Last month I focused on the issues we raised with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport. This month we are focusing on those issues that are most pertinent with coach operators.
The UK Coach Operators Association (UKCOA) holds monthly meetings with its members and industry partners, and at the last meeting we asked them how the year had panned out.
The responses were enlightening. It was difficult to pinpoint whether there were any regional variations, but I did detect that some operators in the southern half of the UK were experiencing more challenges than those in the north. However, that is based on a very small sample size! Our first operator, from the south of the UK, reported a bumper year, with increasing demand for his services — largely, he believes, because of other operators leaving the market.
He mentioned increasing interest in European holidays by coach, which will be impacted when the European Union introduces the Entry/Exit System, the new digital border system that will change requirements for British nationals travelling to the Schengen area.
One downside was the significant increase in insurance costs this year, and whether this would continue to be a trend in the future.
Our second member, based in the southeast corner of the UK, reported a “cracking” year and in his words, “the first proper one since the pandemic”. This has put the company in a good, stable position. It will be recruiting later in the year with hopes of filling some positions that are vacant. Our next member, based in the West Midlands, also reported a good year, with plenty of educational and other private hire work to keep them busy. They too are needing to recruit, especially drivers, but have a strategy up their sleeve for obtaining them.
A couple of guest operators, both involved in the excursions and tour market, then shared their views. They were pleased with what the year had brought so far. One was very busy over the summer and has ordered three new vehicles on the strength of it. The other company has just issued its brochure for 2025 and has already received plenty of bookings.
There is a slightly different picture for a member in the southwest of the UK. It had been a good August for him, but less so in September. This operator does a lot of work with private schools and had some useful intelligence that, with the possibility of VAT being added to fees, schools were already cutting back on activities to minimise the potential increase for parents, and that included coach travel.
The next operator, also located in the south, agreed with the comment about schools, but said that he was finding it easier to recruit drivers than he had a year or two ago.
An operator based on the England/Wales border reported that they were now back to pre- COVID-19 levels of work. He also made the interesting comment that his company had recently qualified for Earned Recognition, and that this has made a significant difference workwise. Heading up to the north of the UK, one operator said that 2024 has been the busiest year to date, and the company was well ahead of forecasts. However, the owner agreed that insurance costs had increased significantly, especially on scheduled express coach work.
Moving westwards, another northern operator said that they had been very busy for the last 18 months, fuelled by the loss of a few other businesses in the area. He also reported that other existing coach operators were no longer “operating beyond what they were able to take on” which meant that there was plenty of work for everyone.
Final comments from up and down the UK, including Scotland, were generally positive, although another southern operator reported a recent “slowdown in work.”
