Sidmouth mechanic feels 'liberated' after starting his own caravan servicing business

Former Sidmouth mechanic, Tom King, has said he feels liberated after turning his passion for caravans into a business.

After many years of hard work, he has started his own caravan servicing business called Kings Caravan Servicing, which offers caravan servicing, motorhome habitation servicing, damp reports, gas safety checks, general trailer servicing, horse box servicing, appliance repairs and emergency call outs.

The former Kings School student started his career working in Aston Martin's Exeter body shop and has also worked for Jaguar Land Rover, Riverside a breakdown company, and has for the last year been working for a local garage in Sidmouth.

"My favourite job before I found my love for caravan servicing was working for a local breakdown company," said Tom. "I believe this set me in good stead as I often had to overcome problems and think outside the box to do so."

Nub News spoke to Tom about his new business, Kings Caravan Servicing, and asked what it feels like to be working for himself.

"I really enjoy working for myself it feels liberating," said Tom. "It has given me more freedom to be able to help people. My partner often enjoys coming along to help me, and we are more than happy to go out late on a Sunday night in order to help someone. With my passion for caravans and motorhomes I wanted to provide a service that made a difference to people, whether it be an emergency call out or general servicing and repairs."

Tom's love of caravans and motorhomes comes from fond memories of road trips and adventures with his family when he was young. He said: "I've grown up around caravans and motorhomes, my parents had a motorhome, which we travelled around Spain and Portugal in. It is such fun, I don't think you can beat travelling and finding the campsite that gives you that holiday feel."

"I find caravanners and motor-homers are so friendly and everyone wants to help each other. It is one big family, and now I can help each campsite family around the local area as well as enjoy it with my partner in our own caravan."

Setting up your own business is never easy and Tom has worked hard to get to where he is. He said: "The biggest challenge is trying to get your name known to people and to get them to give us a try. We always try to be accommodating with the least inconvenience to our customers."

Despite the challenges Tom enjoys helping his customers and the attention to detail required to work on caravans and motorhomes.

"The most rewarding part is when you can help someone who has just started their holiday and is experiencing an issue with their caravan," said Tom. "I enjoy repairing it to a high standard and allowing them to enjoy the rest of their holiday, this makes it all worth doing."

Tom wanted to start his new business in East Devon after growing up in the area and falling in love with what it has to offer, he said: "Growing up in the local area was exciting, I grew up in a village just outside of Honiton, and went to Awliscombe Primary School. I then went to Kings Secondary School in Ottery St Mary. You felt safe everywhere you went as a child, we used to cycle across to Sidmouth to spend the day on the beach, and then cycle home. Living by the sea growing up was second to none."

Tom has some advice for people thinking of starting a business based on their passion.

"My advice would be to follow your passion! If you do something you love, you'll never work a day in your life."

Kings Caravan Servicing offers caravan servicing, motorhome habitation servicing, damp reports, gas safety checks, general trailer servicing, horse box servicing, appliance repairs and emergency call outs.

For more information on Kings Caravan Servicing, click the red button below or call 07788244428.