Why I Go Bailey
I have only been working with Bailey for a year now, although I have been using their motorhomes for much longer. And this is key. I don’t use a Bailey motorhome because I support them, I support them because I use a Bailey motorhome. And there are a number of reasons that I choose to Go Bailey, some driven by practicalities and some by the companies character.
From a practical perspective I use my motorhome for two things – work and family. The former often means heading off into the wilds, off the beaten track, in poor weather conditions with a mountain of equipment. As an example we had planned a road trip to Bosnia to carry out some cave diving exploration and filming in 2020 (postponed to hopefully 2021…hopefully). I need a mobile adventure/media base that’s robust and reliable. I can’t afford a breakdown on the Serbian border nor have an electrical problem whilst charging the BBC’s filming equipment. In the, often potentially dangerous, work I do I need to know my kit will work and this extends to my motorhome.
The innovative designs and build techniques Bailey use, like the Alu-Tech construction, combined with the rigorous testing they do gives me faith in the vehicle. This is re-enforced by the testing of the motorhomes and caravans in the real world under conditions even I have yet to try. They have driven them across the Australian Outback, up into the Arctic Circle and from their home in Bristol to Istanbul, the border of Europe and Asia. And if that’s not enough we are planning a road trip to the Sahara when the world begins to normalise. People can talk about how well their product will work in extremes but talk is cheap. And if we know something can cope with all these adventures we can be confident in their suitability to take on a family holiday.
Although the robustness and weatherproofing are important in the extremes they are just as important on family trips. Bex and the kids would not thank me on one of our winter trips if we did not have a well-insulated, centrally heated home with piping hot showers to return to after a day in the snow. But more than that the safety testing is one of the most important aspect to the Bailey process. I, and the people who own and operate the company, because make no mistake the people at Bailey don’t just sell motorhomes and caravans they use them, know that safety is paramount. If we’re going to stick our kids in them we want to know they’re safe.
Then there is the nature of the company that appeals to me. I know the people at Bailey, they are a friendly, family-owned and run business that started 70 years ago in Bristol (so local to me) where it remains to this day. They want to make products that they want to use, that they’d be happy for their children, family and friends to use. They have a sense of adventure and a passion for the benefits of camping, the outdoors and building a community. All aspects of life that mirror my own. And all practical reasons aside I genuinely like the people of Bailey, an all to overlooked, but very important, aspect in modern life.
Because I don’t actually work with companies. I work with people. The other brands I work with, like Bailey, are headed by a small team whom I’ve got to know very well over the many years together and have become friends (some were due to be at my, Covid-postponed, wedding last year). It’s the people that drive the company and dictate its character and ethos and with a family-owned heritage stretching back seven decades and populated by people who are part of the camping community the spirit of Bailey, of family and friends, of practical and applied innovation and of adventure is unlikely to change.
