Kimberley Kampers back in business?

Ballina NSW-based off-road camper/caravan builder Kimberley reportedly has plans to start manufacturing again after being liquidated in July last year.

Former south-east Queensland dealer, James Cockburn and former General Manager, Brett McLaren, are said to be trying to reassemble former staff of the Ballina-based camper trailer icon, with a view to relaunching a range of revised models at Sydney’s Caravan and Camping show at Rosehill in April this year.

After months of negotiations to acquire the intellectual property of the brand, the pair hope to begin building most of the past Kimberley range at its company’s former manufacturing site in Ballina, where they say they have renegotiated rent with the businesses’ former landlord.

The task ahead of the Cockburn and McLaren is sizeable, as Kimberley’s plunge from one of Australia’s most respected off-road nameplates to failed business through voluntary liquidation, formal liquidation and a subsequent failed resurrection, has severely damaged its reputation.

The flailing company’s practice of taking hearty deposits in its final days for units never delivered, further damaged customer confidence, however the brand's new ‘white knights’ believe there is still enough brand goodwill out there to spark the Kimberley’s revival.

The task ahead of them is enormous in what is now a depressed local manufacturing market in which imported products now account for a greater percentage of camper sales than when Kimberley was at its peak.

Coupled to that, the whole of Kimberley was broken up during the liquidation and everything was sold off, while many of its 70 retrenched workforce have since found jobs elsewhere and are no longer available.

However, lines of communication with many of Kimberley’s previous overseas component suppliers in China, Taiwan, the USDA and Germany could potentially be re-opened.

The new operators have also been quoted as saying that they see a blank canvas rebirth of Kimberley as potentially good, allowing them to start with new tooling, no out-of-date stock and a leaner operation.

This suggests little hope for those who paid deposits on undelivered campers and caravans when the business folded.

While Kimberley products were once the industry’s gold standard, the brand has taken a hammering over the past 18 months.

Whether it is strong enough to rise from the embers will be interesting to see.