Staycations lead to closure of caravan sales business near Horsham

Demand for touring caravans has been so high that Roundstone Caravans in Southwater has been unable to get new stock.

It has now decided to cease trading on that side of its business - but will continue to run two caravan sites in the village: its Roundstone Park residential site and its holiday homes at Raylands Country Park in Jackrells Lane, where business has benefited from the staycation boom.

Managing director Rosie Kent - whose family has run the business for more than 70 years - said: “The closure is largely due to ongoing supply issues, which have resulted in us not being able to buy enough stock of caravans to make the business viable.

“We would very much like to thank all of our loyal customers who have supported us throughout the years.”

She said since its foundation, Roundstone had always been a mixture of a trading business and a park business.

“During wartime we had old fashioned trading caravans. No-one was going away on holiday and that’s when we started developing the holiday park,” she said.

With recent staycations, the business had “kind of gone full circle. But Roundstone is still very much still here. In a way it’s a natural progression.”

She said staff who had worked on the caravan sales side of the business had been redeployed on the caravan park sites which were continuing to trade normally.

“Therefore Roundstone Caravans, established in 1930, will still continue to have a presence in the village for many years to come.”