Poulton-le-Fylde operator Bradshaw's Travel has seen change in abundance of late, with the contract market's reducing value leading to a refocus of energies largely onto tours and a shift to new vehicles
In difficulty lies opportunity, said the wise man. So it has proved for Bradshaw’s Travel, based in Poulton-le-Fylde. A changing landscape for contract work locally saw the operator start a move into tours, and it hasn’t looked back since.
Visitors to this year's UK Coach Rally may already be familiar with the Bradshaw’s name. Although it didn't enter a vehicle in 2018, conspicuous in the trade area was its new Plaxton Panther on a tri-axle Volvo B11R chassis.
That coach encapsulates the direction that the business is now heading in. It is the second new addition this year. The first was a two-axle Panther on a B8R.
Bradshaw’s is run by Jill Swift and her children John and Sarah. Jill purchased the business and a single coach from Tommy Bradshaw in 1992. It grew, albeit slowly, and found a comfortable niche of school contracts and other local work.
“School trips – to Manchester or Liverpool, for example – are still well worth doing. But contracts have lost a lot of value,” says Jill. It’s a cliche, but there really are services being operated for the same money today as they were 15 years ago.
Lancashire County Council mandates that all buses used on its behalf – whether on a closed-door basis or not – satisfy PSVAR. Bradshaw’s has a handful of Volvo B10BLEs that meet that requirement, but it has lost work to other operators over the same period. Other than PSVAR, there is only one criteria for tenders: Price. That led to energies being refocused elsewhere.
Turning to tours
A dabble with tours started six years ago. Bradshaw's doesn’t operate its own holidays; instead, it works on behalf of a number of established providers.
“We took a call about tours one day and it went from there,” says Jill. A suitable coach was required, and so a 58-plate Scania Irizar joined the fleet. It served well, but once it became clear that tours would play a greater part of the future workload, a decision was needed.
“Once we’d got our feet under the table and recognised that tours were viable, we needed to look at coaches. We chose to buy new, because doing so gives a warranty, support and peace of mind,” she continues.
The first new coach wasn’t quite factory-fresh, however. It was a low-mileage Jonckheere-bodied B11R that was formerly Volvo’s demonstrator.
Experience has shown that using older stock on high-mileage work can lead to problems. But much local work is still undertaken, so not all of Bradshaw’s fleet is made up of brand-new coaches.
One particularly treasured vehicle is an Iveco Eurorider with Beulas bodywork that dates from 2001. It has seen no heavy engine work in over 700,000km, and at busy times it's still able to step into the breach as a front-line coach, such is its condition.
Enter Plaxton
The first truly new coach was a Plaxton Cheetah XL, delivered in 2017. It is a frugal and reliable performer, and it is rated highly by passengers. In fact, it was their acceptance of a demonstrator that led to an order being placed.
“We lost contracts for a minibus and a coach, so we approached various manufacturers and dealers to see what they would give us for both against a new midicoach,” says Jill. “Plaxton's was the best offer. John called and asked if we could borrow its demonstrator, which we ran for a few days.”
During that period Bradshaw’s had a day trip for a local Women’s Institute to do. As a midicoach would spend a lot of its time on private hire work, the opportunity was taken to ask passengers what they thought of the demonstrator.
“Sarah drove that job. The driver’s door position is not ideal, but other than that she liked it. We were more interested in what customers thought; if they didn’t like it, they wouldn’t book it again.”
The report back was almost universally positive. The hirer regarded it as being as comfortable as a full-size coach, and so Bradshaw's placed an order. Its Cheetah XL is kept busy and it commands rates not far removed from a large vehicle while being much more economical. That established Bradshaw’s relationship with Plaxton, and with tours becoming ever more important, it led to the deal for the two Panthers.
Driving quality
The fleet now stands at 15 vehicles. The smallest is a Vauxhall Movano for a school contract, the largest a pair of 61-seat tri-axles.
“15 is the magic number. We’re not going beyond that,” says John. Instead, he aspires to improve the age profile further.
That may actually see a cut in strength of one; a plan has already been hatched to replace a pair of older vehicles with one new addition that is able to do the work of both.
“Instead of having two that spend half of the time parked, why not have one that is always in use? It’s efficient. If it’s new, it creates a good impression and it's also something that we can work round the clock if necessary.”
As the fleet has grown, so has the driver establishment. Like most operators, Bradshaw’s finds sourcing good, competent staff a challenge at times, but when they do join, they often stay long-term.
Part of the attraction is the variety of work. Some drivers are happy to stay close to base and be home every night. Others like to do tours interspersed with local work.
“All of our drivers have families. Most of them are happy with the variety that we can provide, which is one of the benefits of doing lots of different things,” says Jill.
“We would never expect a driver to do back-to-back tours. That may cause problems at home, and when they’re not happy, it transfers to their work. Ultimately, we could end up losing them.”
Further afield
So far, Bradshaw’s has stayed within the UK by dint of its national O-Licence. The next step will be to upgrade to international, and Sarah is currently studying for her CPC to further that ambition.
That development is part of the desire to continue to push the business into new areas. Sarah has already agreed to undertake an overseas trip with another operator as part of a double-driver team to gain experience, and both her and John want to continue to drive onward.
Thoughts have also turned to the prospect of Euro 6 retrofit. Like virtually all other operators, Bradshaw’s is not in a position to replace its whole fleet with new coaches, but it is sure that ULEZs will spread across the country in due course.
“We have already spoken to companies that say they can retrofit one of our older coaches. The problem is that they can’t certify the work. Replacing everything is not something that we can do overnight. I believe that Euro 6 is an issue that will affect many small operators.”
A strong future
Bradshaw’s Travel has come a long way since the Swift family purchased it in 1992. No longer is it a one-coach business that relies solely on education-related work; it has broadened its horizons and moved into other areas, something that will continue.
“There is a lot of work out there, but you need to look for it and have the right equipment for it,” says Jill. “We have developed Bradshaw’s in recent years. With contracts, you can get into a position where you are happy with what you’re doing; you get paid with no issue and when combined with private hire and school trips it's a nice business. But you can have odds and ends on the edges of that core work, and then a game-changer comes along. That is what happened to us.”
Bradshaw’s was fortunate in that it had already dipped its toe into tours, and so the impact of rate-cutting by other operators was not as severe as it may have been. But that change in the landscape turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“It forced us to push on. We wouldn’t be buying new coaches if they were for contracts. The work changed, we started to do more miles, and it went from there,” says Jill.
“We also have drivers who have been with us for many years. They have helped us to build the business and we cannot overlook their contribution.” It’s been a team effort, for sure. But more than anything, it’s been about spotting an opportunity.
