Alan Payling meets up with Alan Davies, owner of Alan Davies Travel of West Bromwich, and finds an owner-operator who has been on the road for over 50 years, as both man and boy
If the industry wants to attract the new blood it so badly needs, one of the better ways is to perhaps start prospective candidates young, and the younger the better. Alan Davies, the owner-operator of Alan Davies Travel of West Bromwich discovered that he had coaching genes in his DNA while sitting on his father’s knee, metaphorically speaking, that is. Actually, it would have been a bit awkward sitting on his knee as his father was driving at the time, and driving a coach at that. So the young and very keen Alan had to sit next to and watch and learn from his father, Ray Davies, lessons that he still remembers and still applies to this day, over 50 years later.
[wlm_nonmember][…]
By subscribing you will benefit from:
- Operator & Supplier Profiles
- Face-to-Face Interviews
- Lastest News
- Test Drives and Reviews
- Legal Updates
- Route Focus
- Industry Insider Opinions
- Passenger Perspective
- Vehicle Launches
- and much more!
Alan was in his early teens in the early sixties when he first rode shotgun with his father. Ray was a coach driver with Hazeldine of Bilston. His early trips were on his father’s Sunday evening mystery tours. Alan also recalls that some of his first long distance journeys with his dad were down to London. In those days, it meant a trip through the middle of Birmingham from Bilston to pick up the Coventry Road, the A45. They then drove down past the airport to Stonebridge Roundabout to then pick up the M45, now practically a stretch of ghost motorway. They then headed south on the fairly new M1 to what was still called by many at the time, the Smoke. Alan always kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead when he was with his father and from that time onwards, with his future decided, he never looked back – only to look in the mirrors of course. The job appealed to Alan because he loved seeing different places, and he was to see a lot of very different places over the next few decades.
Driver for hire
Alan initially got the bit between his teeth looking after people as a taxi driver in his hometown of Wolverhampton until he passed his PSV test in 1975. He then worked for Fred Winkle of Willenhall for a couple of years until he moved to again work alongside his father at Goodes Coachways of Wednesbury. His years as a company driver saw Alan gain a wealth of experience driving throughout the UK and to nearly every country in Europe. The furthest he went in his early days was to Prague. It would take up too much space to include all the places he visited at this time. Let’s just say he went everywhere.
From 1985 Alan spent a spell of three years on service buses in West Bromwich where he also went to live. He was attracted by the regular hours, the better pay and not having to clean vehicles. However, he was eventually chomping at the bit to get back out on the road. So he went to talk to his old boss, Keith Goode, about getting back on the coaches, but this time, working for himself. Keith was understanding of where Alan was coming from and where he wanted to go and Alan pays tribute to his old boss for all the help and support he provided. Alan set up in business in 1988, based then in Wednesbury, under the name he still uses, Alan Davies Travel. Initially, Goodes Coachways provided Alan with work from pensioner’s groups that they had booked for their own 57-seater. This is a seating format that Alan has stayed with successfully ever since. It was his initial ambition from day one that he would be in business as an owner-operator, again a policy he has stayed with since he set up on his own.
While covering the work provided by Goodes Coachways, Alan of course realised he would have to find his own work. There are many ways to promote a business and he has, over the years, tried quite a few. But the one method that he swears by is getting bookings via word of mouth. He realised very early on that when it came to pensioners groups say, that the members of one would be members of others. So when he had taken out people from one pensioners club, he was well aware that when they were attending another club that they were members of, they would talk. And they did talk. They talked about Alan. And Alan’s ears might have been burning, but it was excellent for business. Because while all these people were talking about him, they were also thinking about booking him and his coach. And that’s exactly what they did on a regular basis.
Pensioners groups have remained the staple of Alan’s business ever since. Other work that he carries out is the occasional tour to help other coach operators out. And with the centre of the motorway network right on his doorstep, he found himself right in the middle of things. When he says on his website that he is based ‘…within the heart of the central motorway network’ he’s not far wrong. He’s only a stone’s throw away being a five-minute drive from M5 J1 or M6 J10. So for the many people that book him and his coach, he can quickly get into top gear to head their way.
While the older generation have kept Alan busy over the years, with many regular customers booking his coach for tours and day trips, he doesn’t promote any holidays of his own. But not having a brochure of his own doesn’t mean his passengers don’t go on great holidays. This is because Alan is the person that his passengers turn to when they are arranging their tours and excursions. Here he will offer expert advice on destinations, hotels and places to visit on days out. And all part of the service.
Alan certainly has a wide variety of interesting work. His website shows that musicians enjoy travelling with him. One photo on his site shows the Band of the Mercian Regiment who he took to the National Arboretum. Another shows the Northfield Caledonia Pipes and Drums that Alan took to Ireland. Coals to Newcastle comes to mind there. Another shows that he is not afraid to take his passengers anywhere they want to go, and that includes into the lion’s den. One photo on his site shows Alan’s former coach, a Volvo B12B, at the Longleat Safari Park where a couple of lionesses are showing an unhealthy interest in the vehicle – for Alan and his passengers that is. The photo shows that Alan was wisely not making eye contact but keeping his eyes on the road, doing what he always does, getting his passengers home safely. But what happened to the photographer?
Rapport, rapport, rapport
I am perhaps fortunate living in Torbay that the operators I interview are not in their garage, yard or office when I meet them. They are out and about engaged in the sharp end of their business: on the road taking very good care of their bread and butter. That can be revealing sometimes when you see them with their passengers and how they interact with them. It can speak volumes. Because when they’re out on the road, it’s show time. An awful lot of work goes on behind the scenes in any operator’s business, but it’s out on tour when they have to demonstrate that they can cut the mustard in the eyes of the most important people in their business. The way passengers show their respect and affection for an operator comes in different forms. I saw one such demonstration for myself when I was with Alan.
I met up with him while he was in Paignton staying at the Queens Hotel with a group from the West Midlands. While we were chatting outside the hotel, a couple of his passengers walked up to us. Alan kindly introduced me to the man and woman and told them who I was and what I was doing. He then asked them what they thought of him. Now, that’s confidence for you.
When she replied, the sweet, elderly lady had a grin on her face a mile wide. She also had a starry twinkle in her eye bright enough to cause a power outage in the National Grid when she said of Alan in her broad black country accent: “He’s hopeless.” Now, let me tell you that in the West Midlands, believe you me, that is the creme de la crème of compliments, a five star, award-winning rating; you won’t ever receive higher praise. Her companion, explaining that he was a seasoned traveller having gone away with a variety of coach tour operators said that Alan was: “One of the best.” With mock indignation, Alan replied: “I thought I was the best?!” Now that is an example of that magic ingredient that creates the foundation for excellent relations with your passengers: rapport, rapport, rapport.
While we were chatting with his two passengers… no, actually, let me rephrase that… with his two friends, because that is how Alan (and obviously his two pals) regard each other, Alan and his friends told me how the excursions for that particular week’s tour had been selected. In short, his passengers got to vote on where they went. You know, a referendum. On the drive south, Alan circulated a list of possible destinations and asked people to select their preferences. He then announced that: “The winners are Teignmouth and Dawlish and then Buckfast Abbey and Dartmouth.” The third day was a free day.
But Alan’s referendum was surprisingly orderly. Everyone accepted the result, nobody asked for a second vote and he didn’t have to shout ‘order, order, ordeeer’ once. Mind you, as in any democracy, there was a bit of dissent. When Alan got the voting forms back, and bearing in mind this was a tour staying in Paignton, somebody wasn’t happy with the destinations Alan had suggested. So they had inserted one of their own. They wanted to go to Dudley Zoo. Only on a coach! Only on Alan Davies’ coach. But that story speaks volumes to me about one of the keys to continued success as an owner operator. Keep them happy and make them laugh. But no, they didn’t go to Dudley Zoo. I had to laugh at all that, I really did. But when we were all laughing I felt that I had immediately been accepted into Alan’s group. That I had been welcomed as one of them and was very quickly having a good laugh with them. So if that’s how Alan’s passengers feel when they join his coach then it’s really no surprise he’s been onto a winner all these years.
But the above might convey that Alan is a one trick operator. I sense that is far from the reality. Speaking to him and spending a bit of time with him, my assessment is that I was in the company of a canny individual who knows and judges accurately exactly how to conduct himself given the situation and the people he is looking after. One minute he will be the discreet service professional for corporate work, or, when out on tour in a place like Paignton, he will be the jolly, joshing coach driver. I sense he can judge the moment accurately and acts accordingly. With one group he will be their chauffeur, for the next group he will be the life and soul of the party. Whoever he is dealing with, I felt that he would exude a quiet, calm authority, a proud dignity that encourages respect and trust in Alan given the considerable responsibility he has for the safety of all his passengers. In that one respect, they are all the same. People who want to be transported safely from A to B.
Alan’s appearance is also a mark of his professionalism. He is one of those people in the industry that can get up at the crack of dawn, work all day, yet when I met him at his hotel just after his arrival from the Midlands, he looked like he had just showered and dressed for dinner. His smart crisp appearance conveys confidence in him. In that respect Alan admits he is a bit old school, but is quite happy to be a bit old fashioned if that means being smart and looking like a professional.
57: Alan’s lucky number
Alan’s present coach is a 2015 Volvo B11R 9700 57-seater executive that he bought privately in April of this year. As mentioned above, Alan has remained with the 57-seater layout. Originally, that was to his advantage due to the majority of local companies operating executive 49-seaters. As a result he was constantly being requested to hire out his 57-seater. Other people have cottoned on to the flexibility of this seating arrangement but the format still suits Alan and works to his advantage. Alan is very happy with his current coach. When it comes to the acid test, which is what his passengers think, they find his coach to be very comfortable.
The coach itself is looked after and maintained by Hartshorne Motor Services at Walsall, a Volvo specialist. Alan said that they are all good guys in the coach and bus section there and that he is very happy with the service he has received while they have been looking after this vehicle and his previous coach, a Volvo B12B, for the last few years.
As to the future, it looks like it will be a lot more of the same for Alan and his many and regular passengers. It was also noteworthy that when I was with him, Alan was one of the few people in the coach trade that I have spoken to that did not express any negative views about the future of the sector he clearly loves working in. I don’t doubt he has his challenges. But he gets on with running his business in a positive, cheerful manner, and with lots of happy passengers, then he, and they, will remain very happy on their many travels together in the future. So if you ever hear any passengers shout ‘all those in favour of Alan Davies say aye’ you know what the result will be. It’ll be a landslide for Alan.
Contact
Phone: 0844 5864 530
Email: [email protected]
[/wlm_ismember]
