They’re becoming an ever more obvious feature on our roads, fuelled in part by the growth in staycations.

But despite costing anything from £40,000 to £80,000 – and even above – a new motorhome is not always king of the road when it comes to the technology many owners now regard as the norm.

Which is why a long-established retrofit car electronics business has taken the wheel and launched a new venture concentrating on just motorhomes.

Motorhome Retrofits is a sister company of Advanced In-Car Technologies, headed by James Harris.

Both businesses are based in separate units on the Brixey Business Park in Fancy Road, Poole.

James, who launched Handsfree Solutions – later rebranded to Advanced In-Car Technologies – in 2003 said: “Over the last few years we’ve seen a large increase in motorhome installations.

“We’ve noticed that there’s a gap in the market for the upgrade of motorhome technology, both locally and nationally, that deal in specialist products such as 360 degree HD camera systems, mobile ‘on-the-move’ wi-fi and up-to-date anti-theft security.

“There’s clearly a growing market for upgraded motorhomes which is why we’ve decided to launch this specialist business.”

Data on new motorhome and campervan registrations from the industry body, the National Caravan Council (NCC), showed that registrations in July 2020 were 71 per cent higher than the same month in the previous year.

The following month – August – they were 40.9 per cent higher than the same four weeks in 2019.

With the restriction in foreign travel, dealers have reported similar buoyant sales this year.

Traditionally, motorhomes were seen as the preserve of the older generation who had both the time and the money to be able to spend lengthy periods travelling.

However, specialist motorhome insurer VM Insurance says it is seeing a shifting of the demographic of motorhome and campervan owners to the younger generation.

It’s a trend seen by Motorhome Retrofits.

But James, pictured left, said: “Whether you’re 44 or 74, you expect to have cameras recording and protecting you or wish to keep in contact on the move with wi-fi.

“We also install navigation systems with up-to-date maps that include height, length and width details.

“Many owners also want bigger navigation display screens.

“Demand is so great that we’ve had owners from France and Portugal come to us for a retrofit.

“One client wanted us to fly two engineers to the US to do a job.”

James, 44, said his interest in retrofitting cars and other vehicles went back to his teens.

He founded his first company – Quikfit Systems – at the age of 16.

Advanced In-Car Technologies supplies and installs bespoke in-car electronics technology ranging from bluetooth car kits and parking systems, to stolen vehicle tracking and DVD screens.

It is an approved retrofit company for Audi and Volkswagen and an Alpine ‘Excellent Partner’.

James, who is also Business Development Manager, said: “We offer everything you need to spruce up your car’s interior technology.

“We provide original factory equipment, which means our customers can get their hands on the fantastic product they’ve wanted from new, without having to fork out handfuls of money.”

Now employing five people, including James, Advanced In-Car Technologies has an annual turnover of £500,000-plus.

It has also amassed a large social media audience with 22,700 YouTube subscribers.

James said: “While we are not the cheapest, we pride ourselves on the high quality of our work.

“We go home at night with a clear conscience, knowing we’ve delivered a really top-quality job.”

• motorhomeretrofits.co.uk