30th March 2000: Peter and Chris Rigby decided that they have had enough of working for big faceless companies, and set up Planet Trim Company Ltd. With Peter's lifelong experience in the car industry, they started off being on the road, specialising in plastic repairs on vehicles.
Our first van.
9th November 2000: Lodge Farm completely flooded - very scarey!
11th June 2001: Repaired our first caravan - a sign of the direction the company was heading?
Second van.
12th October 2003: Sold our first caravan parts.
2nd December 2003: First time we used Lodge Farm Leisure as a trading name.
20th February 2004: First caravan sold.
9th May 2004: First caravan service carried out.
September 2009: Joe decided he was not going to finish his A-Levels and started helping out @ Planet Trim.
1st March 2010: Joe officially joined the company.
21st January 2011: Chris & Joe became C&G Qualified Caravan Engineers.
February 2011: The original barn was converted into 3-bay workshop with office - No more working 'outside'!
2nd December 2003: First time we used Lodge Farm Leisure as a trading name.
20th February 2004: First caravan sold.
9th May 2004: First caravan service carried out.
September 2009: Joe decided he was not going to finish his A-Levels and started helping out @ Planet Trim.
1st March 2010: Joe officially joined the company.
21st January 2011: Chris & Joe became C&G Qualified Caravan Engineers.
February 2011: The original barn was converted into 3-bay workshop with office - No more working 'outside'!
1st April 2011: Joe became a Director of the company.
18th September 2014: Fetched & installed our custom made LPG Autogas Rig from Coventry
3rd October 2014: Had our first LPG delivery.
1st April 2015: The company became a member of the Approved Workshop Scheme.
12th June 2018: The roof was removed from the old stable building.
30th July 2018: Demolition of the old stable buildings began.
2nd August 2018: All of the old stable buildings were flattened.
18th September 2014: Fetched & installed our custom made LPG Autogas Rig from Coventry
3rd October 2014: Had our first LPG delivery.
1st April 2015: The company became a member of the Approved Workshop Scheme.
12th June 2018: The roof was removed from the old stable building.
30th July 2018: Demolition of the old stable buildings began.
2nd August 2018: All of the old stable buildings were flattened.
21st September 2018: Joe managed to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats, raising money for Help for Heroes; 980 miles in 9 days!
12th October 2018: Received our first electronic payments machine.
30th November 2018: Chris, Joe and Jade rented a mini-digger to lay the pipes and electric for the new workshop.
12th October 2018: Received our first electronic payments machine.
30th November 2018: Chris, Joe and Jade rented a mini-digger to lay the pipes and electric for the new workshop.
25th February 2019: The brand new 5-bay workshop was erected.
7th March 2019: The concrete floor was laid in the new workshop.
16th August 2019: Our new workshop's lighting system and electrics were completed.
11th February 2020: Our LPG rig broke down, and we were unable to refill gas bottles for 5 weeks!!
18th February 2020: Had to evacuate the farm due to the River Trent flooding the surrounding fields, and closed for several days while the water receeded.
18th February 2020: Had to evacuate the farm due to the River Trent flooding the surrounding fields, and closed for several days while the water receeded.
21st February 2020: New metal barriers were placed around the parking area, which meant we could finally get rid of the ORANGE CONES!
11th March 2020: The new pump for our LPG rig arrived from America, via Cardiff.
18th March 2020: The LPG rig was finally fixed, by fitting a new pump and shut-off valve.
18th March 2020: The LPG rig was finally fixed, by fitting a new pump and shut-off valve.
24th March 2020: The company furloughed three staff for 2 full months (April & May) due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which forced us into partial closure.
30th March 2020: Our plans for our 20th birthday had to be delayed indefinitely due to the Coronavirus Lockdown causing us to be partially closed.
1st June 2020: Fully reopened after Lockdown.
6th June 2020: We adopted four female orphaned wild ducks.
30th March 2020: Our plans for our 20th birthday had to be delayed indefinitely due to the Coronavirus Lockdown causing us to be partially closed.
1st June 2020: Fully reopened after Lockdown.
6th June 2020: We adopted four female orphaned wild ducks.
30th August 2020: Our Grid-tied 6.5kWh battery storage system is installed.
6th October 2020: LPG sales reach 50,000 litres!!
5th November 2020: The country enters another Lockdown due to Covid, meaning we are partially closed.
1st January 2021: In the middle of the terrible Covid epidemic, we were delighted to announce the arrival of another family member to our team; Jade Rigby. Jade is Chris and Marie's daughter, Peter's grandaughter and Joe's sister. Jade will be training to be another caravan engineer this year, which will help enormously with our workload and also maximise the potential of our new workshop.
6th October 2020: LPG sales reach 50,000 litres!!
5th November 2020: The country enters another Lockdown due to Covid, meaning we are partially closed.
1st January 2021: In the middle of the terrible Covid epidemic, we were delighted to announce the arrival of another family member to our team; Jade Rigby. Jade is Chris and Marie's daughter, Peter's grandaughter and Joe's sister. Jade will be training to be another caravan engineer this year, which will help enormously with our workload and also maximise the potential of our new workshop.
Staff photo: Peter, Chris, Marie, Joe and Jade Rigby
30th March 2021: Today we celebrated our 21st birthday with cake. Lots and lots of cake!
8th July 2021: New 2 Tonne LPG tank arrived and sited! Just waiting to be connected now....
31st July 2021: Both tanks filled today - 5300 litres of LPG goodness!
Our bank balance can be heard wincing, but only need to be filled every month or so now, rather than nearly every week!
August 2021: Jade took and passed her gas certification. Joe renewed his gas certification.
21st September 2021: Jade took and passed her Caravan Engineer's Practical Exam - she is now a Fully Qualified Caravan Engineer!
September 2021: Chris renewed his gas certification.
Our bank balance can be heard wincing, but only need to be filled every month or so now, rather than nearly every week!
August 2021: Jade took and passed her gas certification. Joe renewed his gas certification.
21st September 2021: Jade took and passed her Caravan Engineer's Practical Exam - she is now a Fully Qualified Caravan Engineer!
September 2021: Chris renewed his gas certification.