Steven Knight heads to Sleaford to find out what drives the team at Sleafordian in their quest for excellence
It’s a very hot Monday in May when I head to Sleaford for a visit to family-run Sleafordian Coaches, which is located on a purpose-built site to the north of the Lincolnshire market town. Using public transport I am pleased for the air-con in the train and also in the taxi I caught from the railway station.
What came as a surprise was the level of traffic congestion at 11.30 in the morning; I make a note to ensure that I find out how that impacts on the operation of the town’s local bus services. On arriving at the depot and offices there is only one word for the sight that greeted me: ‘impressive.’ Sleafordian has been here for 21 years, but it has an appearance of being new. The site became fully operational in July 2004 and represented an investment of £600,000. It replaced three separate sites, one of which saw vehicles having to reverse in, causing traffic delays in the process.
The whole site has been designed to be secure, but soon I was welcomed into the reception area with an immediate offer of tea or coffee – on this occasion I declined, having just finished a drink I bought before the train journey.
I was then introduced to the company’s Operations Director Danny Mountcastle. Setting the scene, Danny said that the company was formed on 1 June 1964 and incorporated as a limited company the following month, but as a taxi company. Sleaford Taxi Company Limited remains the registered company name, but it trades as Sleafordian Coaches and no longer operates taxis.
SLEAFORDIAN COACHES
Initially set up by three local men, John Cheli, Don Broughton and Ted Barton, the move into bus operation came about when there was an opportunity for a contract to move nurses between sites for the NHS. There followed more interest in provision of larger vehicles and the business prospered by looking for suitable passenger movement opportunities.
It was Don Broughton who subsequently took control of the business, assisted by his wife Jean. Their second son David spent two years with the business in the 1990s and he developed the company’s first website and computerised booking system. Their other son Mark and his wife Lisa joined the business in 1998, initially on a part time basis but slowly their hours increased, and they continue to run the business. They were joined in 2012 by daughter Hannah, representing the third generation of the business, who is now office manager and is married to Operations Director Danny. Mark and Lisa’s son Thomas is now also part of the family business.
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