A NORTH Craven couple who have discovered their forte in creating beautiful interiors for camper vans have had their talent recognised and are in the running for two awards.

Contour Campervan Furniture Ltd, founded by Caitlin Green and her partner Tom Lake, started trading only ten months ago but has already been shortlisted for two awards at the Federation of Self Employed & Small Businesses Awards for Yorkshire and the Humber this year.

This comes off the back of an extremely busy first year during which the Horton-in-Ribblesdale-based duo designed and began manufacturing a range of twelve new innovative campervan furniture products.

“Our sales have far exceeded our expectations and we have been overwhelmed by the interest in our products,” said Caitlin Green.

The couple, both 31, launched Contour after converting their own campervan and travelling in it throughout 2020. They are outdoor enthusiasts with backgrounds in product design, manufacturing, communications, visual arts and textiles and they have used all these skills to create the innovative furniture on offer.

Their sofa-beds, kitchen units, lighting and storage systems are aimed at people who want to build their own campervan to a professional standard, but who may not have the time, space or experience to enable them to go it alone.

Contour’s modular furniture is inspired by Caitlin and Tom’s own experience of living in a van and is designed to be extremely functional and to maximise every inch of space. It combines a contemporary design aesthetic with customisable paints and fabrics.

Tom explained: “We offer a range of layouts, utilising our modular furniture, that cater to different interests and tastes. We stand out with our distinctive design characterised by high-quality finishes, weight-saving features and professional joinery techniques.”

The couple say they cater to all skillsets from providing raw plywood units for DIYers to transforming empty shells with their fully finished furniture. With their guidance, customers can complete the initial conversion and they can either ship furniture to them, assemble it for collection or fit it in their van fully finished with gas and electrics.

The couple are also strongly committed to creating products that work for both their customers and the planet. “We prioritise sustainable materials and durability, from our FSC certified plywood, sustainable packaging and carbon-neutral paint to using offcuts of wood and foam for our upholstery and lighting products,” added Caitlin.

Prior to their travels America-born Caitlin worked as a child protection social worker in Manchester and Tom, a design engineer, from Leeds, worked for a climbing wall manufacturer and a kick scooter start-up.

The couple met on a climbing trip to North Wales in 2018. In January 2020 they set off on a nine-month trip around Europe in their self-converted campervan named Xanthos, a MWB Mercedes Sprinter - which, incidentally, is available to rent along with a prototype campervan.

They travelled from Leeds to the bottom of the Peloponnese before making their way through the Italian and French Alps and over to Spain. Their trip was filled with new experiences, from a nine-day Croatian cycle tour and backpacking in the Greek mountains to via-ferrata in the Dolomites and multi-pitch rock climbing in the Alps. While on the road Contour was born.

Once they returned, they moved to North Craven.

Originally from rural Northern California, Caitlin moved to the U.K. ten years ago to attend University of York. Throughout her time living in both Manchester and York she always made frequent trips to the Dales and it is one of her favourite areas. Tom has grown up visiting the Dales and was keen to live outside of a big urban area. The couple are both avid rock climbers and enjoy living with outdoor pursuits on their doorstep.

“From tackling the steep hills of the Tour de Yorkshire on our bicycles, to fell running, wild-swimming and rock climbing, we both really enjoy living in such a beautiful and diverse area,” said Caitlin.

They have been shortlisted for both Micro Business of the Year, which celebrates “micro businesses punching above their weight” and those who have “demonstrated a product or service of a quality that stands above competitors”, and Start-Up Business of the Year, which recognises businesses which have built a “solid foundation upon which ‘they’ can thrive” and “strong revenue growth”.

Tom added: “We are so pleased to have progressed through as finalists. Looking back, we can’t believe how far we have come in the last 10 months. We have even started exporting our furniture to Europe. We have a number of new projects in the pipeline, and we look forward to expanding our range of furniture in the coming year. “

This is on top of new-found business skills such as web developing, sales, photography, accountancy and social media - on top of designing and manufacturing bespoke furniture.

www.contourcampers.co.uk @ContourCampers