The NCC is delighted to announce the reintroduction of the NCC's 25 and 40 plus years 'Long Service Awards', celebrating the dedication and commitment of individuals who have made a lasting impact on the caravan industry. We will be highlighting different members over the coming months. We start with congratulating Rick Gorton of Reich UK (NCC member since 2010), who has received his 40+ years service award.
Rick Gorton's shares career highlights
"I joined Carver Engineers in June 1978 as a service engineer. In those early days, Carver was the agent for Truma and was supplying the SB1800 space heater into the UK marketplace. I advanced through the department to service manager. Carvers designed the first storage water heater in the early 1980’s for touring caravans and I was involved in technical training for both UK and European dealers following the product launch. I was Technical Sales Manager during this period.
Into the 1990’s and we launched the first caravan motor mover to drive the actual road wheels on a caravan. I was part of the project team and helped present the concept first showed at the ABI trade show. Carvers continued to grow the business both at home and overseas - during this phase I was made European Sales Manager.
Having been in the industry for over 20 years at this period I wanted to remain where my strengths lay. In 2021, I joined Reich GmbH to head up the UK office looking after OEMS and building up the dealer network. I have worked with all the large OEMs where our water taps/showers etc. are being fitted. We also introduced the Move Control caravan movers with great success for over 10 years. We then introduced the Easydriver range with all the knowledge that we had acquired resulting in high-tech electronics such as Smartphone technology.
I am now fast approaching 50 years in the leisure industry and have enjoyed every moment. The only things that I miss are the lots of smaller touring OEMS e.g. Lunar, Avondale, Abbey, and Fleetwood caravans and of course Earls Court Exhibitions. Having been present at every caravan show at the NEC I can honestly say that times change, and markets evolve, and we need to remain flexible to meet the everchanging needs."
Nominations welcome!
We invite members to come forward, whether to nominate a colleague or to put yourself forward. Help us recognise these outstanding contributions to the caravan industry. To take part, simply submit a short paragraph to membership@thencc.org.uk outlining the nominee’s journey in the industry to date, when they entered the industry and highlighting their experience, achievements, and influence.
