Tomorrow evening (Thursday 26 January), new CPT President Ian Luckett will deliver his inaugural address to 700 people. As a Director of Fareham-based Lucketts Travel, he has plenty of hands-on experience.
Appearances can be deceptive. For those arriving at Luckett’s Travel’s Fareham HQ – a nearly-new purpose-built three-storey office block and workshop – on a modern industrial estate. You’d assume that its location, behind a modern retail park and a stone’s throw from the vital M27, was carefully chosen.
In that respect, you’d be correct. But when Harry Luckett chose the site for his haulage yard in 1926, these modern things were not even being considered.
But now his grandsons, brothers Ian and Steve Luckett, 51, alongside their father David, 75, are directors of one of the UK’s five largest independent coach operators.
Indeed, apart from a brief period when they helped out Hampshire Country Council, they have never run a stage carriage bus route. While it has a very small handful of buses for schools, Lucketts Travel is a true coach operator.
This means that, as incoming Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) President for 2017, when Ian Luckett, 47, is formally-elected to the post just hours before the trade association’s annual dinner tomorrow (Thursday), he will be able to speak with confidence about coaching.
“The speech will be short,” he promises, but confirms that while he’s not a busman, the subject will inevitably be aired, thanks in no small part to the Bus Services Bill, which will be debated in the House of Commons the following week.
Family roots
Step outside Lucketts depot, cross the road and a footbridge over the River Wallington, and you’re in the old charm of the village. The Lucketts family still lives in the area, and with teenage children Ian and his wife are well aware of the pressures of modern life, congestion and schools.
He is also very conscious that family-run coach firms, such as Lucketts, don’t always have the ability to get their voice heard, and that’s why joining together with the united voice of CPT is so important.
By any standards, Lucketts coach business is large. With a £20m turnover, 120 vehicles and 300 staff, the undertaking has grown considerably since it first went into coaching in 1976. This was when David bought a single coach, which he ran alongside the haulage business. A decade later and coaches outnumbered trucks, a transition completed soon afterwards.
Around 25% of today’s work is National Express, alongside private hire and commercial contracts. Holidays and day excursions form a small part of the business whose family also includes Worthing Coaches (bought in 2005), and Coliseum Coaches (bought in 2012).
Issues the same
It doesn’t matter whether you are large or small, quality is a prime consideration, says Ian. When the CPT introduced the elite CoachMarque status, Lucketts was one of the first to become accredited.
CoachMarque is the only universally recognised kite mark of quality in the UK coach industry. It is concerned with all aspects of the business and not just the coach.
All CoachMarque companies operate to a strict set of criteria and are regularly assessed by an independent third party to ensure compliance with the highest standards of operation.
“When people look to join CoachMarque, they sometimes say ‘what’s in it for me; how much work am I going to get out of it’. Well, you can’t quantify it like that,” says Ian.
“What you will get is the ability to say to people: ‘If you’re looking for a decent operator, we conform to these standards, and we can present you with independent evidence to show that we are above the minimum standard.
“You then have to go out and use that in whatever way you can to get an advantage. You’ve got to sow the seed with people, and you’ve got to say to your suppliers – we’ve got this standard – it’s the quality mark for the coach industry, you need ask anyone else you’re looking if they’ve got it.
“If nothing else it will set their mind racing, thinking ‘if we don’t book them and use someone who isn’t a CoachMarque member, as we using someone who is slightly less quality than perhaps we want.
“We do that, we do tenders all the time, and it’s a big thing for us.”
Emissions and ULEZ
Another live topic that has the potential to affect all operators is the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). This will coincide with the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) scheme initially proposed for Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton by 2020.
The CAZ will not affect private car owners, but will see the “most polluting vehicles, like old buses, taxis, coaches and lorries, discouraged from entering the zone through charges,” says the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
“CPT is very aware of what is going on and has a dialogue with DEFRA, which is open to views. So it’s CPT’s job to ensure that the industry’s message is put across” says Ian.
The concerns are that cities might not have the technical know-how to implement them. The danger is that they will look for the first place that has implemented one – London – and mirror that scheme.
“If it’s fit for London that’s fine, but if it’s not that’s a problem. And we know that London is different, so using that model elsewhere means we could be in serious trouble,” adds Ian.
“I know we sound like a stuck record sometimes, but we are part of the solution, not part of the problem.
“If we could take everyone into cities by coach or bus rather than cars, then the majority of the problem goes away.
Tourism challenges
“Coach Tourism is a topic we have to keep pushing – the Steer Davies Gleeve report highlighted its economic benefit, not only what it generates, but also the savings it makes. And this also applies to destinations,” says Ian.
CPT is increasingly working with destinations to provide good facilities for passengers so that they feel welcome, and also that coaches can manoeuvre and park safely.
“There are a lot of tourism aspects that CPT can help with. We also need to help coach operators understand that there’s a lot of things that they can help themselves with, far greater than they are at the moment.”
For example, marketing has been a big issue within the industry, he says. “We are getting better, with CoachMarque, for example.
“There are a lot of things that CPT can do for operators. Being part of CPT isn’t a cost, it’s an investment.”
