Doing the job right

Stuart Ulph, proprietor of Rotherham-based Brecks International, has always set the highest standards for every aspect of his operation. After more than half a century in business, he’s ready to retire and he shares some of his experiences over the years with Andy Izatt

“Finishing won’t be easy, but I’m 75 years old this year,” explained Stuart Ulph, proprietor of Rotherham-based Brecks International. “It was 1967 when I first started and I’m now in my 51st year of operation. The most vehicles I ever ran were 11, but I cut back quite a number of years ago. Now it’s two coaches and four double-deckers.

“As you get older things seem to bother you more than when you’re younger. There was a time when, if someone had rung on a Friday night and said, ‘we want you to go to the other side of Europe and can you pick up in the morning,’ I would have said, ‘fine, no problem.’ With age you start to think more about the implications of doing something like that.

“My wife, Sue keeps asking me when I’m going to pack it in, but I’ve not really wanted to. I’ve had a full-time driver, David Fox, who’s been with me for 24 years. He should have retired last July, but I asked him to postpone until Christmas. When Christmas came I put my coaches, a Neoplan Starliner and Cityliner, up for sale.

“I’ve only had the Starliner a couple of years, but I’d always wanted one and I’ve spent a lot of money getting it into the right condition. If there’s a switch on the dashboard, I make sure it works. It’s what I drove while David had the Cityliner. [wlm_nonmember][…]

[/wlm_nonmember] [wlm_ismember] “They’re not the type of coaches that anyone can drive, but I like them and that’s why I ran them. I’m lucky in having a man who knows everything about looking after them. My son Wayne, who was the original Starliner engineer in the UK, is now General Manager at MAN Bus & Coach.

“I’d bought my first double-deckers, five Manchester Daimler Fleetlines, for school contracts 27 years ago although those routes have been my registered services for the past quarter of a century. The buses never went more than five miles from base and what was great about their Gardner engines was they always got you home. I made a cradle that enabled us to demount an engine in my garage in around two hours.

“Now we have a pair of Optare Spectas and two Volvo Olympians. I bought the Spectras because I had to have wheelchair-accessible buses and that’s what was available. If something goes wrong with them, I have to send for a man with a computer, but the Volvos have been really reliable.

“I’ve never been a big believer in having a lot of part-timers, but I’ve had one regular, Keith Ellis who has been with me more than 40 years. A business like this isn’t something that you can just switch off. I have continued to take some bookings and I considered running my school routes for a while longer, but I think the time to finish is approaching.”

Wanting to be a mechanic

“When it was time to leave school all I wanted was to be a motor mechanic,” Stuart continued. “The careers officer said he could get me a job fitting boilers, but I didn’t want that. He then suggested I join the army or stay at school and I certainly didn’t want to do either of those. I wanted to be a mechanic.

“There was an advert in the local paper for an apprentice mechanic at High House Garage in Rotherham. Saturday morning, I put my best suit on and I was there at 0800hrs. They didn’t know I was coming and no one was there.

“Up the road was another garage, so I went there. I was told that the man who ran it wouldn’t be in until the middle of the morning so I went down to Wellgate where there was a large garage that only sold second-hand cars. It was owned by a guy called Colin Bucknell so I went in and asked if he was available. “That’s me,” said the bloke I was talking to.

“I told Colin what I wanted to be. He took me into the workshop where there were a couple of mechanics working and asked if they could use a lad. “We could find him something to do,” said one. “Fare enough,” said Colin. “When do you finish school?” I finished on a Friday and started as an apprentice mechanic the following Monday. I was 15 at the time so that was 60 years ago and I continued working in the motor trade until well after I started my own business.

“What happened was, as well as working in a garage, I started driving a taxi for my cousin Graham. Getting a hackney carriage licence of my own was really difficult because the local council strictly controlled the number available, but the chance to buy a car with a licence came up and I took it. I could have traded as Ulph’s Taxis, but it’s such an unusual name. At that time we lived on a road called Brecklands in Rotherham. A part of the town is called Brecks so that’s what I chose.

“I’ve always been interested in racing. Most recently Wayne and I raced stock cars and then Jaguars and we rebuilt a 1972 Plaxton Elite Leyland Leopard as a transporter with a winch. Back when I was a mechanic and first started in business, I was a speedway rider racing against the likes of Dave Parry who founded Parrys International Tours and Ian Bottomley (Gain Travel). We raced professionally so we were paid, but it wasn’t very much so we all needed other work. That said, if I had a good night on the track, it was well worth it. If you’re a racer you want to win. You don’t race to be second or third. I’ve raced most of my life and I miss doing it like I’ll miss running this business.”

My first PSV

Said Stuart: “My fleet of taxis increased to three, but I was also receiving numerous requests to carry groups so I decided to buy a minibus. The local Ford agent, T C Harrison had a 12-seat Commer for sale. My parents weren’t keen, but my grandma said she would lend me the money so I bought it.

“Having got it, I then thought I needed to get a licence to operate it. The ministry man arrived to make an inspection and he’d barely got out of his car when he said; ‘That’s no good. It’s not a PSV.’ I said: ‘What’s a PSV?’ Kirkby of North Anston had a PSV version for sale and I was able to exchange it for that. That’s really how I started.

“The engine in that minibus never went cold, it was out that often, and I hadn’t had it a year before I ordered a new Ford Transit Deansgate conversion. With big windows, better seats and lino on the floor, it was a proper minibus rather than looking like a workers bus and, from memory, it cost me £1,675.

“Deansgate was based under some railway arches in Manchester and I remember receiving a phone call from Jack Williams who ran it. This was the first vehicle I’d had painted red, white and blue and he wasn’t sure about the livery. He wanted to check before reattaching embellishments like the chrome bumpers and wheel trims. I said: “What’s wrong with that? That’s what I want.’

“Red, white and blue was nothing to do with being patriotic. Red is my favourite colour and Ford used an Electric Blue colour at the time which I also liked. It was paler than the blue we use now. White was the only colour I felt I could really use with them. When my Transit was ready to collect, Jack said he thought it looked stunning and everything I’ve operated since has been painted in those colours.

“The two minibuses were in continual demand. There was a place in Rotherham called the Phoenix Rooms owned by British Steel. It had two dance halls that were constantly being used for dinner dances and other functions. Big name acts that played there included Victor Silvester’s band. There was always something going on and the volume of business for us was unbelievable.

“After the steel strike in 1980 it all changed. The Phoenix Rooms shut and the building was empty for years before it was pulled down. What’s more, others started operating minibuses and they were prepared to work for half the price we’d been charging, but by that time we’d progressed to bigger vehicles.

“The minibuses had been that popular I ordered a new 20-seat Bedford J2 from Plaxton. I expected it in April and started taking bookings for it from then, but, as happened at that time, staff at Plaxton went on strike and no-one knew when it was going to be ready. Yeates of Loughborough had taken a nice 29-seat Duple-bodied Bedford VAS in part exchange so I bought that instead and cancelled the J2. I think it was three years old when I got it and marked my move into larger vehicles. My first full-size coach was a 45-seat Duple Bedford VAM5.

“My business was originally based at home. Then I rented a garage in Moorgate, Rotherham, but it was very difficult to get in and out of so I moved to a garage in Parkgate.

“The land on which we’re based now had belonged to a coach operator that had gone bust and all that was on it was a garden shed. It cost me less than £2,000 to buy and I was able to get planning permission to build my own garage. I prepared the foundations, dug the pits and laid the concrete. It had a portal frame and concrete pillars. Myself and a bricklayer built the rest. We must have been here 44 years now and the freehold is mine. I don’t owe anybody any money for anything.

“Back in the 1970s we would be out every day on private hire. The steel works and the coal mines were all still open and there were that many pubs because the local communities were still strong. There was one near my new garage called the Royal Standard. It was tiny, but it still had fishing, racing and ladies sections and there were all the outings that were organised for kids as well. It could be seven or eight coaches at a time just from that one tiny pub.

“Every weekend there would be someone’s club job from somewhere that might require 20 to 30 coaches at a time and involve operators as far away as Barnsley and Doncaster. Then there were the children’s outings in the summer organised by the council and days out for the disabled as well. If someone was in a wheelchair, they’d be carried up the steps into the coach. No one minded. It’s how it was.

“We were always at the seaside somewhere and bookings would come in from January onwards for months in advance. We, like other operators, would be fully committed until after the Blackpool Illuminations.

“If I broke down by the side of the road I could guarantee that within a few minutes there would be another coach behind and the driver would be asking if he could help. I remember having a puncture on the M1 motorway near Nottingham. I’d only lifted the flap to get the spare out before two more coaches had pulled up and the drivers were there giving me a hand. Back then, everybody helped everybody. Now, no one bothers.

“The steelworks and pits have long gone. When they pulled down the houses around here, the communities went as well and most of the pubs shut although the Royal Standard is still here. When that happened, all that work we’d been doing disappeared. These days, if we go to the seaside two or three times a year, we would be lucky and bookings are rarely made more than a fortnight in advance. That’s how much our business has changed.”

Venturing abroad

“I’d bought a new Ford R192 Plaxton Panorama Elite at the beginning of 1972, the first year we were to venture abroad,” Stuart recalled. “It came about because the ladies section of a club approached me about visiting the bulb fields at Keukenhof in Holland and I was also asked by the sports teacher of a local catholic school to quote for a football tour of Belgium. The teacher, Dave, was someone I’d grown up with. I’d never been abroad before so before undertaking either, went in my car to make sure I knew where and what I was doing.

“I remember on the Keukenhof trip we were caught in a Force 10 gale on the overnight ferry crossing back to Hull. I was in a room with my wife and four other females and I spent five hours on the floor hugging the toilet. I had three days off work when I got home. I said, that’s it. I’ll do Belgium, but I’ll never go abroad again.

“We went on to tour Europe for more than 40 years and over that time there I’ve been some rough ferry crossings when I’ve been really sick and then had to get into a coach and drive. The finest thing that ever happened was building the Channel Tunnel and I’ve never been on a boat since.

“Dave’s trip was quite uneventful apart from him forgetting his passport. When passports were collected by Belgium immigration at Ostend he chucked a blue book on to the pile and said: ‘If it’s not my passport, it’s my bank book,’ and that’s what it was. We were kept sitting on the docks until after midnight while they debated whether to let him in or send him back to Dover. In the end they decided to let him in but it was 0130hrs before we got to out hotel. The manager didn’t think we were coming and there was no food for us.

“I’ve had several passengers over the years who’ve forgotten passports and I particularly remember one couple who went to Switzerland with us. When we reached Dover they came down to the front of the coach and explained they had a problem. I said I could leave them there or they could risk it, but they needed to understand they could be sent back at any time. They decided to risk it. This was back in the days when there was a border between every country.

“When we got to Switzerland the couple sat on the back seat of the coach in the corner and we piled luggage down the aisle. Wayne who must have been around 12 at the time was with us and laid across the front seat pretending to be ill. A man with a machine gun got on and asked for passports. We said Wayne wasn’t very well. He said: ‘Okay,’ stamped my waybill which was required then, and off we went. We had 10 days in Switzerland and what proved to be the hardest part was getting back into the UK.

“Quite a different experience was spending 12 days behind the Iron Curtain when we went to Prague in what was then Czechoslovakia for the European Athletics Championships. It took us a day to get into the country and another to get out, looking down the barrel of a machine gun the whole time. Everything was taken out of the coach and then it was taken apart – the lockers, the floor, everything.

“Within two hours of crossing the border I was stopped and fined for jumping a red light. I hadn’t of course. Everyone who was British at the campsite we were staying at had been fined for something, they were that desperate for Western currency.

“On crossing the border, we had all been required to change a certain amount of money, but once we’d done that, there was nothing to spend it on. I used to ring home for half an hour to an hour at a time to try and use it up.

“We were double-crewed on that trip and I and my fellow driver went out for a meal one evening and had steak that cost about £2. We were seated with six Russian girls who spent the whole time telling us how decadent the West was. One was training to be a dentist. She said that once she qualified she would be paid the same as a street cleaner.”

Chosen holidays

“We started offering our own holiday programme following coach deregulation in 1980,” said Stuart. “I had virtually an all-Ford fleet by then that included one with steel-framed Caetano bodywork, but also operated an ex Black & White AEC Reliance that was a superb vehicle. At that time Moseley had a dealership in Bradford and I went there with a view to swapping either the AEC or the Caetano.

“When I arrived, the managing director and all the salesmen were looking at the first of a new type of coach – an integral Bova Europa. It was very different to what any of us had seen before and I was invited to drive it. I was so impressed, I said I wanted one, which turned out to be the sixth to be ordered and I think was the third or fourth to be delivered.

“Moseley’s flew me to the factory. I don’t like flying, but I was sitting next to the pilot and thought to myself, if anything happens, at least I would be able to have a go at getting us back on the ground. When I was at the factory, they couldn’t do enough for me.

“Later I was in Ostend on a seven-day tour, but was having doubts as to how I’d asked the coach to be painted. Myself and the driver who was with me drove to the factory. We arrived unannounced, but it was still the managing director who received us. It just so happened that my coach was masked up ready to go into the paint booth. I explained I was having doubts about what I wanted so the painter said he would do it the way he thought best while the MD took us for lunch. When he’d finished it looked stunning.

“The Europa was a fabulous coach. With hindsight, we should have had a toilet fitted, but instead it was 53 seats with a servery that I had especially designed and built. We prided ourselves on our onboard catering and being able to serve hot drinks. Later I installed a generator in the engine bay so we would have 240v power and could serve hot food.

“When the Europa was six years old I ordered a fully-specified Futura, which was £85,000 brand new. I kept that for 27 years and it’s now preserved in my colours. During that time we must have rebuilt the framework at least twice, but other than having to replace a gasket that used to leak oil, I never had to lay a spanner on the DAF engine.

“My problem was I kept vehicles for too long and the Futura turned out to be the last coach I ever bought new. The only reason why I didn’t buy something like a Volvo B10M was because I didn’t want the engine in the middle. I’d worked on the AEC through a hole in the floor and upside down. For me the only place for the engine was at the back.

“I organised all our own tours myself and it was hard work. It was back in the days of making phone calls and confirming everything by letter. However, continental hotels never took a deposit which for a small operator like me was a big help. Otherwise it could have added up to a lot of money. Also, if you had to cancel, you weren’t billed.

“In the early days we always used to go out in the car and physically check a hotel before booking. Once we found a good one in a good location, we would tend to stick with it. There were a lot of people who would book with us year after year and when we published our brochure, there were those that would have a list of departures they wanted. I used to say to them: ‘Do you not get fed up of listening to me spouting the same stuff about the same places?’ ‘No, we love it,’ they would say.

“Each year would start with short breaks to places like Keukenhof, Paris and Brussels. The first longer continental holiday was always the spring bank holiday. Then we would do another one in July, maybe one in September. We would then go back to weekends in October and November, in later years incorporating visits to Christmas markets. In between all of that there would be a similar number of UK trips.

“When we were in Switzerland on our mountain pass tour we used to have a picnic at the top of the Susten Pass. The hotel we stayed at used to buy and cook chicken especially for us and we would serve it with salad and free wine. The wine glasses were transported from Rotherham in special compartmentalised boxes loaded in the coach.

“It didn’t matter where we went, we always used decent hotels that served good food and we never charged extra for excursions. Everything was included. If you booked with us, all you needed was your spending money.

“I remember one woman who made a point of telling me how expensive we were. She said that she could go with someone else for £100 less. I never thought more about it. Later that year we had a coach standing in the town centre promoting next year’s holidays. We did that every year because that’s how we advertised. Newspaper advertising was so expensive. Anyway, the same woman came up to me again and said she’d come to apologise. ‘I went with that other company and I finished up spending far more money than I would have spent if I’d gone with you,’ she said. The following year she booked with us.

“Not only did I organise all the tours, I used to drive all of them as well. None were double-manned. It used to be myself and my wife Sue who looked after all the passengers and the catering. She was wonderful at doing that. Our success was really down to her and how she dealt with people.

“There was a time I would organise London theatre weekends. I would ring a theatre and say ‘I want 50 tickets for a show.’ They would say ‘no problem. What dates do you want?’ I would say ‘I want the best seats.’ They would say ‘no problem.’ They would then tell me how much they were going to be and I would have a month to sell the trip. That period of grace then went down to a fortnight. Then I had to pay for the tickets immediately by credit card and if I wanted to return any I’d not sold, that wouldn’t be possible so we stopped doing them.

“In fact, I’ve not been to London since they started monitoring emissions and I used to do a lot of work there. I was happy to go other places instead. The problem now is all the major cities are looking at introducing low emission zones. Like a lot of operators, I feel it’s really more about finding another way to take money off us.”

Different times

“As I’ve already outlined, a lot has changed over the years,” said Stuart. “When they pulled down what they laughingly called slums round here, what they built in their place are more slum-like now than anything that went before. They were descent people who lived in those houses that were demolished. The big council estates that were created split up communities and a lot of our traditional private hire went as a result, but what finally killed off our holiday programme eight years ago was the shear bureaucracy I was dealing with.

“When I first started touring abroad I had a briefcase in which I kept all the maps and documents I would need. When the politicians said we should join the Common Market, I thought it was a great idea and voted for it. It did away with having to stop at every border, but since we joined there has been an ever growing pile of forms and documents that we needed to carry. By the time I stopped, I needed two cases to carry it all in. There were 40 different pieces of paper and if I missed having just one of them, it could result in a big fine.

“When there was an opportunity to vote for Brexit, I was one of the first in the queue who voted for it because I’d had enough. I think what they want to create is a United States of Europe and I don’t want that. I’m English. I used to have the Union Jack on the side of my vehicles, but now it’s the George Cross.

“Packing up the holiday programme still left me with whatever private hire we could get and my four school services and, to be honest, financially I was better off, quite apart from the workload being greatly reduced.

“There are some private hire customers who travel with us, not because of what we charge, but because of who we are, but sadly there aren’t enough of them. Price continues to be king, but as I got older, I was no longer prepared to work until the early hours of the morning. I won’t do stag and hen nights or football hires for example – work I would once have happily done. I concluded, if I couldn’t earn a living at my time of life without doing that sort of work, I wasn’t interested.

“My daughter Samantha organises the wages while Wayne will help in the garage if I ask him, but otherwise I do everything myself. I like to be in control and I think that’s true for a lot of small family businesses. My fear is that in a few years’ time, firms like mine won’t exist because of the amount of rules and regulations we have to contend with and because of the complexity of modern vehicles.

“With such antisocial hours, who wants to work in this industry now anyway? Someone could ring at 2200hrs because they want a quote or there’s a problem to sort out. You’re always on call and I don’t think young people want that. Sadly, there are not enough of them who want to come into the job. It’s a different world.

“There have always been a lot of coach operators in this area. There must have been at least 30 in and around Rotherham and Sheffield back in the 1970s. Some good firms, but there were also a lot who were prepared to work for nothing. They would go bust, but there was always others prepared to take their place.

“There were operators I was happy to work with and even today there are four of five mainly based in Sheffield – like-minded, decent people running decent vehicles. Some are really good friends who I’ve known all the time I’ve been in the industry and we go out socially. We wouldn’t dream of taking work off each other.

“What I haven’t decided is whether I should try selling the business as a going concern. If I did, it would be without my name. It took me 50 years to build my reputation and I’m not having someone else living off that.

“There have been some wonderful times over the past half century and I’ve met some really great people. I could never have been someone able to sit in an office dressed up, doing quotes and doling out work to others all day. I know everything there is to know about my vehicles and I still polish them. It’s just how it is and I’ll miss it.”
[/wlm_ismember]