Family-owned coach businesses carry a legacy of dedication, passion, and resilience across multiple generations.
Lynsey Milligan, who last month turned 26, represents the fourth generation of her family’s company, Milligan’s Coach Travel. As an apprentice mechanic, coach driver, Transport Manager, and all-round multi-talented daughter to owners Morag and Billy Milligan, Lynsey offers what many coach operators are eagerly seeking: A youthful perspective, and another generation to carry forward the company’s legacy and values.
Lynsey’s steadfast involvement in coaching is encouraging at a time when when many coach operators are struggling to find young people to carry on the baton, and when coach news has been dominated by a trend of sales, mergers and consolidation.
This year, as Milligan’s celebrates its 76th anniversary, routeone caught up with Lynsey to find out what drives her interest in the family business, why she’s determined to keep the legacy alive, and what a typical day looks like for a young person at a formative stage of their journey in coaching.
Business bug caught early
Lynsey’s journey with Milligan’s Coach Travel began while still at school. “I knew I wanted to join the family business when I was probably around my early teens,” she recalls.
“Business became my favourite subject, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do, and I wanted to do it for the family company.”
Her earliest memories are vivid and filled with hands-on experiences. “I started by taking the mail to the post-box at the end of the day and washing coaches on a Saturday morning at 15 years old. I remember doing the back-ups and cash-ups in the office, and my dad had me in once or twice to help finish a coach conversion.”
As a result of that involvement, Lynsey wears many hats at Milligan’s, engaging in workshop tasks, driving, and transport management. That variety can take some getting used to. “Each role has its different challenges, and it depends on the day and the task,” she says. “The workshop is very new to me, so there’s the strange feeling of being in a different environment. However, I think now that I’ve consistently been in the workshop for about a year, I’m getting the hang of working on the tools and coming home with new cuts and bruises every day.”
Despite the challenges, Lynsey finds joy in every aspect of the work. “I enjoy every role equally,” she says. “But I will say in the depth of winter when it’s freezing and miserable, it’s a wee treat when you’re needed to cover in the office that day!”
With so many responsibilities there is, predictably, no such thing as a ‘typical day’. “Just now, while I’m doing my apprenticeship, I’m mostly in the workshop to gain more experience unless I’m needed to cover holidays in the office,” she notes. “During term-time, I start at 0700hrs, open the office, do my walk-round check, and go on my school run. When I’m back, I’ll probably be working with my brother completing a monthly inspection on a coach and repair any defects and then do my afternoon school run.”
Lynsey’s summer routine is presently driven by demand for coach conversions, and ongoing training. “This summer, my time is mostly split between helping with the 70-seat coach conversions we’ve got in for other companies and cleaning coaches with my mum before they head out on a day trip or holiday. I am the occasional feeder driver just now as well for our pick-ups on our trips, and I attend the GTG Glasgow training centre around every two months for my mechanics’ qualification.”
Young people and the industry
Lynsey sees both significant opportunities and challenges for young people in the coach industry today. Notably that there are huge opportunities driven by what is invariably an ageing workforce, and clear calls across both coach and bus to drive more interest from young people. The diversity of roles means there are aspects of coaching that should appeal to almost everyone.
“It’s not just driving,” Lynsey emphasises. “With management, marketing, logistics, customer service, mechanics… you can gain so many new skills and never be bored.”
However, she acknowledges that there are some barriers to overcome — especially the costs associated with training and qualifications.
“That is the main challenge that has to be addressed in order to attract young drivers into the industry,” she says. “The expenses and the costs of training, in order to gain the relevant qualifications, can be steep.”
Could building a network that supports young professionals in the coach industry help overcome some of those barriers? Lynsey is one person who believes in potential benefits from such a network. “Having a direct contact who can support you, put you into touch with the right people, and guide you on the next steps can only be a positive,” she says. She also highlights the importance of visibility and exposure. “Exposure is one of the best tools, so having young people in the industry, showing what they do, and making that content easily available to other young people, would be the most beneficial.”
Reflecting on the skills and certifications crucial for aspiring professionals in the coach sector, Lynsey also wants to emphasise the importance of customer service experience.
“I worked at Tesco during my final year at school and throughout university, and I also worked in an ice-cream and dessert shop,” she notes. “I do think working with the public and being trained in customer service has come in handy and helped me more than any other role or training I’ve done.”
Her training journey has otherwise been comprehensive, starting from her decision to study business at the University of Strathclyde, where she majored in Economics and Finance with a minor in marketing. “I got my PCV licence during my third year, graduated in 2020, and then started learning how to process the accounts, invoices, and wages in the office.”
Lynsey’s friends have in that time offered an interesting perspective on the coach industry from younger generations. “They didn’t grow up with it, never went on coach trips, and it’s not something they would look to book for themselves,” Lynsey shares. This reveals a common misconception that the industry is solely about coach trips and holidays. “Some didn’t even realise there was a difference between coach and bus, and that it’s typically coaches that do private group hires, school transport, football transport, weddings.”
From Lynsey’s viewpoint, raising awareness and promoting the industry at school career days is crucial as a future strategy to address those misconceptions young people may have about coaching and to ensure the industry can attract a wider variety of applicants.
One key suggestion is for operators to organise presentations to classes, increasing visibility of the industry among young people and making them aware of the variety of roles available.
Ambitions and priorities
With training ongoing, Lynsey’s immediate priority is to gain her mechanics’ qualification by 2026. She also hopes to become more confident at driving a coach to new places and for different types of private hires outside of educational work, something she does not get to do often as a “spare driver”.
However, her ultimate ambition within the business is deeply personal. “To put it bluntly, my goal is really to let my parents wind down and retire,” she reveals. “However, the thought of that is terrifying, so I hope it’s not in the next 5-10 years.
“For Milligan’s, we all love the size of the company just now. We’ve been bigger, and then came back down to a more manageable size that is thriving, so maintaining our reputation and quality, gaining some new customers and obviously retaining our current ones too.
“I do hopefully see us with some more drivers in the next five years too. Preferably in the next five minutes, but I don’t want to sound desperate!”
What about advice for any other young people looking to start a career the coach industry?
“If it’s driving that they are interested in, I would recommend going out driving in their car as much as they can just to learn roads and places,” Lynsey says. “Experience working with the public is always good for any role you are going to enter, but that’s something that can be gained in the industry.”
A sense of humour also helps, as working with heavy vehicles may not be for the faint-hearted. “My most memorable experience was our very own ice-bucket challenge,” says Lynsey. “I was driving a school bus one January, and a bunch of ice-filled water came flowing down from somewhere above and drenched me. My mum was sitting in the crew seat and witnessed the whole thing. She couldn’t catch a breath from laughing the rest of the journey.”
Of course, knowing how to wind down from work and relax is equally important. When not working, Lynsey enjoys a quiet and cosy life. “I’m a homebird – a lot of my hobbies involve being at home and cosy with a cuppa.
“I enjoy yoga, which I do religiously every day. I spend my weekends watching Formula 1 and am very strict about not making any plans if it’s a race weekend.
“I’m a huge bookworm too, so if I’m not in the house, I’m probably in a Waterstones.”
A bright future ahead?
Lynsey embodies much of what the coach industry presents as its core values: Family legacy, hard work, continuous learning. Her diverse roles at Milligan’s Coach Travel highlight the opportunities and challenges young people can experience in the industry.
That dedication and passion ensures a bright future, both for Milligan’s Coach Travel and for the UK coach industry.
“The coach industry offers diverse opportunities and the chance to never be bored,” she concludes. “It’s about finding your passion and embracing the journey, just as I have.”
