Fourth-generation family coach operator Grayscroft celebrated its centenary at Kenwick Park Hotel in Lincolnshire on 6 April.
The guest list of over 100 visitors, a veritable ‘who’s who’ of past and present Lincolnshire operators, included Hunts Coaches of Alford, Dickinsons Coaches and Phil Haines Coaches of Boston, Amvale of Grimsby, Sleafordian, Step 1 Travel of Lincoln and Monica Stones, former Director of Appleby’s Coaches of North Somercotes.
To mark the occasion, the company took delivery of a Temsa HD12 with a new centenary livery showing a montage of images from its 100-year history.
It is hoped that will long continue. In addition to recognising the operator’s endurance, the anniversary also served to thank Grayscroft’s employees for their contributions, reinforce its values of hard work and survival during tough times (helped along by a healthy amount of gallows humour), and provided a platform to look forward to the future.
Pandemic reset
Grayscroft was the last featured cover image on routeone’s weekly format before the world stalled under COVID-19. With predictable misfortune, the operator had just bought its first Volvo B11R Jonckheere in January for touring work.
“But COVID-19 did us a favour,” Director Ashley Barker says. “It allowed us to look at everything and ask how we do things better. We stopped running around like busy fools. We worked out what our service is worth and now that’s what we do the work for. You can easily exhaust yourself while earning very little in this industry.”
Ashley, who in days gone by worked closely with his grand-uncle Noel, is proud today to be keeping the business going on the latter’s behalf, alongside father and Managing Director Nigel. “I think he’d have wittered himself to death by now about how we did things the wrong way, but I think he’d be proud of what we’ve built here,” he adds.
School contract work currently keeps the company’s main fleet of 11 Berkhof Axial double-deckers busy, and recovery from the pandemic is going well, with holiday sales already outstripping 2023.
Change of pace
Day excursions have been slower to recover in the operator’s East Lincolnshire catchment area, with Ashley citing the cost-of-living crisis as having an impact on customers’ perception of value for money on day trips.
A recent influx of rail replacement work, helped by a good relationship with First Travel Solutions, has provided an avenue for fleet investment. Previously, rail replacement work had been ad hoc emergency cover. More recently a two-year standby contract at Cleethorpes that began in 2022 has provided a steady source of work. Some 80% of the fleet is now PSVAR compliant. Only two touring coaches and three minibuses under the threshold of PSVAR are not.
While the company has historically bought Volvo, it recently wound up with two 53-seat Temsa HD12s after an agreement to buy a Jonckheere-bodied coach from an operator in London fell through. Used for touring, the HD12 came in at the right budget and at 12-metres long with a ZF transmission, Nigel recognised the ease at which it could be driven. Drivers and passengers were impressed, fuel return was good, and the vehicles have proven excellent all-rounders. Ashley even notes that passenger feedback has been better in the Temsas than it has been in the Jonckheeres.
While major growth is off the cards — Nigel says the business is at a manageable level — preliminary talks have begun about the prospect of moving to a purpose-built facility on the outskirts of Mablethorpe, which would allow the business to make better use of the space than is currently at its historic depot in the town centre. Those discussions about a new operating centre are one way the team plan to keep the legacy of the company going.
Time for reflection
A 100-year anniversary is a moment of reflection for any business, and for Grayscroft it is a chance for Nigel to look back on the years that have passed since his father and uncles, Bill, Dick and Noel, built the business that they did.
“As we’ve always said, we see ourselves as custodians of a lot of hard work that has gone on before by remarkable people,” he says. History gets hazy at that point, but Charles Barker, Nigel’s grandfather, began driving a lorry sometime in the early 1920s, winching a wooden bus body onto the chassis when needed. The first tangible record of the Grayscroft business is of a timetable titled ‘C Barker’s Bus Service’ from 1924, which is what Nigel and Ashley have worked upon for the centenary celebration.
There is a weight with having the responsibility of a company with such a long legacy,” Nigel adds. “Let’s face it — the first generation found a company, the second generation reinforce it. Often, the third generation sells up and enjoys the hard work of the previous generations. In this case, it might be the fourth generation.”
Not necessarily. Ashley has two young daughters, and at age five, one is already demonstrating an interest in becoming a bus driver. Potentially a fifth generation already in the making?
I wouldn’t discourage it,” Ashley says. “But if she does learn to drive, inevitably she’ll end up helping to run the business. And there are certainly easier ways to make a living in this life. Noel always used to say there is no silver spoon passed down in the coach business; it’s a cast iron spoon.”
The business does seem to have a way of drawing in the rest of the family. Kelly, Ashley’s wife, joined as party planner in October 2023 and eventually left her old job to work full time in an office role.
“This work gets under your skin,” Nigel says. “There’s no other way to put it.”
Management responsibility
Nigel has hit retirement age now, but as often happens in this type of business, he’s done little about it. Since starting full-time in 1979 he has “pulled dipsticks, checked coolant and kicked tyres”. A knee replacement in early December 2023 put him out of work for a month. He looks thoughtful as he reflects on the changes that happened in that short amount time. “I don’t come in quite as early now. The lads in the workshop have taken on what I used to do first thing in the morning. At the end of the day, changes have to happen. In one respect it did me a favour. If I wasn’t here, they would have to sort themselves out. But I don’t want to leave. What would I do with myself?”
Though Nigel has no plans to walk away from the family business, the team are waving goodbye to Transport Manager (TM) Steve Mackay, who, alongside Ashley, has been instrumental in streamlining operations and modernising the company’s fleet. When routeone visited in 2020, embracing technology was one of Ashley’s key ambitions. That has been completed with the use of TruTac for maintenance and Roeville’s PHCloud for scheduling and bookings. The latter has reduced paperwork by about 60%.
The centenary event has been an opportunity to mark Steve’s achievements and it’s obvious he will be missed. 27-year-old Assistant TM Aaron Webb, who has been working with Steve and Ashley for around 18 months, will take up the role.
Special mention is again given to Head Mechanic of 25 years Dave Birt, who is left to his own devices to look after the fleet. “One of the most experienced mechanics in the county,” Ashley says.
That’s a reminder as to the centenary’s role in recognising the company’s staff. An awards ceremony was put together to celebrate them, while also making fun in just the right amount. “This place couldn’t be where it is without people like Steve and Dave,” says Ashley. “Retirement is one of those challenges we have to deal with. When someone like Aaron comes along, it’s no secret that he has big shoes to fill.”
Besides that, other challenges remain, the biggest being increased costs — there will always be operators looking to do the same work for less — and an anticipated shortfall in drivers come September, when changes to Driver CPC come into force. But Grayscroft is growing enquiries outside of its traditional catchment area. Its holiday offering is expanding as its customer base is growing, and its demographic has dropped in age to the 50s and 60s market.
That all translates to the business being as busy now as it has ever been — 19 school runs per day, more holiday bookings and a busy rail replacement itinerary means vehicles are utilised full time. “It has to be a hobby to do this job,” Ashley says. “It’s always going through your head. You couldn’t do the job if you didn’t enjoy it.”
Acknowledging the amount of responsibility passing onto Ashley’s shoulders, Nigel remains positive for the future. From being bombed out during the Second World War to the North Sea flood of 1953 and beyond, Grayscroft has seen it through and will continue to do so. “Whatever comes our way we overcome it, one way or another,” he says, offering high praise for his son. “And if Ashley hadn’t arrived when he did, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
