On 23 September the UK Coach Operators Association (UKCOA) hosted its first ever regional event outside of England, with a conference hosted in partnership with minibus and minicoach dealer and builder Ilesbus UK at the latter’s new Swansea headquarters.
Speakers included Richard Marwood, Bus Programme Director at Transport for Wales, Carl Widdowson from the Department for Work and Pensions, and Victoria Davies, Traffic Commissioner (TC) for Wales, who provided the day’s keynote. Presentations were also given from some of UKCOA’s supplier partners including Ferdia, DH Team and Vectare.
The conference signals the start of more regional diversification for the trade body, which now has 150 members on its books and is targeting 175 for its next milestone.
Franchising, recruitment and compliance
Richard Marwood (pictured, left) opened the day’s program with details on the Welsh Government’s ambitions to franchise bus services in Wales in four different zones. Procurement is expected to begin in June 2026 with services commencing August 2027.
Richard’s presentation majored on the role coach operators have to play within the Welsh bus franchising proposal, with competition between larger operators and support for the SME market. “We’re lucky in Wales in that we have an incredible range and variety of operators delivering local bus services that includes multinational operators and municipals,” he says. “But then we have an enormous range of smaller companies, many of whom we are conscious do not just run local bus services but run coach excursions, rail replacement, and more. Our focus is on ensuring we can keep that healthy mix of the market. When we’re looking at our procurement process and what contracts will look like, we’re working hard to make sure there are opportunities to suit all those different operators.”
Further detail on how that procurement will be structured is expected later this year. While TfW has been engaging with operators and the Confederation of Passenger Transport and the Coach and Bus Association Cymru (CaBAC), Richard says it is good to be engaging now with UKCOA as well. Face-to-face meetings continue and TfW says it is valuing feedback around contracts, depots, and ticketing.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) meanwhile continues to engage with coach to attract talent to the sector. DWP representative Carl Widdowson spoke about the DWP offer and support in attracting talent via the Driving Academy, an initiative that welcomed its first candidates in 2023 through 15 fully funded training slots.
Victoria Davies (pictured right) used her keynote address to underline performance improvements and safety concerns.
Reporting on activity in the year to March 2025, she notes that the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) is now processing PSV O-Licence applications within an average of 34 working days in Wales, in line with the service-level agreement target of 35 days and a marked improvement from the pandemic-era peak of 55 days. She added that 95% of Welsh regulatory cases were listed within the 12-week target time frame, outperforming 60% achieved across Great Britain.
There are currently 471 valid PSV O-Licences in Wales, slightly down from the previous year’s 487, and 5,750 discs in issue. Live local bus registrations rose to 780, against 9,909 in the rest of Britain.
Safety was identified as the sector’s most pressing challenge with bridge strikes being a particular concern. Building on correspondence shared by the OTC earlier this year she warns operators about the dangers of route mismanagement, inappropriate reliance on sat navs and poor driver preparation, stressing that the Upper Tribunal’s wording in the Bridgestep bridge strike case calls for transport managers to “eliminate” the risk through proper training, planning, and provision of equipment.
Where compliance is concerned, Victoria reveals that 33% of PSV cases before her last year resulted in curtailed vehicle authorisations, while 22% led to disqualification of operators, directors or transport managers — a higher rate of regulatory action than on the HGV side.
She also pledges to expand engagement with operators and local authorities in Wales, including improving access for Welsh speakers. OTC has recently recruited an engagement manager for Wales and now has Welsh speaking staff in Pontypridd and Caernarfon, with bilingual guidance to be published for the first time. Operators are otherwise urged to work closely with OTC and UKCOA, Welsh Government and local authorities to ensure safety and compliance across the sector.
A hint at future growth for UKCOA?
The decision to host a new regional conference in Wales came largely through the work of Director of Operations at UKCOA Stephen Spendley, who has now been with the organisation for just over a year. Initial feedback shows the regional conference was very successful, with much praise given to Ilesbus UK’s venue and organisation.
Stephen says UKCOA had already been conscious of ensuring it gave enough representation to operators in regions outside of England, and that this event is a demonstration of that commitment. Encouragement followed a discussion with Ilesbus UK at the trade body’s AGM in March, with the dealer suggesting expansion outside of central England could coincide with the opening of its new premises in South Wales.
“We were already starting to look where our members are based,” adds Stephen. “We are UKCOA, but we feel we could potentially do more to capture interest from operators in Wales, and from other regions. While many coach companies will experience the same issues, having more representation from different regions can help us understand more about pockets of localised issues and the impact they are having. It’s important to have this spread in order to serve our members better.”
UKCOA’s board structure makes that degree of representation one its biggest benefits. UKCOA’s agenda is set directly through its membership, so more membership in regions outside England will ensure those regional concerns are heard.
Peter Bradley, UKCOA Managing Director, is also keen to understand what barriers prevent operators from joining trade bodies. Price may be one, but he feels also some operators may not be aware of the benefits that trade association membership brings. UKCOA’s ongoing growth may help make that more apparent.
“The more members we have, the greater influence we have with those in power,” he says. “Numbers speak, and we can do even more for members. But more important is what members gain: online meetings, regular bulletins and updates directly on the issues that impact them. We have crisis control, holiday bonding, driver recruitment, legal advice through Backhouse Jones, discounts with our industry partners and the support of other members. We have 150 coach operator members scattered around the country ready to offer support where it was needed.”
Stephen says he is keen to see UKCOA better represented next in Scotland, and Northern Ireland. He notes a vast number of coach operators that have yet to approach any trade body for representation. “Probably around half don’t yet belong to any trade body,” he explains. “And I feel that they’re missing out. We want to have the services that we offer available to everybody. That’s why we’re so competitively priced; we’re light on staff, and we keep overheads as low as possible. It means we can keep our membership rates low and hopefully attract more members, especially smaller family operators.
“We’re not a business out to make profit. Every piece of revenue goes back into supporting the coach industry and the more members we have, the larger our voice and influence becomes, and the more we are able to do on our members’ behalf.”
Strong pipeline for Ilesbus UK
Ilebus UK became a platinum sponsor of UKCOA in 2021. It has continued its platinum sponsorship every year, noting that the best people to solve the problems of coach operators are coach operators themselves.
UKCOA’s conference coincided with the first event held at the company’s new 25,000 square foot premises in Swansea. There had hitherto been no official opening ceremony since it went into operation in April. Director Gary Johns (pictured left) says hosting a UKCOA event allows the company to give back to the many operators that have supported its growth over the years.
Ilesbus UK now accounts for approximately 70% of business for its Bursa-based parent, which itself is now expanding in response to strong demand for its products throughout the pandemic period and beyond. The UK site is used for the final assembly of vehicles converted in Turkey and for the assembly of school bus kits.
“The new facility gives us a proper platform where customers can choose what they want in the vehicle and with space for our aftersales team,” says Gary. “We now have plenty of office space, a fully fitted out workshop and a separate store which alone now covers 5,000 square feet, enabling us to keep more spare parts. The whole concept moves us up to a different league where we can move forward with growth plans. Our long-term ambition is steady growth. We have new products arriving in the marketplace very shortly which will hopefully assist in that regard.”
