John Harvey A Champion Tour Driver

Alan Payling meets John Harvey of Leons Holidays, a tour driver at the top of his game who has been employed by some of the UK’s leading operators, and has driven some of the finest coaches throughout Europe and Scandinavia

It’s a pretty impressive sight when one of Leons’ Neoplan Starliners arrives at a hotel in Torquay. The coach spins in the road ready to reverse into the grounds of the hotel. Momentarily, the Starliner shows a broadside to vehicles in both lines of traffic, whose drivers can only sit and admire the flash of metallic red bodywork, the sharply contrasting sunny yellow lettering, the dazzling mirror glint of the wheels, the glossy black tyres and the light flashing off the windows. On a sunny day, it’s a real vision that stops the traffic in more ways than one. [wlm_nonmember][…]

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The Leons’ driver then glides the coach in reverse and, with silky and fluid skill, smoothly manoeuvres the Neoplan neatly and accurately into the grounds of the hotel. When tour driver John Harvey steps down from his Starliner you realise that you’re meeting a driver at the top of his game – not just because of his driving skill, but also because of his appearance and manner.

John is one of those drivers that can get up at the crack of dawn, check his coach over, run around the Stafford area doing his pick-ups, load the cases, drive 300 miles, look after his passengers en route, unload the luggage at the hotel, sort out any problems for his group, clean the coach inside and out and he will still look immaculately dressed – with not a hair out place.

Mind you, taming his waning mane is not one of John’s more onerous duties; he is more worried about keeping a smile on his face despite a long day, and is always to be found sharing his warm and friendly personality with everyone he comes in contact with.

As for his coach, well, my word is that impressive. It always looks like it has just come out of the showroom at Neoplan. And let’s not forget the all-important passengers – John doesn’t. Upon his return from an excursion to Exeter, I was impressed to hear John thanking members of his group for going out with him. It’s a class act and was the reason I wanted to find out more about the man who sits proudly and professionally behind the wheel of the Starliner he drives across Europe.

Meant to be

It’s no wonder John became a professional tour driver – it’s in his blood. John was born in Chelmsford, Essex and grew up in Birchanger next to the then-very small Stansted Airport. When John was born, his parents, Brian and Bridget, were already operating Crusader Coaches in the village.

Most of the time, John’s parents were running up to 10 vehicles on private hire, contract work and picking up and looking after incoming German language students. John recalls that from the age of eight, he got involved in the business. One memory he has is of him riding on the engine cover of an AEC Regent double decker, PFN 868, with his father at the wheel. He also started working in the yard fuelling, washing and cleaning the family’s vehicles. So, if you have ever wondered where John’s enthusiasm for having one of the smartest coaches on the road came from, look no further than his early days.

John took his PSV test in 1983 in an AEC 760 Van Hool Aragon in Chelmsford. He had of course been taught to drive by his father, Brian. John recalls that it was a bit ‘tense’ while he was being taught by his father, proving the old maxim about not being taught to drive by someone close to you.

During the test, John was asked to perform a gear exercise showing he could use all the gears. He had to tell the examiner that he couldn’t get into top gear until he was doing 65 mph. Although the examiner wondered why he’d brought that particular vehicle, he gave John the benefit of the doubt and he was away.

Despite having a restricted licence due to being only 18 when he passed his test, John started work on bingo, works and schools contracts within a radius of 30 miles of the firm’s base. In addition to driving, Brian was keen on John becoming an apprentice mechanic. This was back in the day when fathers had a big say and influence on what their children did for a living.

Brian arranged for John to serve his apprenticeship at Biss Brothers of Bishops Stortford, while also attending Harlow Technical College for three years. Brian wanted John to learn mechanical skills so that he had enough knowledge to get himself out of trouble and get himself home if there was a problem with his vehicle. Try that nowadays.

In 1986, just after he turned 21, John’s parents split up and the family firm closed. The coaches were sold and the majority of the work went to Biss Brothers along with John as a driver. This was always John’s preferred career choice. He was soon thrown right into the deep end with continental work. For two years, John was mainly covering tours of Malaysian groups that flew into Heathrow. He would provide a tour of London before heading off across the Channel, taking in Paris, Engelberg, Cologne and Amsterdam, returning via the Olau Line ferry from Vlissingen to Sheerness.

What John recalls about those groups is that he never ended the tour with the same number of people on board that he started with. It wasn’t that his passengers didn’t like him, it was just that they fancied a new life in one of the places that the tour visited. In other words, they didn’t want to go back to Malaysia. It certainly played havoc with John’s gratuities, that’s for sure.

Sadly, before John’s passengers became illegal immigrants, they didn’t leave a tip. All was not lost however, as he was a willing learner. When he dropped his passengers off in places like Paris, he recalled some sound advice from his father to go and drive round to get to know the place, even if it meant getting lost, which he did a few times. It was good advice. So, if you ever see John riding round in an empty coach then you’ll know he’s doing his version of the coach driver’s knowledge.

Making a name for himself

In 1988, John received a call from Dick Sworder from Sworders Coaches of Walkern near Stevenage. John was about to be head hunted – and not for the first time in his career.

Dick invited John to go and work for him, initially covering private hire work. The work that Sworders’ covered that was of particular interest to John were the football team contracts. At the time, Sworders was the firm that covered a lot of the work transporting London’s football teams. This included Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Spurs and QPR.

As John is an ‘Addics’ supporter, he was delighted to be allocated to drive Charlton Athletic’s team coach for the 1988/89 season, when they were in the old First Division. The highlight of his season, if you’re not a Liverpool supporter that is, was the trip he had to make behind the wheel of the Arsenal team coach to Anfield on Friday, 26 May 1989.

The regular Gunners driver couldn’t cover the job, so John had to head north. For everyone except Liverpool fans (who will remember that game all too well) this was the last game of the season that was to decide not only the First Division League Championship, but whether Liverpool won the double. Arsenal needed two goals to win.

With Alan Smith getting the opening goal, it was the Michael Thomas injury time winner that took the Championship trophy back to Highbury on John’s coach and denied Liverpool the double. I bet there are a few Liverpool fans wondering why John didn’t have a mechanical that he couldn’t fix en route to Anfield that day.

From 1990 to 1998, John broadened his experience while working for, amongst others, the well-known and respected Cyril Kenzie of Kenzies Coaches of Shepreth near Royston, carrying incoming tourists from America.

John didn’t drift off while he was doing this work like many drivers when he had a guide on board. Instead, he listened carefully to the many tour managers he had on his coach and the information they provided about the many places they visited, learning a lot that he still uses for the benefit of his passengers today.

In 1998, John’s career took off in a different direction, with the sky really being the limit. An airline pilot of John’s acquaintance asked him if he would like to relocate to Eindhoven in Holland where BASE Airlines, a franchise of BA, was based.

The job that John was offered was Ground Operations Manager, tasked with re-organising the ground operations department. This included flight planning, crew planning, aircraft rostering for flights, maintenance and dealing with the handling agents at the airports that the airline flew to. In late 2000, the airline closed its doors and John returned to England, where Cyril Kenzie offered him work until he decided on his next steps.

A turning point

In 2001, John took Cyril Kenzie’s Volvo Van Hool B9 to the UK Coach Rally at Brighton, where he won the award for best five-year-old vehicle. With John’s vehicle maintenance skills, is anyone surprised to hear that?

However, attending the rally was to be a turning point in John’s career. Being the fastidious soul that he is, in order for the Michelin logo on the coach’s tyres to be at the top of the wheel to catch the eye of the judges, he jacked up the coach and turned the wheel to get it just so.

It was while he was under the Van Hool that he heard a man with a broad Midlands accent say: “All right, young John? One of these days you’re going to come and drive one of my coaches.” The voice belonged to Dave Parry, Managing Director at Parrys International of Cheslyn Hay, near Cannock. John already knew Dave via a social occasion where he had been introduced by a friend of both John and Dave, Roger Middleton of Middletons Tours of Rugeley, Staffordshire.

A few months later, John started working for Dave Parry and was with him over the next nine years, a position that John remembers with great affection. Well, most of the time.

I have heard along the line that Dave Parry is a hard task master to work for. John nodded his head when I said that. However, John would be the first to admit that the Parrys’ approach is in pursuit of excellence. John would also say that what he learned at Parrys has stayed with him ever since, and he is a much better tour driver because of what he took on board. “I owe an awful lot to that man,” he said.

It’s not just a professional debt that John owes to Dave Parry – it’s personal. John was quite emotional when he recalled the passing of his father, Brian, in Spain during the summer of 2011.

John was on a Parrys tour coming back from Tuscany when he was told the sad news about his father. He spoke to Dave Parry, and he recalls that he couldn’t have been more helpful or supportive throughout that difficult time. Dave offered to send out another driver, but John said that he would see his tour through to the end (which he did).

When John got back to England and to the interchange, there was a relief driver to drop off his passengers. John then went home to try and deal with his father’s affairs. Due to the complex legalities of repatriating his father’s ashes to the UK, John decided to keep working during that period. However, he had just started a tour to Germany’s Rüdesheim am Rhein when the legalities were resolved – and he could go and collect his father’s ashes.

Dave Parry himself flew out to Germany to take over the tour, having arranged a flight for John from Hahn in Germany to Malaga where a hire car was waiting. Dave had also arranged another flight from Malaga back to Birmingham for John. In that respect, John thinks of Dave Parry with great affection and will never forget how he supported him at a very difficult time.

Fond memories

Professionally, John was given some exciting opportunities while with Dave Parry. He was allowed to carry the Parrys flag on trailblazing tours to Norway, Poland and Dubrovnik for example – destinations that Parrys had not previously visited. While John did the first tours to Norway and Poland blind, he did carry out a recce to Dubrovnik. John also has fond, though somewhat blurred, memories of a recce that he did with Dave Parry himself to Belfast. While they were there, they found out what the craic is all about.

John recalls that the commitment to excellence that is the Parrys brand was unrelenting. Attention to detail was the company’s watchword and was always expected, every minute of every day. If anyone let the standard slip, they would know about it in no uncertain terms. However, the company ethos was shared amongst drivers, with John passing on his knowledge to well-known drivers like Tony McDermott – who was with Parrys for a few years – and more recent recruits like Ashleigh Dace.

Ashleigh started with Parrys as a garage lad and graduated to driving one of their Van Hool Astrons, thanks in part to John’s tuition. In that respect, Parrys show drivers what is required, and then expect them to maintain the required standard – rather than throwing them in at the deep end and having a go at them if they don’t pass muster.

On Friday, 26 October 2012 John got married – he remembered the date, Nicky! The following day, Saturday 27, he then went to Calella on the Costa Brava in Spain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for a honeymoon – it was driving a Parrys tour. Nicky stayed in at home in Wombourne near Wolverhampton. She wasn’t impressed. But, such is a tour driver’s life.

However, at this time John started to think about his home life and the conflict with back-to-back European tours with Parrys. In 2013 he attended the UK Coach Rally, this time with a Parrys Neoplan Starliner, achieving a double of his own when he took home the Coach of The Year award. This was something of a swansong for his career with Parrys. He decided to put his home life first and looked around for something a bit more marriage friendly.

A change of pace

With a small inheritance from his father, John bought a Mercedes-Benz Viano people carrier and set up J&H Chauffeur Services. He became involved with carrying out work for an agent providing corporate work for the English Football Association. His work involved transporting professional football players, FA staff and referees to football matches across England. Unfortunately, John can’t tell us who he carried. His lips are sealed by a confidentiality agreement he signed.

This enterprise overlapped with time at Harris Coaches of Bromsgrove where he drove a former Parry’s Neoplan Cityliner. He speaks well of John and Steve Harris because of their thorough – and that’s an understatement according to John – maintenance regime.

In 2015 John joined Leons Holidays of Stafford, which is under the ownership of Robert and Andrew Douglas. He was proud to be able to join their operation because of the high standards they set and the levels of investment – not just in vehicles like the Starliner that John drives – but in the whole operation.

John was initially covering their work as and when while running his own business. When he wound up his own business this year he went full-time for Leons. This was a good fit for both himself and Leons, and not just because of the Monday to Friday hours that he generally works. Because of the sheer range of work Leons carry out, having John on board meant that the company had a driver who could cover any of their work. This includes holidays in the UK and Europe, schools, football supporters and, of increasing importance to the company, cruise ship work. This sees him cruising down to Southampton on a regular basis taking passengers and their luggage to and from their holidays afloat.

John has also been getting some valuable back office experience with the Leons school holiday subsidiary, Dragons International. This involves John putting to good use his knowledge and experience with the school tours that Dragons International provides throughout Europe.

In all, John’s career has been that of a high flyer, setting exacting standards for himself and his fellow drivers. There can’t be many drivers who wouldn’t want to sit behind the wheel of his gleaming Starliner. However, John works extremely hard to maintain such high standards. It doesn’t come easy. But even high flyers sometimes come down to earth with a bump.

No laughing matter

Normally, it’s the passengers that find themselves visiting local hospitals as part of their coach holiday. Not always, though. John was on a five-day Monday to Friday tour in Sidmouth with a private group in February 2017. They were due to go out on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a free day on Thursday.

However, when John arrived at the hotel with his coach on Wednesday morning, the group organiser asked him – because the weather was poor – if they could go out on Thursday instead. John agreed and took the coach back to Sidmouth’s Manor Road coach park where he decided to give it a clean.

Of course, when John wants to give his Starliner a clean he doesn’t just give it a quick wash and brush up. Oh no. Only spit and polish will do for John. That means he has to get up on his ladder. This was, as they say, to be his downfall. That’s right, John had nearly finished putting the gleam on his coach when he came crashing down to earth with a big and very painful bump. Not just a bump, but a painful crack – or three – as he crash-landed. There was only one thing for it: dial 999.

An ambulance was soon with him and, with blue lights flashing, John was conveyed to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital in nearby(ish) Exeter. An X-ray revealed that like the good coach driver he is, John had split his fractured arm into three breaks.

Funnily enough, John had also fractured his humerus – which in the circumstances was no laughing matter. It wasn’t all bad news for John though. As he was in agony, he was given morphine for pain relief, which he recalls with great fondness. Though it must be said, he doesn’t normally make a habit of using it.

Due to the nature of his injuries, his arm was strapped up across his chest and he was discharged, alone, on to the streets of Exeter. As the South Western Ambulance Service only provides one-way tickets, John had to return from Exeter to the hotel in Sidmouth in a taxi. Ouch! I wasn’t quite sure which hurt him more – breaking his arm or having to pay for the taxi.

By the time John returned to Sidmouth it was about 1700hrs, and he arrived back at the hotel to be greeted in the hotel’s reception by none other than the group organiser we met earlier. She was very sympathetic of John’s plight and reassured him of her goodwill by saying ‘What a plonker’. John then outlined that he had made arrangements for the coach to be taken over by another driver for the following day’s outing and the journey home.

John’s fellow drivers were also distraught to hear about his accident. Two drivers were sent from Stafford: Graham Wood to take over the coach and Mark Cooper to take John home. Graham had to be in Sidmouth for 0900hrs to take John’s group out, so they were both really upset about John’s accident when they had to set off from Stafford at 0400hrs in the morning.

John then had to have a six-week break, during which he decided not to clean the windows at home. You know, lightning and all that. Why tempt fate? He has now made a full recovery and has equipped himself with some sturdier steps and extensive accident insurance. Well, you can’t be too careful, can you? As John now says: “Coach driving? It’s as easy as falling off a ladder.” As ever, he speaks with the voice of experience.

It was a pleasure to talk to John. A more likeable and down-to-earth driver it would be hard to find, someone who doesn’t have a bad word for anyone – except for seagulls. To prepare for the coach to be photographed, John had applied the usual spit and polish so it gleamed to showroom perfection.

But the seagulls of Devon just couldn’t resist the temptation, and John was not only furious but actually apologetic about the fact that his coach had been strafed. So, if you ever come across any seagull-resistant polish, let John know – he will be keen to buy quite a lot! Shine on, John, shine on.

CBW would like to thank Leons for allowing John to drive his Starliner around Torquay so we could take the photographs that accompany this article.

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