In 1971
"the dream began"
Let me introduce myself, I'm Ben Searle. Born and raised in Geelong Victoria I am the product of a caravanning family. My father Paul opened a caravan yard in 1972 in Geelong, which he grew, into one of Victoria's biggest retail sales yards. If you keep an eye out while travelling you might even spot one of his original stickers on the back of a Viscount, Milard, Chesney or Roadstar. After 25 years he closed the yard and went to work for Roadstar where he created the brand Compass.
Myself, I started out cleaning vans as a kid for a bit of pocket money. When a caravan show was on in school holidays I would go and hand out brochures and progressed to selling the vans. My first show was for Roadstar but also worked for Peter Ennals, from Cobram Caravans, selling Regal and Compass.
When I moved to QLD in '94 I fell into the motor industry, after being trained as an accountant, which gave me a great foundation to launch my own business 12 years later.
So now your asking yourself, why am I an A'van dealer when I have so much history with other brands. It's simple, I chose a brand that was fresh, dynamic, provided a full range of product without having to deal with a dozen different brands and a brand thats vision is the future. Using my wealth of knowledge from my history in and around caravans it also helped to identify a brand that produced a high quality product that was backed by it's dealer body. Now it's my turn to build a business and involve my two kids who hopefully one day will thank me.
I have gathered practical experience on caravanning when my partner and I went around Australia in 2006, we called it the "Discover OZ tour" and for those of you that haven't done it, stop making excuses and get going. I took heaps of photos and have lots of stories so feel free to come in have a look around and ask lots of questions, I am more than happy to help.
Ben
"live the dream"
The Hearse Doesn't Stop At The Bank!