Working for a coach operator but really wanting to set up on your own is a wish felt by many in this industry. For Michael Preston, a family link to bus service operation, combined with an enthusiasm for coach trips, has brought success
The small village of Fleckney lies some nine miles south of Leicester. There’s a real feeling of community, with a mix of people who have lived there all their lives together with those who have moved into the area looking to get away from the urban sprawl.
Born into that community in 1995, Michael Preston, now just 31, is Managing Director of Fleckers’ Coaches. The business name is a nod to the nickname that locals give the village, and a tribute to a family connection to the industry stretching back generations.
“In the 1930s, my great-great-grandad ran the first bus service from Fleckney to Wigston and Leicester as Bromley’s Buses,” says Michael. “My family has always lived in Fleckney so when I came to start up my business, and noting the nickname, there really was only one name I could call it!”
Finding his way in
Michael’s journey into the industry is a fascinating one. In 2014, age 19, and with no clear career path in mind, he started organising day trips for the local church.
“It was a bit of fun really,” he explains. “Fleckney is a small community so generating interest was all done by word of mouth. No other operator was focusing on our villages so the response was positive.”
Michael held down a number of different jobs while wondering where life would take him. “I’d been hiring coaches for my day trips from Ausden Clark, a Leicester-based coach operator,” he says. “I was between jobs at one point and received a call from the company to ask if I would like an administrative job with them. The idea of working for a coach operator appealed to me so I said yes. As soon as I was 21 I took my PCV test and became a full-time driver, mostly doing school contracts. In hindsight, the time I’d spent in the office gave me a good grounding in the administrative side of things.”
During the COVID pandemic Michael was furloughed. That enforced pause made him realise he wanted to broaden his experience, including driving on continental European tours.
Ausden Clark wasn’t doing that type of work, so in 2022 he moved to Skills Coaches of Nottingham, gaining valuable experience doing tours for Leger and Shearings.
An unexpected benefactor
But this is where Michael’s story takes an unusual turn. He’d been hinting to a friend in the industry, an operator himself, about wanting to set up on his own.
“I didn’t have the finances to make that happen,” says Michael. “In May 2023, noting my enthusiasm, my friend offered me one of his coaches, an 11-plate Setra S 416 HD-GT, formerly with Shearings. The coach was painted in a smart new livery designed by a local graphic artist, and I started running day trips from Fleckney.”
Michael recognises that having a Setra as your first coach was extremely good fortune.
“It’s a beautiful coach,” he says. “I still have it in the fleet.”
For a while, he continued to work for Skills, but as the Fleckers business grew, he left to focus on it full time. His operator friend, pleased with how things were going, offered him two more ex-Shearings’ Setras. Then, in October 2024, Michael set up on his own, buying the three coaches from his friend and acquiring his operator’s licence.
Coaching blood
Michael, as Managing Director, focuses on new business and product development. Working alongside him is Emma Irwin, Transport and Business Manager, and Alastair Williams, General Manager, responsible for the coaches and yard.
There are four drivers: Dean, Keiren, Rob and Mick (‘Grandad’) together with Michael and Alastair.
Emma’s story is equally compelling. In 2006, age 22, she and her former husband set up a coach company, Rosswins, in Melton Mowbray. When they separated In 2011 she left coaching completely, but the pull of the industry proved too strong. In 2015 she joined Ausden Clark in its coach office, eventually getting her Transport Manager CPC and becoming TM at Belgrave Car and Commercial (BCC) in Leicester, a sister company to Ausden Clark operating private hire and contracts.
Post COVID, BCC amalgamated with Ausden Clark. After a further year, Emma once again left the industry.
“I realised I missed coaching,” she says. “I had been friends with Michael from his days at Ausden Clark. I had taught him the administrative ropes when he was there. In 2024 he approached me, twice, to see if I would work with him. On the second approach I said yes.”
A quality brochure that stands out
Fast forward a year and a half and Fleckers is firmly focused on day trips and holidays.
“We do have one school contract,” says Michael, “but that’s only because it’s my old school. Our day trips and holidays programme has nearly doubled year-on-year. This year we’ll run a total of 110 day trips and 18 holidays, including one to Ireland and four to continental Europe. Our main brochure has expanded from 70 pages in 2025 to 102 pages this year. We’ve seen growth in neighbouring Northamptonshire so we now have a separate brochure featuring dedicated day trips from the east of the county.”
But what is particularly striking for such a newly-formed operator is the quality of the brochure itself, an A5, perfect-bound booklet that would put many well established operators to shame.
“We wanted something to stand out,” says Michael. “Alastair, my General Manager, reviewed and refreshed the text and we used the same graphic artist who designed our coach livery to produce the look and layout. It might seem extravagant for an operator of our size, but the results speak for themselves.
“Our customer base has been built through word of mouth and recommendation, supplemented by social media and a text alert service that notifies customers about last minute trips and availability. Theatre day trips have also been added to the mix and are proving very popular.”
Wi-fi and charging ports
The fleet currently stands at seven coaches, five for day trips and tours and two for the school contract. Four are Mercedes-Benz Tourismos dating from 2016 and 2017 each fitted with wi-fi and USB charging ports. The 2017 examples also have seat-back entertainment. “They might be slightly older vehicles but they’ve been well looked after,” says Michael. “I have no plans yet to buy new coaches, but I’m keeping my eyes open as I want to upgrade the older vehicles. And then there’s my original Setra. She’s a lovely coach but we will need to replace her soon. Each tour has a steward offering drinks and snacks, a touch that our customers say they like as it makes the tour more friendly. On some trips we will have two drivers and a steward.”
The fleet is based at Melton Commercial Park in Melton Mowbray where Fleckers shares a yard with G&G Travel, the coach operator set up after the pandemic by John Hill of John Hill Coach Sales.
“G&G carries out our maintenance,” says Michael, “and we share office space having moved from running the business from home.”
Fleckers uses Roeville’s PH Cloud software for its maintenance, walk-round and tyre checks, and Nottingham-based TMS analysis for tachograph monitoring. Tour bookings are managed through an in-house system developed by the company that also looks after the website.
“We use tour wholesaler Norman Allen Group Travel for our continental tours and some domestic holidays,” says Emma. “The rest we contract ourselves. Our overheads are low. We rent the office. But most importantly, we fill our coaches.”
Headaches and achievement
“Looking ahead, I don’t think we’re going to get much bigger,” says Michael. “I never want to lose the family feel. Our drivers tell us they like working here because of that. We also have the extended G&G family in the same building. We occasionally have fanciful ideas. Emma would like a double decker so we can call it the ‘Flecker Decker’. You never know. But mostly we try to keep our feet on the ground. We did win an award earlier this year: Best Coach Trip Company, East Midlands, given by Lux Life magazine.
“It might sound as though it’s all been straightforward, but there have been a lot of headaches, a lot of work and a lot of late nights. It’s not really been straightforward at all!
I sometimes get asked why I do this, and the honest answer is the feeling of achievement. There’s an adrenaline boost. I know that Emma and Alastair feel the same way. We see people enjoying themselves, making friends, and we know that’s all down to us and our drivers. It all began with the family, and now we’re all part of the Fleckers’ family.
