19/03/2020
ON BEHALF OF ALL THE COACH OPERATORS IN THE UK
We need help. And fast.
You know the airlines? They're telling the Government they can't survive without a bailout? The companies that pay millions in dividends and have billions in cash reserves?
The Coach industry is in EXACTLY the same boat, minus the money in the bank to support it.
We know we’re not on the front line. We know we are not, and should not, be the highest priority right now. The NHS; the carers; everyone working on this global health crisis have our absolute thanks for everything they continue to do, putting everyone else first before even their own families.
But do we deserve to be forgotten?
The measures already announced? Well, we’re not in leisure, or hospitality, nor in retail. We’re transportation.
We have huge fleets of vehicles that are now grounded. Vehicle Off Road in their windscreens. The fuel that they’re now not consuming is only a tiny fraction of what it costs to own these vehicles.
We have experienced drivers who've only ever known the coach industry with absolutely no work, facing at best a huge cut in their wages, or more likely, unfortunately, without drastic action, a spot in the unemployment queue. Behind those drivers are a whole host of other employees vital to the running of the company. Professional, qualified, experienced employees. It is a truly heart breaking crisis; one that our whole team recognise we’re all in together.
As a small family run business (as are most Coach Operators) who has been operating for over 30 years, our team aren’t just colleagues. We’re friends. Good friends. All of us. And that’s not just our business. We work closely with operators all over the county; the country.
Cash flow is at ZERO. Over 90% of the full diary for the next 6 months has cancelled. The other 10% is only a matter of time. And this is the peak time for the coach industry, when we’re usually operating at full capacity. We’ve planned our business around this. We’ve invested not only cash, but time, energy and our whole being into being ready to serve the public and to transport them safely.
Even if this damned virus disappears tomorrow, the damage it has caused the industry is devastating. The damage it has caused to any income we may have had cannot be reversed for months, if not years.
What company on Earth can continue to pay wages and overheads with absolutely NO income?
And when this nightmare is actually over, what is going to be left of the industry? Who is going to be there to take the country’s children to school? To transport all the veterans to pay their respects at the gravesides on the Continent? To take all the sports teams to their games? To enable society to function at any semblance of the normality it used to?
There is no pause button. If the Coach Operators are not supported NOW, they won’t be there. Companies will fall, quickly. I’m not talking months, or even weeks. Companies can and will fall within days.
Is there anyone out there actually listening? Does anyone care about a seemingly forgotten industry that’s suffering beyond comprehension? Are there any answers out there?
Writing this, with tears falling down my face, I can only hope for a miracle in the coming days.
