Same but different

17/11/2020 WebSupport Coaches, Features, Supplier Profiles

Chris Goodman is no stranger to starting his own business, having operated Aardvark Coaches for a decade and a half. But starting a consultancy business in the midst of a global pandemic is an entirely different proposition. He explains to Peter Jackson why the time was right

I’ve had a few career changes over the years,” began Chris Goodman, thinking back to his first taste of the industry almost three decades ago. As I would discover during our half-hour-long chat, the founder of start-up firm CNIKK Coach and Bus Consultants is a man who holds the trade close to his heart. Having occupied an array of coach and bus-related roles during his career – including a lengthy stint owning and operating a coach company alongside his brother – it’s evident from talking to him that this was no accident. “It’s in my blood this business,” he admitted.

Like many who’ve made a living in coaches and buses, Chris got his start thanks to his dad: “When I first left school I joined the army for six years, before going into the prison service until 1996,” he continued. “While I was off doing all that, my father was running a small minibus company with my mum called Avia Travel (which encompassed BW Minicoaches), doing a few local school runs. He decided he was going to retire, so I left my job in the prison service and took on his licences; I’d already done my CPC exam a couple of years prior.