NCC 85th Anniversary Special PDF FINAL - Flipbook - Page 6
than double the number today) so
the NCC’s interest in high quality
products became increasingly
important.
As a result, the first Certification
Scheme for mobile homes was
introduced in 1964, giving static
caravan buyers confidence in the
units they were purchasing. This
was extended to touring caravans
in 1974 and followed swiftly by a
significant result from the lobbying
side of the organisation. It was
proposed that caravans should be
subject to 25% VAT, which could have
been devastating to the industry,
and the NCC was at the forefront
of the campaign to prevent its
implementation.
Industry support
NCC founder Bill Whiteman
(second left) at a Caravan
Magazine event
NCC Chairman Tony Gillet, also the Managing
Director of Morco Products, with his wife
Kathy (pictured right) chatting to Len and
Olive Harvey, Wardens at The Caravan Club
site at Alderstead Heath in Surrey, July 1985
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NCC ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
The caravan industry flourished
during the 1970s and the NCC’s
projects kept pace. The Benevolent
Fund (nccbenevolentfund.org.uk) was
set up in the middle of the decade
and is still supporting those in the
industry who have fallen on hard
times, giving one-off financial grants
to people who work or have worked
in the caravan or leisure vehicle
industry.
The NCC’s certification schemes
for caravan manufacture were
extended to after-sales service in
the form of the NCC Caravan Service
Centre Scheme in 1978. The original
scheme was run in conjunction
with the RAC and supported by the
Caravan Club. Today it has blossomed
into the Approved Workshop Scheme
(approvedworkshops.co.uk) – a joint
enterprise between the NCC, The
Caravan and Motorhome Club and
The Camping and Caravanning
Club. More than 500 workshops
across the UK are now part of the
scheme, which is supported by all
the major caravan and motorhome
manufacturers in the UK.
The origins of the NCC were closely
linked to The Caravan Magazine, so
it wasn’t until the early ’80s that the
organisation had its own publication.
The first issue of Caravan Business
magazine (as it was then called)
was published in 1982. And it has
since ensured the NCC’s full range of
members across the industry – from
dealers, distributors and the suppliers
of products and services to leisure
vehicle manufacturers and the parks
sector – are kept informed of the
latest news and development.
The magazine was followed by
