If there’s a recurring theme in most of the profile pieces about coach operators that appear in the pages of routeone, it’s that of family. In Leicestershire, that theme is very much in evidence again in the way the Chapman family have worked together to develop a thriving coaching business.
Arriving at the premises of Orbit Coaches in the village of Peckleton, some nine miles to the east of Leicester, and stepping foot across the threshold of a very tidy, well-presented and practical Portakabin-style building, I’m greeted by the smiling faces of four members of the Chapman family. Over coffee the story of Orbit unfolds, revealing the role the family has played in developing what started out as one man’s wish to simply keep busy and is now a thriving business.
Lee Chapman, Director of the business, has just finished preparing the latest fleet addition, a 73-plate, 53-seat Yutong GT12.
“We used to be a Scania operator,” he explains. “But now I prefer the Yutong/DAF style and combination. She’s not only a lovely coach, but also an indication of just how far the business has come since my father set it all up in 1995.”
Lee runs through the all-important who’s who.
“My wife Tory, short for Victoria, is a fellow director of the business. Then we have my brother Andy and my sister Amy.”
As each name is announced a cheer reverberates around the office. There are also a few choice words that we can’t possibly print here but which demonstrate the camaraderie of a team working well together.
Just something to do
Lee and the family are the second generation of the Chapman family to be heading up the business.
“In 1995, my father Neil, then age 50, was offered early redundancy from British Gas,” explains Lee. “We have a large, extended family and at the time, Neil owned a 16-seat minibus that he used to take us all out on trips. Looking around to see what he would do with the money that British Gas was giving him, he decided to set up a minibus hire business. At that stage he didn’t have any thoughts of expanding the business, it was just something to do.”
Neil acquired an 11-seat Talbot Express minibus that he parked outside the family home in Braunstone Town, on the eastern edge of Leicester.
“Bit by bit my father slowly built up the private hire side of the business,” says Lee. “In 1997 he acquired a second minibus, a P-registered LDV Convoy. At the time, the company name was Orbit Minibus Services, the Orbit name having been chosen by Neil because of the link with travel and, as he has often told us, because he was “orbiting around”. It was also a name that stood out.”
Lee, in the meantime, was learning his skills as an engineer, working for another local operator, a job that saw him servicing his father’s minibuses.
The family say that Neil saw his approach to the business as being just a job to keep himself busy. By 2006, age 61, and having ‘kept himself busy’ for 11 years, he began to consider stepping back. But after all the work that he’d put in he was keen to see the business continue. He asked Lee if he wanted to join him in a partnership.
“I could see the business had potential,” says Lee, “and I had the confidence that I would be able to move it forward. So I said yes.”
The move to larger vehicles
Now working together, Neil and Lee acquired a third minibus, a 2002 LDV Convoy.
“I was keen to build a decent minibus fleet,” says Lee. “But we found ourselves facing increasing competition from other minibus operators in the area. We decided to move away from minibuses into larger vehicles. That led into bidding for mainstream home to school (H2S) work. Our first successful bid resulted in us buying a 77-seat former Leyland Titan from Alec Head Coaches. That was soon followed by a Leyland Olympian. Stepping away from minibuses was proving to be the right thing to have done.”
Although a partnership, Neil was giving Lee the opportunity to spread his wings, all the while keeping Lee’s feet firmly on the ground. Lee’s wife, Tory was involved with the accounts, albeit in her spare time.
The move to a fleet of double-deck buses brought a relocation to a larger site on the edge of Leicester, followed in 2011, as a result of more contract gains, to a site in north west Leicestershire.
Early in 2014, with Lee focused on the engineering side of things, his sister Amy joined the business.
“Amy had noticed that Neil had everything in his head,” explains Lee. “My father had a great memory for all the contracts but nothing was ever written down. He had also been worrying about keeping the office side of the business in the family. With Amy stepping up, Neil relaxed. He retired in 2014.”
Another brother, Tom, was involved with the business for a short while but then moved away to develop other interests.
Developing in-house maintenance
“My father’s guidance and advice ensured that I was in a good place to pick up the reigns,” says Lee.
“Amy got to work modernising the office and introducing new systems. By 2012 and into 2013 the business was flourishing, but that in itself was giving us new challenges. By 2016, with new contracts coming through we needed a bigger yard. We moved to Enderby, about eight miles south west of Leicester. With the move, my brother Andy joined the business.”
But the site presented some operational challenges and in December 2019 the business moved once again, this time to the present site in Peckleton.
“It’s a rural site, situated on farmland,” says Lee. “I’d always wanted to develop our own in-house maintenance and now, with the space we have, I’ve been able to do it. It’s taken almost three years to set up. We’ve worked closely with Totalkare and have a vehicle lift, brake roller test and smoke test facilities. We only look after our own fleet at the moment. That ensures our engineering and vehicle reliability is as good as it can be.”
Focus on private hire
Today, Orbit’s focus is very much on developing the private hire side of the business. H2S and rail replacement continue to play an important role though, the latter proving beneficial during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“2019 had been a really good year for us,” says Lee. “We had no borrowing and nothing on finance. I’d really looked after the business. In hindsight I got lucky. We had been considering investing in new buildings, but decided to wait. But when lockdown hit, I wasn’t going to sit back. Staff were furloughed but I kept working. The rail replacement work and key worker contracts kept us afloat.”
The well-presented Orbit fleet stands at 21, made up of eight 74-seat double-deck buses, nine coaches, one single-deck bus, one midicoach, one minibus and a 1973 open top Leyland Atlantean. Post-pandemic, Lee scrapped some older coaches, replacing them with newer vehicles at a good price.
In terms of the business split, around 60% is now H2S work (all closed door contracts), around 20% to 25% is private hire, and around 10% to 15% is rail replacement.
Looking ahead, finding quality drivers remains a challenge.
“We gave drivers a fair pay rise this year,” says Lee. “We have a good reputation in the area and we know that drivers come here because they know it’s a better place to work. Part of that is likely due to the fact that we pay for drivers to undergo their Driver CPC refreshers. All told, I’m happy with the size of the business and the way the family all works together.
“We’re continuing to improve and to modernise. Part of that is a move to upgrade our vehicle booking and management system. New technology can take me out of my comfort zone so we do tend to develop in-house. We have that skill. Vehicle-wise we’re hoping to buy a new coach each year.
“Looking back, I have a great deal to thank my father Neil for. Orbit Coaches is where it is both because of him and also because of family. I really can’t think of a place I’d rather work!”
