Happy New Year. I hope that you will all have a profitable and successful 2025 in whatever you do. I appreciate that some businesses are still working through the consequences of the October 2024 budget, and others await further government decisions on specific topics.
The new year is also a time of regrouping and networking. The UK Coach Operators Association (UKCOA) holds its annual dinner dance at the end of January – which is now sold out – and its annual conference on Monday 10 March in Warwick, which attracts a large audience.
Other trade bodies are also staging conferences and dinners in the first quarter of this year, and as we approach spring, we have the UK Coach Rally in Blackpool on 12-13 April to look forward to, if the rain holds off!
These events are important because they allow operators and those who support the coach industry to catch up informally, but also to conduct business should those discussions go well. Many ideas are ignited and developed at occasions such as these, and they are an important part of the industry’s work.
So, what is on your desk for 2025? I suspect that the measures contained in the autumn budget will have some impact on coach operators’ work, especially those with several contracts with private schools.
Some of our members have already reported a downturn in the number of school visits planned in 2025 compared to previous years as the addition of VAT to fees starts to bite. Do you wait and see
if other work materialises, or look at whether you need to change your fleet size? Maybe it is a way of retiring a couple of elderly vehicles without needing to replace them? It may also ease your driver position. But that may not be the case for everyone.
The impact of employers’ National Insurance contributions rising will also be a factor in 2025. Again, I suspect that some coach operators will get through it without significant change. Others may need to think through their finances and what needs adjustment to make it work for them.
I sincerely hope that there is progress on topics such as PSVAR and the requirement for Bus Open Data Service compliance on closed-door home-to-school services now the new government has its feet under the table.
These things have been on the agenda for some time, and it would be good to see progress. I am especially keen that the focus on accessibility is not just on the coach, but on roadside, school, and tourist attraction infrastructure that allows easier boarding and alighting for all.
Expect developments on the Schengen Area Entry/Exit System. I know from meetings I have attended with ministers that its implementation is being taken very seriously, and I hope that we will see a staged implementation, avoiding the peak season.
It would be good to see some positive developments on the road to zero-emission. I know that Zemo Partnership has launched its delivery roadmap, in which is highlighted the issue of adequate supply of electricity from the grid. The coach industry will only start investing in zero-emission vehicles once it is sure that they can be refuelled or charged without issue.
There are many other topics that it would be good to make progress on – drivers’ hours, for example. UKCOA will be championing that and more this year. Why not join us?
