I sold my last 16-seat vehicle yesterday and from now on I will retain just one eight-seater that I will drive myself.
At its largest, my business had 11 vehicles. Four were 16-seaters and the remainder were smaller minibuses and cars.
The biggest problem is finding drivers. Why buy vehicles to have them stand in the yard because there is nobody to drive them?
Then we come to uncertainty of contracts. Local authorities (LAs) do not leave sufficient time between issuing the tender and when the work begins, and they include a short-notice break clause.
You can be awarded a three-year contract, but in effect it is only three months because of the break clause, and there is little recourse for an operator if the LA does something wrong during the process.
How can an operator justify investing even £30,000 in a basic minibus when there is only ever three months’ certainty?
Martin Allen
MC Cars, Mansfield
