30/09/2026
CADCO IS BACK — AND I THINK I OWE EVERYONE AN EXPLANATION…
Some of you may have noticed that CADCO has been unusually quiet over the last few months. No advertising, very few social media posts and, from the outside, it probably looked like the business had simply disappeared.
It hasn’t — and after what has been a pretty difficult and unexpected year, I’m pleased to say CADCO is properly back and taking orders again.
For those who have followed us for a while, you may remember that I put CADCO up for sale last year.
Following a severe heart attack, I had to seriously reconsider what I was doing. CADCO had become incredibly busy and, while that was obviously a great position for a business to be in, the workload and pressure that came with it had become too much for me. After everything that had happened with my health, I decided it was time to slow down and let somebody else take CADCO forward.
The business didn't sell during 2025, but in early 2026 I was approached by a couple from Lancashire who were interested in taking it on.
They travelled down, spent time with me and looked around the business. We got on really well and they came across as lovely, genuine people. We discussed everything at length, agreed the sale and the terms, shook hands and started making plans for the handover.
And this is probably where I have to hold my own hands up…
I trusted people perhaps more than I should have.
There was a time pressure involved because I needed to leave my existing workshop by a particular date, otherwise I risked being committed to it for another three years. Because I believed the deal was done, I went all in on making the transition work.
I hired a lorry, loaded up the machinery, equipment and stock and transported everything from Dorset all the way to Lancashire. I stayed overnight and drove home the following day.
The following week, I travelled all the way back up and stayed for the entire week to provide intensive training and make sure they had everything they needed to successfully run CADCO.
I then made another two trips north over the following couple of weeks, staying for a few days each time and continuing to help with the handover.
During that time I also put a considerable amount of work into designing the new VW T7 Transporter and Ford Transit Custom systems, so the business would be ready for the next generation of vans.
As far as I was concerned, CADCO had been handed over and a new chapter had begun.
During this period, I was told that one of the new owners had applied for a job with a large company. On my final visit, I was then told that the job had been accepted.
That obviously raised a few questions in my mind, but the agreement was still in place and payment for the business was due at the end of April.
On the final day of the month, I contacted my solicitor to check everything was progressing.
Then came an email I genuinely wasn't expecting.
After much consideration, they had decided they no longer wanted to proceed with the purchase.
And just like that, I had CADCO back.
I won't pretend that wasn't a difficult email to receive.
From my point of view, this wasn't something I had regarded as a trial period. We'd agreed the deal, shaken hands and I had moved an entire business hundreds of miles across the country on the strength of that agreement.
Ultimately, though, I have to accept some responsibility myself. I trusted a handshake and people I had grown to like and get on with, and I allowed the physical handover to happen before everything was completely finalised.
That's a lesson I won't forget in a hurry!
The explanation I was given was essentially that they didn't feel the business generated enough for what they wanted and that they were looking for a better work/life balance.
Obviously, I saw things differently based on my experience of running CADCO and the orders coming through, but ultimately they had made their decision and there was little point in dwelling on it.
The problem was what happened next.
I suddenly had to hire another lorry, travel back to Lancashire, collect my machinery, stock and assets and bring the whole business back south…
Except this time I had no workshop to bring it back to.
I'd already left my previous premises and there simply wasn't another suitable workshop locally that I could immediately move into.
To make matters considerably more complicated, believing CADCO had been sold meant my wife and I had moved on with our lives.
We had committed ourselves to taking on an open farm and visitor attraction and had signed a six-year lease. That was now a major commitment that couldn't simply be undone, and it needed my full-time attention to get it established.
So suddenly I had the business I thought I'd sold back, no premises to operate it from, a farm that needed practically every waking hour we had, and a considerable amount of money already committed.
I won't dress it up — the last few months have been incredibly difficult.
Financially and emotionally, the whole situation came very close to breaking us.
There have definitely been times when I've wondered how on earth we'd managed to get ourselves into the situation we were in.
But…
We're still here.
The farm is now established and doing well, things have finally started settling down and, most importantly for CADCO…
I'M READY TO GO AGAIN. 💪
I've now had a lovely new workshop built on a friend's farm and CADCO finally has a proper home again.
And perhaps there is a silver lining to everything that's happened.
Because of all the work I put into the handover, we now have the new VW T7 Transporter and Ford Transit Custom systems designed and ready, alongside the systems we've become known for.
We've actually had a few CADCO orders quietly trickling through during the last few months and those have been fulfilled as normal.
I simply haven't advertised.
I didn't want to start pushing orders when I knew I didn't have the time or workshop capacity to offer the service and turnaround that CADCO customers had become accustomed to.
That's changed now.
The workshop is ready.
I'm ready.
And CADCO is officially back open for business.
So yes… CADCO had a brief adventure up to Lancashire 😂 but it's now back where it belongs, being built by me again.
For anyone who has messaged, wondered what happened, or thought we'd disappeared completely, hopefully this explains the silence.
And to everyone who bought from CADCO previously, recommended us, sent messages asking when we'd be back or continued supporting the business — thank you. It genuinely means a lot.
Now it's time to rebuild the momentum we had before.
There is also one rather nice bonus to CADCO's new setup…
If you're travelling a fair distance to collect your system, we now have an all-year-round campsite at the farm and I'm happy to offer CADCO customers a complimentary stay when collecting their build.
So rather than driving halfway across the country, collecting your system and immediately turning around again, why not make a weekend of it?
We're based on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, which is a fantastic place to explore, and we also have an amazing café on site serving great food 7 days a week.
Come down, stay over, explore Portland, have some decent food and head home with your new CADCO system fitted in the van.
After the rollercoaster of the last few months, it feels pretty good to finally be able to write this:
CADCO IS BACK. ❤️
Orders can be placed online exactly as before:
www.CADCO.co.uk
And for enquiries, existing customers or aftercare, our email remains:
[email protected]
If you've been holding off ordering because you weren't sure what was happening with CADCO, you don't need to anymore.
We're operational, we're taking new orders and I'm genuinely excited to get stuck back into building them.
Here's to the next chapter.
And hopefully this one involves considerably fewer lorry journeys to Lancashire! 😂
Thanks for sticking with us.
Lee
CADCO
