Bailey of Bristol

Bailey of Bristol was founded by Martin Bailey, who built the first Bailey caravan in his South Bristol garage in 1947, going on to sell it at Ashton Gate market for £200.

A year later in 1948, F.G Bailey Ltd was formed and went into production. After the Second World War, caravan popularity grew massively with holidaymakers, and was also used as a form of temporary accommodation both during and after wartime.[8] Bailey responded by creating a range of models, from the small tourers like the Minor and the Maritza to the Maison – an 18ft caravan designed to provide accommodation during the housing shortage.

The company developed rapidly throughout the 1950s and soon outgrew its original site on Bedminster Road. At the end of the decade, Bailey moved to South Liberty Lane where it still operates from today.

In 1977, Patrick and Stephen Howard purchased the company and Bailey has remained in Howard family ownership up to the present day.

By the early 1980’s, Bailey had purchased the sections of industrial land either side of the original South Liberty Lane site. This combined with advances in manufacturing techniques and design technology, meant they were able to significantly increase caravan production volumes during this period.

During the 1980’s the company began producing the Pageant and Senator ranges which remained in its caravan model line up for over 25 years.

During the recession of the mid 2000’s, Bailey tackled the financial climate by continuing to acquire more land for its production facility and focusing on product diversification.

In 2009 Bailey introduced the Pegasus caravan range which was the first of its products to feature the new Alu-Tech body shell construction. All ranges introduced after this have been built using the same technology.

Two years later in 2011, the first Bailey motorhome was launched – the Approach SE. Using the same award-winning design principals as Bailey caravans, this range established Bailey within the motorhome market.

In 2012 as part of her Diamond Jubilee Tour, Her Majesty the Queen accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh visited Bailey of Bristol and toured the factory.[2] This year was also Bailey of Bristol’s 65th anniversary.

In 2016, Bailey Parts & Accessories registered as a separate company and moved from the South Liberty Lane site to its own premises just off of the M4/M5 Interchange in North Bristol. In 2019, Bailey Parts & Accessories changed its name to PRIMA Leisure offering parts & accessories to all caravans & motorhome owners through an on-line web site. .

In the same year, Bailey opened its new Replenishment Centre on the South Liberty Lane site. This building houses all the parts and materials needed on site to manufacture Bailey caravans and motorhomes. The Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, opened the Replenishment Centre in October 2016.

The final change to the business during this period also came in 2016 with the opening of Bailey’s Large Panel Laminating Plant at Clevedon. Here the caravan and motorhome floors, ceiling and side panels are produced and delivered to the main site in Bristol, 12 miles away, on a daily basis. Moving this part of the operation to a separate location freed up more space at South Liberty Lane to increase manufacturing capacity there.