Adrian Morton reports from the UK Coach Operators Association’s annual conference, hosted by Volvo in Warwick
Monday 10 March saw the UK Coach Operators Association (UKCOA) hold its annual conference at the Volvo Truck & Bus UK headquarters at Wedgnock Lane in Warwick. The UK Coach Operators Association was originally the London Tourist Coach Operators Association and was formed in 1976. Its President is industry stalwart Stephen Telling and the organisation is a trade association run by coach operators for coach operators. It represents companies who provide all types of services in coach travel, from corporate work, education, rail replacement, sport and leisure and tourism and has a membership of nearly 250.
I have to say, until I was invited to the annual dinner at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington in January, through all my years in coaching, I hadn’t realised what a formidable alliance this is. The board is formed of many highly respected owners, operators and individuals who possess the credentials to engage with stakeholders and lobby the Government for change, which UKCOA is actively doing.
Many have worked at, and continue to work at, the coalface so can fully appreciate what our industry wants and needs and the struggles we face. I’ve listened to operators who think that the UKCOA can’t offer what our other trade bodies do but believe me, they can, from a free 30-minute consultation with a lawyer for employment and legal advice to its own in-house team who can advise on all manner of topics relating to our sector, most common of those being compliance.
Subscription rates range from just £200 to £600 a year, depending on the size of your operation, which represents excellent value for money. This is an organisation dedicated to coach, which often gets overlooked in favour of bus. It’s not been shouted about, but it was the UKCOA which was the biggest success in achieving for our industry the dispensations we now have for PSVAR. Some have told me it’s ‘cliquey,’ a club for the London boys, but I don’t think they could be any further from the truth! If I were still an operator, I would undoubtedly be a member, the organisation is hugely passionate about what it does and what it can offer.
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