Darren Critchley looks back on Odyssey Coach Sales’ first five, successful years and what the future might hold for the used coach market
Darren Critchley’s career in the coach industry has been something of an odyssey in so far as its length and variety. The name of his business, Odyssey Coach Sales, is thus apt, while it is appropriately his longevity and multi-faceted background in the sector that have been key to his success over the first five years.
Darren claims Odyssey is the biggest seller of coaches in the UK, although the company acts as a go-between for buyer and seller and does not physically take ownership of the vehicle. He travels in person to see prospective vehicles to sell, photographs them, lists them for sale, deals with queries and negotiates with potential buyers. He aims to take the stress out of the selling process, which he finds operators increasingly don’t have time for. It’s a business model that has worked well, as sales figures have been increasing annually.
Having started out as a trainee at Shearings aged 18, Darren is now using 33 years of experience in the industry to good avail. He has been a driver, customer services manager, operations manager, operator and sales manager. All of this played into his hands when he found himself out of work and in need of a change of direction. “I looked at what other people were doing and I thought, ‘I can do it and I can do it better’,” he says when we catch up in Stamford en route between two of his coach viewings. “My wife and I discussed it, we borrowed a bit of money and away we went. I started off with no grand ambitions.”
He quickly exceeded his expectations, though. “In the first financial year of the business, I think we sold about 120 units,” he says. “I think I said if I sell one a week or even two a month, that’ll do me – but we were selling two and a bit a week. It wasn’t a big, ambitious statement, which is unusual for me because usually I want to take on the world. We hit the ground running and it grew. Every year in the last five years, turnover has doubled year on year.”
His contacts and reputation from his many years in the industry have been invaluable. He says: “I think the advantage is that, while I was starting from scratch, I wasn’t starting from scratch because the contacts, the history and the reputation are already there. Your contacts support you from the start, so you’ve got a good lift up. People that have known me for a long time see me more as a coach operator that sells than a coach salesman, so that gives them a bit more confidence.”
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic halfway through his first five years was naturally a challenge. However, the onboard social-distancing restrictions in place meant more stock was on the move. “Other than not being able to physically go out and view vehicles, we didn’t stop because all the main dealers shut the shops and went home and nobody was answering the phone,” says Darren. “I just worked from home doing what I could. We answered the phone and, at the time when kids went back to school and so on, contracts had to be socially distanced, so people who had one coach for a contract needed two, so we were selling a lot of lower-end-of-the-market stuff. It stagnated but we didn’t go a month without selling a vehicle.”
Aside from during the pandemic, Darren has focused on the smarter end of the market, saying: “I wouldn’t sell anything that I wouldn’t buy.” Also unlike during lockdown, he aims to personally view every vehicle he sells, no matter where it is in the country, which fortunately suits him. “I like being on the road. I earn a living from sitting and drinking coffee with people,” he says, sipping a mocha. “I like meeting people, but you’ve got to constantly be out there because, if you stop, you’re last week’s fish-and-chip paper.”
What has changed over the five years is that Odyssey has picked up a few partnerships to provide add-on services, such as financing and upseating. With regards to finance, which he offers via Blair Michie at Commercial and Asset Finance, he highlights a business philosophy he feels has served him well. “We play the long game,” he says. “I haven’t got targets to meet, boxes to tick. When someone comes along who wants to finance a 20-grand coach, a lot of finance guys will poo-poo that. Blair won’t. He’ll go out and find the deal for the guy. Because, for us, it’s the long game. If you help the guy with the 20-grander, when he’s buying a 220-grander, he’ll be loyal and come back hopefully.”
The seat-conversions are carried out in cahoots with Jimmy Ashall of Ashall’s Coaches and Darren feels such adaptions will always be needed. He says: “The shift I’ve seen since the pandemic is that more operators now want seats rather than sexy. Forty-nine-seat executive coaches are pretty much going the way of a dodo.”
He has also started offering a fleet-valuation service to operators who might want to correct their balance sheets or renew insurance, using his knowledge of vehicle price fluctuations.
Despite adding these extra strings to his bow, he is confident of always having something to sell despite a drop-off in the availability of used vehicles. As regards the future, he says he can see operators starting to work leaner. “There’s no point having twelve coaches if you can only staff eight of them,” he says. “I can also see the shift towards more capacity than comfort because that’s what the market seems to be looking for.”
When it comes to the business itself, Darren believes the Odyssey journey has further to run and he is looking forward to the next five years. “I don’t tend to look over my shoulder to see who’s catching me up, but we’ve just got a good little niche that we’ve found works,” he says. “It works because we’re open, honest and transparent. We don’t hide anything. As long as I’m mobile and I can breathe, we’ll just continue doing what we do.”
