Masons Coaches is a small family-run business, typical in many respects, but with a special flair for engaging its customers and making an impression
Part of the company’s marketing drive has been professional photography as well as video
All part of the family: (l-r) Matt, Jo, Candice and James
Latest addition to the fleet is a 17-plate VDL Futura 2, spec’d to a luxury standard
Small workshop is the domain of company founder Andrew Mason
In the coach industry, a focus on customer service is what makes a lot of businesses thrive.
Masons Coaches is one of them. Based close to Tring on the borders of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and run by directors James and Matt Mason, its level of attention to detail and its willingness to go above and beyond for customers is what sets it apart – and it's why it's succeeded in areas other operators often struggle with.
Take coach holidays. The family business runs a small programme of really successful, well-thought-through tours and excursions, spearheaded by James's wife Candice since she joined the company three years ago. Not only do they sell well, they're profitable too.
The key is keeping the programme at a nice manageable size so that either Candice or her colleague Jo Jones can act as courier on each tour, ensuring people are really well looked after.
“If there are any problems at all, we can sort it out there and then, and that makes a huge difference,” says Candice.
She points out that it isn't fair to expect drivers to drive and deal with all customers' requirements, complaints and general comfort. She says: “We get people re-booking based on the extra person being there. It's come through that that's what's helping us stand out.”
Steady growth, faster growth
Masons was founded 35 years ago when George Mason bought a minibus for his son and daughter-in-law, Andrew and Gillian, to operate.
The business grew slowly: Andrew and Gillian’s sons James and Matt remember when the office was based at their home in Cheddington, with two coaches parked outside. It wasn't much bigger when James and Matt joined the business, around 16 and 13 years ago respectively.
Gillian left three years ago, leaving her half of the business to her two sons: Andrew owns the other half and remains director and workshop manager, while James acts as Transport Manager, and Matt looks after operations.
It's in the last five years that it's grown the most: The fleet size has almost doubled to 12 coaches, and the business moved to new premises four years ago that it has already almost outgrown.
The site includes its own maintenance facilities, with room for two coaches in the workshop. Other local coach and haulage companies often send their own vehicles here for maintenance work, so it's a useful sideline.
Last year Masons bought its first brand new coach since 2014: A VDL Futura 2 with DAF engine from Moseley (PCV) Ltd, James and Matt's first purchase as directors. “We needed to update the fleet and we wanted to make a bit of a statement,” says James. “We have coaches going into London, so we had to update for the LEZ.”
With upgraded luxury seats, an onboard toilet, fridge and multi-media entertainment system, it's certainly made an impression on passengers. “Customers are always quick on the phone to let us know if the coach is good,” says Candice.
She and Jo talk about all the positive feedback they receive, including handwritten notes and thank-you cards. It's an inherent part of what makes Masons special: Its personal relationship with customers.
For that reason, while the company has grown a lot in recent years, it doesn't want to move too fast. “We'd like to keep on growing steadily,” says James. “We've seen other businesses do too much too quickly, and it's set them up to fail.”
Overwhelming interest
The day trips and holidays side of the business was relaunched in January 2017, at an open day in a local pub.
The team were expecting 30 customers, so were surprised and overwhelmed to be inundated with visitors. It was the springboard for a small tours programme of 25 trips in the first year – all of which ran, even with small numbers. When one tour only attracted four clients, Masons hired a taxi to take them so they wouldn't be disappointed and lose faith in other tours. “We agreed when we started it that we'd try to run every trip,” says James. “It was a learning curve in what trips we can and can't do.”
This year, bookings are strong on a tour programme that Candice has very quickly developed a flair for.
“We've got people who are willing to pay for something a bit different,” she says. “Anything with food usually sells well. And you can usually fill up a tour involving a boat or a train. Buckingham Palace didn't sell well, because people have done it before.”
A master stroke was the introduction of half-day trips under a 'Lunch Club' banner.
“I realised that there's a group of customers who physically can't get around much, and they don't want to be out all day, but they still like to get out. The lunch club is designed for people with more limited mobility.” It usually involves a half-day trip with a pub lunch, and Masons usually uses minibuses on these, but they're growing in popularity.
Responding to a need
Another example of Masons' personal touch is its two school bus services, running from Milton Keynes to Aylesbury's grammar schools. Registered as commercial routes, they are in direct response to appeals from parents after the council decided to stop running its own service in 2016.
“We got so many enquiries from parents in one week, we had to pay attention to them,” says James.
“It's completely new to us. It started with 13 kids on it, but as soon word got out, it was filling up.”
Word spread thanks to Facebook and the parents themselves. It has continued to grow, with a forecasted 160 pupils using the services this September.
“The feedback we get says our provision is exemplary,” says Candice. “We haven't had to advertise it.
“But we're not taking it for granted. We listen to what customers want – we're always listening.”
It sends surveys to the parents to find out how it's running and ask if they have suggestions. It already sends out emails to parents if there are delays on the route, but parents have asked for a text messaging system as well – so Masons is currently looking into that.
Social success
The company's relationships with its staff are a similar story. “We listen to staff,” says Candice. “They're part of the family.
“We have zero staff problems,” she says – how many businesses can say that? “They all do a really good job.”
With a couple of father-and-son teams involved as well as the Masons themselves, and with customers given the chance to get to know drivers and ask for their favourites when they re-book, it's no exaggeration to say that it feels like everyone is family.
You can get a good feel for Masons by watching the four-minute video it has just had made for promotional purposes. It features Andrew, James, Matt and Candice, long-serving driver Ken Cato, and a number of happy customers – in a professionally shot and produced video made by local production company Mann Bros.
Promoted on social media, the video has been viewed nearly 5,000 times on Facebook alone, with a huge number of positive, touching comments from customers, and a great many shares – including on local community Facebook pages, which help to get the name out.
Says Jo: “It's made the local area more aware of us. People who had no connection to us before will remember that they saw a video about us shared on Facebook.”
Candice mentions Facebook's 'looking for recommendations' feature – since the video, if people ask for recommendations for coach hire, more people are recommending Masons Coaches.
Generally, the company has mastered how to use Facebook for business and gets a lot out of it. In the two years since it relaunched its tour programme, the team have noticed that far more older customers have email addresses than before, and believe it's because they use Facebook.
Masons also uses Facebook's targeted advertising, and engages with its clients with friendly, familiar posts about the team. “If we put a photo of Ken on Facebook, all our customers go mad for him,” says Candice with a smile.
Close-knit family
The Masons are a close-knit family and that's reflected in a close-knit business. “It helps that Matt and James are the most relaxed people in the world,” says Candice. It has good relationships with the local councils, with other local coach companies, and even with the DVSA, which is impressed with its registered school services.
For the future, steady growth in new premises is indicated. Being so close to London has its own challenges, especially around air quality, but this is making James and Matt think about other ways to update the fleet: Leasing is a possibility.
Says James: “We'll never be in a position to buy a whole fleet of new vehicles – who will?
“But we're going to continue to do what we do really well. We have exciting plans for the future – all I can say is watch this space.”