IT is 10 years since VW campervan specialist Leisuredrive relocated from Manchester to Kearsley — and business has never been better.

In that decade, the firm, based at Fishbrook Estate, Stoneclough Road, has increased its workforce from eight to 18 and campervan production is now at 150-a-year, compared to 60 in 2004.

At the age of 68, founder and chairman Derek Andrews has lost none of the enthusiasm he has had since he hit upon what proved to be the perfect business model 45 years ago, quite by accident.

Mr Andrews, who was brought up in Halliwell Road, had just left university with an engineering degree in 1969 when his father asked him to convert an old ambulance into a campervan.

Mr Andrews said: “We put it up for sale at the end of the year after we had used it, and we could have sold it several times over.

“I then bought five more vans and did the same and demand for them when they were put up for sale was equally impressive.

“After starting the business at home, we opened a centre in Hyde Road, Manchester, and stayed there until we moved to Kearsley.”

Mr Andrews, who runs the company alongside managing director Jennifer Seddon and works manager Paul Hewitt, said that 70 per cent of his customers are on the verge of retiring, or have already retired.

“They want to live the dream,” said Mr Andrews. “So many of our customers remember their parents having a campervan in the 50s and 60s and they remember what great family holidays they had. They want to recreate that feeling.”

Leisuredrive uses the highly-rated VW Transporter van as the base for its campervans. One configuration of layout for the vehicle is the Vivante, which incorporates a toilet in a private area at the rear of the van.

The Vivante won motor caravan of the year in 1995 and continues to be the most popular “alternative layout” VW Campervan.

Mr Andrews is proud of the fact all eight of the original employees of the company are still at Leisuredrive, all with more than 40 years’ service.

He said: “That’s a fairly unique achievement in this day and age.”

Leisuredrive is one of only three campervan companies in the UK to be members of the National Caravan Council — a government-recognised body which sets stringent standards of safety and usability for the sector.