County Travel come of age with DA
Page 52
Page 53
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
OR THE LAST 21 years County 'ravel of Leicester has been stablishing a reputation for itelf as a go-ahead coach and tree! organisation.
Directors Paul Cresswell and /avid Spoor have steadily built p County Travel's activities u n1 they cover most facets of each operation from school nd staff contracts, rural stage arriage work, extended tours, ■ merican tourist travel and, inreasingly, Continental camping )111S.
County Travel believes in areful marketing, and it's paid ff. The company coaches have ndividual names and are martly painted in immediately a cognisable green and cream very. The drivers wear a neat niform of dark green blazer and rey slacks, which echo the livry, and gives a general impresion of smartness, reliability and fficiency.
Until last year, the County Trael fleet consisted of Duple and laxton-bodied Bedford YMT °aches which were normally eplaced every three years.
The dramatic change this year the pattern of the second-hand oach market together with an lcreasing involvement with its
7ght: Director Paul Cresswell apvaches the busines of coach 7eration in much the same way as
airline from the standpoint of 3ssenger relations. associated company, Sunscene Holidays, has meant that County Travel has had to review its coach fleet requirements.
While the firm was generally happy with its Bedford coaches, it quickly became clear that they were not particularly suited to the high-mileage rigours of "back to back" South of France to Leicester camping holiday runs. So David Spoor looked over the contenders in the heavyweight coach scene with a view to finding the most suitable for this high-mileage intensive summer operation.
After evaluating a number of vehicles, he concluded that the DAF MB200 DKTL would provide the best value for money for this particular need. He was impressed by the Dutch manufacturer's willingness to help and comprehensive service back-up. County now has five Plaxtonbodied DAFs which have completed one season of gruelling trips to the South of France operation. These vehicles I was told, are popular with both drivers and passengers. True there have been minor problems, but the service provided by DAF in both Great Britain and France has ensured that these have remained minor and that both County Travel and its passengers have suffered little real inconvenience.
For this season, County Travel has stayed with the DAF MB200 DKTL and ordered two Jonckheere-bodied coaches fitted with reclining seats and a separate drivers' sleeping compartment to ensure drivers get the maximum rest on the arduous French runs.
Paul Cresswell says he looks to airlines for inspiration in marketing, and gives passengers the kind of service more normally associated with air travel.
County Travel maintains its coaches at its own Leicester garage where chief engineer Bob Powell looks after vehicles' needs. And a second-hand coach-washing machine has been bought to ensure that vehicles arrive on the job clean whatever the weather.
The traffic office is in a selfcontained btlilding behind the company's garage to ensure a quiet atmosphere and traffic matters are handled by operating manager John lliffe.
In common with many other coach premises County Travel's is not over-spacious, yet it has a clean and efficient garage with a large vehicle parking area.
As with an airline where passengers would be unlikely to go to a hangar to book a holiday, County Travel (Leicester) Ltd and its associated company County Travel (European) LtE have a pleasant and efficien office in the centre of Leicester.
Much of County Travel's busi ness is conducted through trave agents and the company has i joint "weekend break" mini-holi day programme with the loca branches of agents Lumm Poly Paul Cresswell told me the corn pany is considering moving it first-floor offices to ground-floo level to make it even more at tractive for direct business witl the public.
County Travel are members the British Incoming Touris Operators Association (BITOA: the Coach and Independent Sec tion of the Confederation c British Road Passenger Trans port (CIBS), and the Associatioi of British Travel Agents (ABTA Paul Cresswell told me his con' pany carefully monitors its cost to ensure the most efficient an attractive service to its passenc erS.
Latest additions to the fleE have been two Bedford YN1 Plaxton coaches to bus grar specifications for a rural stag carriage service connecting number of villages with th centre of Leicester.
The stage-carriage service ha its own stage-carriage driver and is self-supporting. It rE ceives no revenue support othE than what remains of bus grar and fuel duty rebate.
County Travel (Leicester) Lt seems typical of the entreprE nuerial and professional type operators needed to undertak all types of psv operation Ion after the current recession an the effects of the 1980 Transpo Act become history.