Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, Essex-based Jacksons Coaches found itself in a different operating environment. However, a focus on making the most of what’s available has set the business on a firm footing
Marcia Jackson remembers it well. “I was a young girl, sitting on my grandfather’s knee in front of the fire. We were chatting about all sorts of things when he looked me straight in the face.
“Take care of the pennies, Marcia,” he said, “and the pounds will take care of themselves. I still remember those words. They might be something of a cliché, but they’ve seen me through.”
It’s that attention to the details that has provided a foundation over recent years that has allowed Jacksons Coaches to both survive and prosper.
Marcia is a Jackson by marriage, getting involved in the business when she married Mick Jackson.
It was Mick’s granddad, William, who set everything going in 1948.
“William had a garage in Great Baddow, near Chelmsford,” explains Mick. “As well as running the garage he had a 12-seat Bedford bus that he ran on a school contract. Over time that one bus grew into a thriving minibus and taxi business. William had two sons, John, who was my father, and Ted. William retired in 1968, the garage was sold, and Ted took on the minibus and taxi business. My father wasn’t involved.
“Sadly, Ted died in 1972 but his wife, Doris, kept one minibus, running it on a school contract. I was doing various bits and pieces of work in the area at the time, but nothing with the business. I remember the day in 1978 when I called in to see Doris to give a quote on some new windows. She mentioned she was looking to sell the minibus. That vehicle was UTW 787L, a 12-seat Ford Transit. I bought it and set up Jacksons Mini Coaches operating out of the same site in Bicknace, near Chelmsford, that we operate from today.”
From small to full-size
Mick recalls his thinking at the time.
“I was happy with minibuses,” he says. “I didn’t want anything big. My focus staying small continued through to 1981. I won a school contract from Essex County Council (ECC) that needed a full-size coach. I went off and bought a 53-seat Ford R226 with Plaxton Elite bodywork. Looking back, the relationship with ECC has always been good. The team there knows it can rely on us, a situation that has proved beneficial on many occasions over the years.”
Mick smiles when he recalls the move to having a larger coach in the fleet.
“When you have one full-size coach you really do need another one, for cover, just in case. But having the extra coach meant we could take on new work. By 1991 we had a fleet of 18, and a mix of contracts and private hire. In 1992, new school contracts meant we needed some double-deck buses in the fleet.”
Putting the house in order
It’s at this point that Marcia reappears in the story. She and Mick were married in 1978 but she hadn’t been directly involved in the day-to-day business. However, with more contracts, Mick realised that more attention was needed in the office. There was something not quite right and he realised he needed to put the house in order. Marcia remembers those early days back in the office.
“Everything needed sorting out,” she says. “I started reviewing the administrative procedures as well seeing what scheduling efficiencies could be made. I started liaising with schools and other customers. Mick was happy for me to get on with things. I know he appreciated what I was doing.”
In 1995, Marcia launched a new day trip programme. Then, in a significant move away from what had gone before, Jacksons Coaches bought a Neoplan Skyliner.
“We wanted to show that we meant business,” explains Marcia. “The Skyliner was an impressive vehicle and we soon found it was in demand, not only for private hire, but also by tour companies. It also proved a much-needed boost for our drivers. Buying it was a calculated risk, but it worked out.”
By this time a third member had joined the Jacksons’ team, Trevor Whittaker. Today, Trevor is Operations Manager. He had had experience of driving coaches in continental Europe so when, in 1997, Jacksons Coaches started offering Christmas market tours to Aachen and Cologne, Trevor was behind the wheel.
The day trip and tour programme proved popular. In 2000, ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Chrstopher Dean announced a tour. Marcia bought 200 tickets, selling them all within days.
Fogging makes the news
Marcia’s continued focus on making operating efficiencies brought the fleet down to 10. The double-deckers had gone with the loss of a contract. The fleet was now a mix of midis and full-size coaches. Over the next few years the fleet make-up moved around a bit, but the business prospered – and then along came COVID-19.
“At the start of 2020 we were looking to buy a new coach,” says Mick. “By early March we were ready to pay and had a cheque written out. But using a cheque these days takes time and the process was taking longer than expected. Thank goodness it did, because whilst that was happening, we had the first lockdown. We were able to cancel the cheque!”
Everything stopped during that first lockdown.
“It was back to looking after the pennies,” says Marcia. “We were in a reasonable place. Perhaps like many operators, a mix of good financial planning and some much-needed luck.”
But with travel opening up again after that first lockdown, Jacksons went on the offensive.
“We were one of the few operators in the county to have a fogging machine,” she recalls. “BBC Look East came to film us. It gave us some very useful publicity and gave our clients confidence to book us.”
Jacksons operates a long-standing weekly private hire contract to France for an Essex-wide fishing group, taking them to an area of lakes between Reims and Nancy.
“Our fishing coaches were some of the first out after lockdown,” says Marcia. “People saw our coaches on the roads. It raised our profile and brought new business, although we struggled with finding drivers. Three drivers who had retired during the pandemic heard we were short and came back to help. I will always be grateful to them.”
Fewer operators and coaches
But looking at the post-lockdown operating environment, Jacksons has noted a change.
“Some London operators, and some in Essex, didn’t reopen,” says Marcia. “Part of that is down to the London LEZ and the need for coaches to be Euro VI compliant. A lack of drivers didn’t help either. As a result, we’ve picked up work in the capital. There’s a fair bit of dead mileage but the finances stack up.”
Trevor notes something else about the changing landscape.
“There are perhaps 80 fewer coaches in the mid-to south Essex and east London area than there were 10 years ago,” he says. “But we’re still struggling to find drivers, and a good mechanic! We had three drivers with start dates, but none of them turned up. You can’t be a driver until you’re 21. By that time, people have a career. The age needs to come down. We belong to CPT. The compliance manual is useful, but I don’t feel coach operators have been well represented. Marcia and I have written separately to our local MP highlighting the role of coach. We both received the same automated reply. There’s little understanding about our industry.”
Today, the day trips have gone. Marketing is mostly word of mouth and via the website.
“It’s noticeable that people are booking coaches earlier,” says Marcia. “With fewer coaches out there, word has got round. We’ve increased our rates, but not excessively. Looking ahead, there are no children to take the business forward. But we’ll worry about that sometime in the future. Overall, things have certainly become more difficult as time has gone on. But I’m thinking back to that fireside chat all those years ago. We’re in a good place and we’re a good team, and that’s what really matters.”
