What have we been up to? - Bunkabin summer update

Frank, our managing director had a busy year. After jaunts on The Island with Bear Grylls and a casual polar expedition, our beloved leader turned his attention to our sister company Another Level Car Park. It’s been a great year for them, and selfishly, with Frank being so busy with Another Level Car Park, Luke and I have had the time to focus all of our energies on Bunkabin, uninterrupted. (Sorry Frank if you’re reading this!)

Here’s a quick update with what the talented folks at Bunkabin have been doing:

We got that festival feeling

Summer 2017 has been another busy one for the Bunkabin team. And if I’m honest, I’m glad to be through it now! We supply our sleeper units, shower blocks and Diners to so many festivals across the UK to accommodation their on-site staff and contractors. For Bunkabin this all starts in May with Download Festival, finishing with Bestival in September and everything in between. The biggest of these is Glastonbury, and while we’re on the subject of Glastonbury, I’m really proud to report that 2017 is the 15th year Bunkabin has worked with the folks down at Worthy Farm. You can read about everything we do at Glastonbury here.

Festival season is no walk in the park for Bunkabin with three solid months of festivals of all sizes up and down the country to supply there has to be a plan, a really good plan. And these Plans are made by our Director Luke and our Transport Manager Andy. From the beginning of June to the end of August we are at ‘Action Stations’ as the plan is put to the test. Not just because of how busy we are, or the fact our customers’ requirements sometimes need to change (even on the day), but also because of the ‘Great’ British weather – which likes to play its part too!

The main issues for everyone supplying a festivals is always - getting on and off the site. We invested in 4 new Double Drive Axel Euro Six Trucks two years ago, which enables our Drivers to get where others cannot. And this year they’ve been invaluable - I’m not one to bang on about the weather, but as you probably know we had a fantastic spring, and then a VERY soggy summer. But with our skilled drivers and super trucks, we had no incidents of our trucks getting stuck in the mud. In fact, our drivers say we’ve even been giving those unlucky folks a helping hand!

Leeds and Reading Festivals and then Bestival close the festival season for another year, and now it’s time to give all of our units a deep clean. You ought to see some of the mess in our Bunkabins - actually on second thoughts, you really don’t!

Back to school...kind of!

After festival season, it’s time for the Bunkabin team to go back to school. This year, we’ve supported two customers to provide temporary accommodation for students’ halls of residence. The educational establishments have both had an increased influx of students, so they asked Bunkabin to provide them with high spec ensuite single sleeping accommodation.

Ruthin School (ranked 4th Co-educational Boarding School in the Country) is one of our new customers and they ordered the full Bunkabin village solution. This is our highest spec installation option and it boasts decking, canopy and vinyl wrapped units to give that warm, community feel to the units that blend in with their surroundings.

Our village solution remains popular with colleges because of the sheer speed our team can provide a complete solution even in challenging situations. You don’t need any long-term contracts and we can have a 20-room village set up and built in as little as three days. Our villages don’t need major ground work and there’s minimise disruption, enabling the colleges to focus on getting themselves ready for the hundreds, if not thousands, of students that are to descend upon the campus for their new academic year.

We had an opportunity to film while we were at Ruthin School. The school itself is a beautiful building and in a really scenic setting. I will be attached this shortly so I hope you have time to come back and watch the two-minute film next week. I’m sure you’ll be impressed!

Show up to the Showman Show

I ended my last blog with positive thoughts about the weather for exhibition at PlantWorx 2017. I even jokingly suggested that, I would be fine because myself and the team had six, warm, dry and cosy Bunkabins to escape into, if the weather was rubbish.

Well, I shouldn’t have tempted fate! While the Bunkabins were warm and cosy, getting to them was a different story. This year’s bad weather turned the area around the Bunkabins at PlantWorx 2017 into an assault course of mud, mud and even more mud! Even the JCB stand struggled. And my cherished Gore-Tex boots took a battering. So, I’m not going to tempt fate this time.
Our next exhibition is the Showman Show on the 18th & 19th October. And yes, this one is outdoors too. And no, I won’t be making any silly comments like last time!

The Showman Show is relaxed and one of the best. So, if you’re planning to go to a show, this is the one you should attend.

My final remarks

The start of October marks the quiet before the storm - and I’m not talking about winter! Bunkabin has a short lull before Christmas festivals, parties and markets, so now is a great time to take stock, review progress and keep making those improvements that make Bunkabin the market leader in portable accommodation. (Oh, and write this blog too!)

If you’ve got any questions about Bunkabin or want to know more about we can do for you, please email benjamin@bunkabin.co.uk.