Maynes Coaches has become the first privately owned coach operator in Scotland to attain DVSA Earned Recognition accreditation.
The Buckie-based operator, which is already a member of the Guild of British Coach Operators, was confirmed on 4 January by DVSA to have met the high standards required after an audit of its practices.
Maynes hopes that being part of the accreditation programme will indicate to customers its commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety, compliance, and operational excellence.
A statement from the business reads: “The level of quality that the DVSA requires for the Earned Recognition has taken a continued team effort to achieve and will be a continued level to maintain. We look forward to continuing our pursuit of excellence and demonstrating why Maynes have been the name to trust in travel since 1947.
Earned Recognition, which launched in 2018, requires operators to share key performance indicators with DVSA, which in turns means operators are less likely to be subject to random road checks.
Maynes aimed to be an early adopter in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to divert its attentions, explains Maynes Coaches Operations Director Kevin Mayne.
He adds of the accreditation: “It is us moving up a level in ensuring we do things as we should be. That was the main key.
“From the next audit process of the Guild, you have to be Earned Recognition-approved to continue as members. So that is the bar we set to achieve.
“We are the only Scottish member of the Guild, we are also Coach Marque-accredited and Green Tourism-accredited so we’re just moving through the different levels of accreditations to make sure we’ve got that standard.
“Everyone in the business was fully engaged in it, making sure we achieved it. It was quite a smooth process for us. With our standards that we already had, we didn’t have much to adjust.”
