Based in England’s smallest county, Bland’s operates a mix of school contract, private hire and service work. But much like the county itself, there’s more going on than you might think.
On 3 July 1938, the A4 class locomotive ‘Mallard’ set a new world record of 126mph along the East Coast main line between Grantham and Peterborough.
Today, Mallard Park, a small business park that sits by the line in the Rutland village of Essendine, refers to the event.
But the park has another, more modest, claim to fame. It is home to Bland’s (Rutland) Ltd, a bus and coach operator with a well-established pedigree in the area.
In 1929, Reginald Bland established a bus company in the nearby village of Cottesmore. The company operated local bus services linking Stamford, Oakham and Melton Mowbray as well as providing market day services from the many small villages in the area.
In 1985, Bland’s acquired Clapham’s Coaches of Stamford rebranding that business as Blands of Stamford. The operation continued to 1990 before being sold to Midland Fox which operated it under its Fairtax Coaches brand. In 1993 Mark Bland (age 26), one of Reginald’s grandsons, set up his own business, Mark Bland Travel, picking up service and contract work in the area. Bland’s original Cottesmore operation ended in 1997.
Fast forward to July 2012 and Adam Barrett, who had been working as a driver for Mark Bland Travel, joined the business as Assistant Transport Manager, becoming a director in September 2016.
Buying the business
In November 2019 Mark retired. However, Adam, by then age 27 and with a keen interest in the industry, bought the business.
In September 2020 Adam moved the operating base from the former depot at Ryhall to the current base at Essendine, and changed the name of the business to Bland’s (Rutland) Ltd, keeping the Bland name alive.
Adam explains why he got involved.
“When I was growing up I lived in the village of Langtoft, about six miles or so from here,” he says. “I used to help out Mark Curley who runs another local operator, Coach of Langtoft. I’d do a bit of cleaning after school. As I got older I was doing a bit of driving for Mark, as well as for two other local operators, Nesbit Bros and Abacus. Clearly something about the coach and bus industry got to me. When the opportunity presented itself to get more involved, I jumped at the chance.”
Adam explains that the old site at Ryhall was prone to flooding and he was looking to move. “Unsurprisingly, applying to turn the site into a bus and coach operating base generated a few objections,” he says. “But the planning application was supported by Rutland County Council which could see the wider benefits. We have plenty of room for what we need to do. We’re currently working with fuel systems supplier Merridale to fit a fuel tank. We’ve never needed one, getting better rates with a fuel card. But with two intensive services to run, an on-site tank will reduce the headaches!”
An excellent team
Today, Adam operates seven registered services, two of which, the R1 from Melton Mowbray to Corby via Oakham and Uppingham, and the R5 from Stamford to Uppingham, are what he describes as the intensive services. The other five are operated primarily as school routes. In addition he operates 18 closed school contracts.
Supporting Adam is Transport Manager Jeremy Vickers who Adam met just before the pandemic.
“At the time, Jeremy was Transport Manager at Sleafordian Coaches,” he says. “But he was looking for a change and I snapped him up. He’s been invaluable.”
Bland’s has 30 full-time and casual drivers, four engineering/garage staff and Office Manager, Jamie Moyses, who Adam describes as keeping everyone in order.
“We only lost one driver during the pandemic,” says Adam. “We look after our staff and we have an excellent team. We put five drivers through training last year, and four stayed with us. We’re a good employer.”
As we talk about the business we’re interrupted by Pete, a long-serving driver.
“Since Adam took over I’ve been proud to work for Blands,” he says. “I can’t fault him. The job’s enjoyable.”
Adam’s father, Martyn, also has an involvement.
“He set up Rutland Bus Trips in 2021,” says Adam, smiling. “It’s a small programme of day trips and holidays picking up in the local towns. We provide the coach and promote the trips on some of our buses.”
The fleet, painted in what Adam insists is ‘Racing Beige’, currently comprises some 14 buses and 17 coaches. But there’s something familiar about the double-deckers.
“Ah, yes,” says Adam, smiling. “We have nine former Dublin Bus Volvo B7TL ALX400s dating from 2000 to 2004. Four were acquired through Ensign and five were imported by us from Ardee Coach Trim in Ireland. The Volvos have ZF gearboxes which means they make better progress on the A1. The buses also have bench seats that make it easier to fit lap belts. I recognise that the availability of such vehicles will decrease over time, so we’re keeping a close watch on what’s coming out of service ready to replace the double-deckers with newer models when we can.
Holistic benefits!
To ensure reliability of operation on the two intensive services Adam has two Volvo B7RLE MCV Evolutions and an MCV Evora Volvo B8RLE. A second Evora is due in March to do what Adam describes as the heavy lifting on the R1 service.
There are 17 coaches in the fleet, most of which are Volvo.
“We have an excellent dealer in Volvo Truck & Bus East Anglia,” notes Adam. “They’re good people, and they give me the reassurances I need. I can’t praise them enough. Volvo is a good product so I’m happy to stick with it.”
The fleet includes three 15m Plaxton Elites, each with 3+2 seating, acquired from Park’s of Hamilton. The highest capacity of the three is 90. Two 2017 Volvo B11R VDL Jonckheeres, came from Dumbartonshire-based Lochs and Glens Holidays.
“We operate the Joncks on contract with two of the UK’s leading coach tour operators,” explains Adam. “We want to keep the flexibility of using the coaches on our own work so we haven’t had the vehicles liveried up in the tour operators’ branding. The two coaches will be out each week from March to October. We couldn’t justify having them if we didn’t have the tour work.
“Our tour drivers are carefully selected, with the work often being allocated as a reward for good service. The rates we get from the tour operators aren’t the highest, but having the work in our portfolio means we can offer our drivers a mix of work. It keeps them interested, and we keep the drivers. It’s what I describe as holistic benefits!”
Good relationships
The relationship with Rutland County Council attracts praise from Adam.
“This might be England’s smallest county, but the team at the council, under Senior Transport Manager Emma Odabas, listens to us and makes decisions quickly,” he says. “During lockdown, RCC paid 100% of the contracts we had. Of course, it’s not all plain sailing. We did have one situation where a local councillor refused to have double-deckers on a school route because he didn’t want them running through his village!”
Adam explains that most of his fleet have trackers, supplied through Quartix.
“We’re now talking with a couple of app developers looking at how the company’s app will benefit parents. We use Distinctive Systems’ Coach Manager software and Ticketer for large and hand-held devices.”
But what about the move to electric vehicles?
“We’re happy to be a follower rather than a leader. We’re watching to see how the EV landscape develops, especially as a rural operator. We’re not against it, but it’s not for us yet! But looking to the future, we’ve no ambitious growth plans. Perhaps adding one PVR a year. I’m 30 so I’ve got to make all this work for the next 20 to 30 years at least. I feel we’re in a good place and I have a great team. Our brand might be Bland, but the future’s exciting.”
