuCamp CEO) wanted to show it to their main dealers and get their opinion – and they loved it.
That was when we knew we’d got really good partners; they could see the quality of what they were doing, and the company ethos as well. They really care about the people and the way things are put together and the customers and that everyone’s getting a good experience. That’s what we’re all about, really. We want everyone to be happy with what they get. Obviously, we need to make some profit out of it, but it was never driven purely on commercial lines because it was sort of more of a project of passion, I suppose. We wanted to create something that we were really proud of.
RVB: There were a few challenges converting the Barefoot for the North American market, correct?
Cathy: Yeah. There was a decision needed to be made whether which side the door was going to go on, because obviously in England we have the door on the other side, and once the decision was made that the door was going to switch over, that was a big job in trying to create the mold the other way around. And then we had to incorporate various aspects that you want in the North American market. For example, make sure there’s air conditioning in there, make sure there’s a gray water tank on board – which we don’t have in the U.K. where ours is external. That required some modifications. We also had Covid in the middle of it all, of course. So that slowed life down.
So, it took three years. But I think, again – a bit like the British version – good things come to those who wait, don’t they? And it was worth the wait, I think.
RVB: Needless to say, you’re pleased with how things have turned out?
Ben: Yeah, very pleased. Really, I feel like we’ve got to keep pinching ourselves and seeing if it’s really real.
