The global van conversion market has almost doubled in the last decade, fuelled by social media and the pandemic.
People are also drawn to converted vans as a more affordable way to travel and find adventure than a caravan or camper van. For Martin Byford, van life is an increasingly viable alternative to soaring house prices too.
Byford was born in New Zealand and moved to Ireland with his family aged 10. “I went from going to school barefoot there, to going to a Catholic boys’ school here where I had to wear clunky black shoes,” he recalls.
For the rest of his school days those shoes had a path worn to the engineering room, where he focused on doing and making as much as the teachers would allow. “I spent all my time there,” he recalls.
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After school he apprenticed as a motorbike mechanic. “But the recession hit and they only had three days work for me a week, so I got a second apprenticeship doing van conversions, also three days a week,” he says.
It turned out to be the perfect schooling. Ultimately, he went on to work full time for the van conversion company and, when it relocated to the UK, he went with it. “It’s now the biggest company of its kind in the UK but after a few years there I decided to do it for myself,” says Byford.
First he returned to Ireland and undertook a degree in design engineering in Technological University Dublin, “to get credentialed”, he explains.
He kept body and soul together by working as a maintenance engineer, but Covid saw his hours reduced and, as someone who likes to be busy, “that didn’t suit me”, recalls Byford, who has always been enterprising.
One of his side hustles, leading a troupe of fire breathers, used to do 80 gigs a year, including weddings and corporate events. “It put me through college,” he says. The troupe has since disbanded. “They all grew up and are now actuaries and engineers,” he laughs.
Byford has owned a camper van since he was 18 and has lived full-time in one since his mid-twenties. “I’m 33 now and most people of my age who can’t afford a house will buy a van. I couldn’t afford Dublin rents and, with the maintenance engineer job I had, I was travelling so much anyway.”
It was on one of his travels, which included visiting the Willie Clancy traditional music festival in Clare, that he came across a vacant workshop that he reckoned would be perfect for undertaking van conversions, his initial plan.
He moved to the Banner County in July 2022 and established Beech Van Conversions. Such was the demand for conversions that he quickly moved into the business-to-business space, designing and manufacturing flat packed units for other van converters.
Sourcing sustainable materials is a central plank of his offering, including bamboo for counter tops and Scandinavian birch for cabinet carcasses, all of which he buys from local businesses.
His kits can include toilets and showering options. “A camper van toilet is five times the cost of a normal one, simply because it is so well designed – everybody asks about them,” he says.
Becoming a winner of Three’s Grant for Small Businesses programme accelerated his progress. “I saw an ad for it on Instagram, offering small businesses who could do with a bit of funding to kick into gear. I just thought, that sounds like me,” he says.
The cash element enabled him to buy second-hand computerised cutting equipment, called a CNC machine. “It has been a game-changer because prior to that I had to saw every piece of wood by hand. I’m much more productive as a result,” he says.
He also received €5,000 worth of phones and internet services. “I now have internet in my workshop. Before I had to use my personal hotspot,” he explains. That will facilitate the ecommerce website he is currently developing.
“Three also gave me the best iPhone I could get, which has the tools on it I need for 3D scanning and digital design, and the camera is just so good,” says Byford, whose plan now is to employ staff and develop export sales.
“The validation you get from winning really helps. Just hearing how excited the guys at Three are about my business is huge.”