Horse float manufacturer moves to Coast

Rivenlee owners Peter and Lee Jakin, who came from Gosford originally and moved to Armidale, started building horse floats with in-built accommodation when going to horse shows around the country and in six years have become Australia’s leading manufacturer of luxury horse floats.
Rivenlee Horsefloats are aimed at the top end of the horsefloat market where a small number of customers are looking for luxury and can afford to pay. These floats have a starting price of $180,000 and increases according to a customer’s requirements.
Formerly a builder in the New England area and a metallurgist, Peter Jakin found out by accident that there was market for his product as well as luxury motorhomes which he started building in 2006.
A Rivenlee Motorhome will cost around $500,000 and at a Caravan and Camping Show at Penrith in mid-September he sold two. “We now have orders for floats and motorhomes that will take us through to May next year,” said Mr Jakin. And it hasn’t stopped at motorhomes, Rivenlee have recently taken an order from the NSW Police for a mobile command centre.
Rivenlee’s horsefloats are built on Hino or Isuzu chassis and range in length from 6.7 metres to 10 metres while their motorhomes are built on Mercedes Benz Atego truck chassis. “Our floats have evolved from relatively straightforward horse carriers to semi-trailer sized transport units which accommodate horses, people and plenty of gear in great comfort and style, said Mr Jakin. “The things we’ve learned with the big floats are directly transferable to the pure motorhome so we’re certainly not starting off from scratch.”
While the motorhome market in Australia is small and dominated by a couple of major builders Peter Jakin has worked out a niche for Rivenlee. “The luxury end of the motorhome market is dominated by Class A vehicles which have traditional “one piece” configuration with the driving area inside the home. Our point of difference is that we have opted to build Class B machines which have a separate cabin for driving, leaving the living area just for living,” he said.
Another point of difference is the impressive “slide-outs” that add up to 1200mm in width, all of which are operated hydraulically. Mr Jakin said that it had been a family decision to locate a factory in Gosford. “We plan to move back here eventually, and this is our first step,” he said. “We won’t close down our Armidale factory. We have a team of eight people there doing a good job but our expansion will be here in Gosford.”

Back Send us your comments