A workshop of four
We build a handful of vans a year, and every one gets the same hands.
Hesketh started Vanwright in 2016, after building a bed frame for a friend’s van and realising he would rather do that all day. The workshop is a rented unit at Cooper’s Yard in Pellmarrow, with a bench along one wall and a van bay along the other.
Tamsin, Callum and Odile joined one at a time, each because they had fixed something we built badly and told us how. We still take that as the best kind of reference. We build slowly on purpose, so the person you first phone is the person who hands you the keys.
The team
Hesketh Rowe
Founder and lead joiner
Has cut every cabinet door we have ever hung.
Tamsin Ordway
Electrics and water
Labels every wire at both ends, then labels them again.
Callum Brackley
Insulation and fit-out
Can tell you where any screw is hiding behind any panel.
Odile Marsh
Workshop manager
Answers the phone, keeps the slots honest and sends the Friday photos.
How we work
Three habits that have not changed since the first van.
Drawn before it is cut
Every build starts as a scaled plan you can mark up.
Photos every Friday
You see the walls before they are covered, not after.
Built to be repaired
Parts are ordinary, wires are labelled and panels come off with a screwdriver.