Major sponsor of the 2012 New England Outdoor Recreation Expo and owner of the local Armidale Holden Dealership, Graham Betts, knows a thing or two about cars – starting in the business 35 years ago in Tamworth before moving up to Armidale 17 years ago to be the General Manager of the Holden Dealership and then in 2001 buying the business.
Graham grew up in Moonbi and has lived and worked in the region all his life and has thoroughly enjoyed working with his beloved Holdens.
Six years ago Graham extended the business into selling caravans after he was inundated with interest in his own caravan that he advertised on the lot at the dealership in Armidale.
“I wanted to upgrade my own caravan so I advertised with the cars here and got about 18 people enquire,” said Graham.
“I thought there was a bit of an opportunity so I made some enquires about several franchises, which was difficult at first, but then Roadstar was the first to come on board.”
At his Uralla dealership, Graham now has several brands of caravans including Regal, Roadstar, A-Van, Sunland and Compass.
“Most people buying caravans are retired people but we do get people above the age of 30 coming in, starting with the campers, then they come back and upgrade to a caravan,” said Graham.
Graham gets lots of interest in his caravans from across the region but has also sold two caravans to Western Australia and another to Tasmania.
“We get people travelling through who see the van that they like and buy it. This was the case with the people from Western Australia and Tasmania,” said Graham.
Outdoor pursuits are increasingly popular and Graham was initially involved with the development of the Outdoor Recreation Expo that began four years ago.
“Des Ryan from Rotary North approached me about the idea of an Outdoor Expo and we talked about it for about a year before we actually got it up and going,” said Graham.
“I was looking to sponsor something so we thought the Outdoor Expo would be a good fit.
“We have a huge display of caravans at the expo each year and we take some of the cars and motorbikes as well.”
Graham is encouraging other businesses to come onboard with the Outdoor Expo and book an exhibit.
“Last year we sold three caravans at the expo, so it is really worthwhile for us to be involved,” said Graham.
New England Outdoor Recreation Expo and Antique Machinery Rally has a new home and a new partner joining forces with the Armidale Antique Machinery Club’s annual Machinery Rally and Heavy Horse Field Day to be held at the Armidale Exhibition Centre on November 9-11, 2012.
There will be a huge selection of caravans and campervans, 4wds, camping equipment and accessories, plus returning this year will be the popular fishing demonstrations from the massive fish tank, rides for the kids, petting zoo and of course the Machinery Rally and Heavy Horses will have demonstrations all weekend.
Organisations interested in exhibiting can go to the website; www.armidalenorthrotary.org.au or contact Jed Oldfield on 0417 293 378.
