The demand for lovely campervans shows no signs of slowing down, despite, perhaps because of, uncertain and troubling times.

The Good News

This year, the team completed 62 major projects. We doubled the size of the team to four and established an exciting furniture design and manufacturing operation under the leadership of another Hux – Max, my eldest. Feedback from customers continues to make the hard work and long (often very cold) hours feel like time very well spent.

One very welcome development was that our friends at The Ply Guys selected us as a pre-build source for this half of Scotland. We have been kept busy helping their customers prepare their vans ready for builds taking place over at the Loch Lomond workshop. It feels like an honour and we’ll not take it for granted.

One day, I may look back at this “experiment” and consider it a success. Not wishing to become complacent however, I’ll be postponing that day for a wee while yet…

The Bad News

The VanHux “experiment” would very probably have been brief and messy, had it not been for one very special man – Jon Savage. After a period of illness, Jon passed away just a few months ago. I’ll tell you why that makes me very sad:

Jon and I met on the rugby club touchline, shouting encouragement to our respective kids. We quickly became firm friends, sharing not only a name but many interests: beer, niche films and dark humour. He was one of those people who could finish your sentences for you, although usually with a Monty Python quote. That sense of humour was going to be important!

When I found myself unexpectedly redundant and in a global pandemic, I needed something to do. That something was to convert a blue T5 into a campervan. As a VW nut, an Engineer and with a love for camping, it was an obvious distraction. One of the first things you find when doing this is that you often need three hands. Who was on call to supply it?, well, Jon of course.

What better way to spend a summer? If you’ve ever thought how nice it would be if you could work every day with your best mate, then I can tell you I am that lucky man. With his endless energy and encouragement, the project became an experiment, the experiment became VanHux. When I say “I couldn’t have done it without him”, I really mean it. I couldn’t have.

Jon and I worked together for about 3 years, until his health became an issue. His tatty old jacket still hangs on a peg in the workshop, we still sit on the sofa he found on Gumtree, we still drink coffee from the machine he donated to the cause. Every day when I log in, I do so with his favourite swear. None of these things will change. Sadly, we can’t keep everything the way we would choose to but my memories of the wee daft, hardworking, hilarious, best-pal-you-can-imagine will remain. Cheers Jon Boy and “Keep your bag up” x

Project Highlights

A Cool Caddy - for the first time, we fitted a pop top to a Caddy, then designed, built and fitted bespoke furniture to make the most of the limited space and cater for all of the customers' needs:

Doggy Day Care - we designed a set of furniure to make every inch of this van useable, fitted around a substantial, 2 tier dog cage:

Off Grid Crafter - Our first (not last) high spec Crafter build. All designed and built in house:

Our first EV. This fully electric Vivaro is the first project of it's type and required careful, minimalist design to ensure the overall package delivered:

DIY SOS! Not strictly DIY because this van had apparently been converted by a "professional". The owners were so delightful, we took on a full strip out and rebuild project for them so they could get on the road with confidence:

Before

After

A Birch/Black Symphony - more custom furniture designed and built in-house to the customer's exact requirement:

Fully Loaded Classic! - Going back to our roots, we undertook a very well specified T6.1 conversion where we had the scope to fit the best of everything:

VanHux Furniture Really Takes Off: With Max taking care of the design and manufacturing duties, we've been able to provide even more solutions to customers. If you can imagine it, we can make it…

2026 is already looking just as busy, with projects large and small aready booked. Thanks to all our past customers for trusting us to deliver.

Jon, Jack, Max & Arron