Leicestershire-based Nesbit Bros has been in business for 65 years and, as father and son Ian and Joe Foster explain to Andy Izatt, there is real pride in how they go about operating their coaches
The village of Somerby in rural Leicestershire is home to the old established, family-owned operator, Nesbit Bros, and this year the firm is marking the 65th anniversary of when brothers Adam (Ad) and William (Bill) Nesbit and their sister, Isabelle Foster, started operating their first coach.
It’s also a time of transition within the business, with the reins of control being progressively handed over from the second generation of the family, Ian Foster, to his eldest son Joe, the third generation. Both men have a clear view that there’s a right way of operating, taking a traditional approach that has had much to do with the firm’s enduring success over the years.
“The rates work went for at the last local authority e-auction are lower than I was getting 30 years ago,” observed Ian. “I don’t know what my uncle Bill would think about how the job is now. We’re up against firms that go out of business and then just start up again. They don’t have a CPC holder. They just hire someone in. What I do like about e-auctions is that I can watch as the rate drops. I know what my costs are and at a certain price I just walk away.
“There was a time when we could string two or three school runs together. Now we have academies that decide themselves when they start and finish so we can’t do that any more either. That just increases costs for everyone which is crazy. [wlm_nonmember][…]
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“Nesbit Bros started pretty much by accident. In the early 1950s Somerby had quite a good football team and there was always a question over how to get to away games. Ad, Bill and Isabelle bought a 1939 Bedford OB Duple that had been the Vauxhall Motors band bus. When they started, they operated from a different site in the village, but it wasn’t long before they moved to where we are now. That’s when the garage was built from an old aircraft hanger that was transported here from 30 miles away.
“In the early 1970s they bought out A L Ward in Station Road, Oakham. That was followed by Central Coaches of Uppingham, but I would say that everything has been based at Somerby for at least 35 years. With the roads the way they are round here the best thing we ever did was buy an automatic coach wash. We also have a Merridale fuel monitoring system so we know exactly what each of our vehicles is consuming.
“I’m the major shareholder in the business although my brother-in-law, John Townsend, also has some shares. He’s a little bit involved in its running, but principally it’s myself and Joe who manage it. I’m trying to keep out of the way more and more. Joe is finding out what it’s like to be the boss.”
Standardised fleet
With one exception, Nesbit Bros’ 16-strong fleet is entirely Volvo B10M. Like many operators around the country, there continues to be utmost respect at Somerby for a chassis that’s still very highly regarded around the industry. There’s no age limit on the firm’s schools contracts so Ian and Joe have been actively sourcing well maintained Van Hool T9-bodied examples from wherever they can.
“I think Bill was under a bit of pressure when he bought his first Volvo, a B58 from Carlton PSV,” recalled Ian. “He needed a coach in a hurry and it was a former Park’s of Hamilton Duple Dominant that was quite old at the time. Prior to its arrival, his preference had been for DAF, but following the arrival of that Volvo, we’ve never really looked back. I can put any driver behind the wheel of a B10M.
“In the early days we acquired new coaches quite regularly. The first I bought was a 1983 Volvo B10M Duple Dominant IV from Kirkby’s and it was that good I went back and bought a sister vehicle. The only mechanical issues we have with B10Ms are usually air or oil related.
“We bought our first Van Hool T9 B10M from Repton’s Coaches of Bookham and had it up-seated and re-trimmed by Duoflex. We bought two more that were ex Scotland & Bates which came through Moseley in the South. They were both in top condition, but we’ve had them re-trimmed by Duoflex as well. The Brackley-based firm has been doing work for us for years and does an excellent job. Bodywork we do ourselves unless it’s accident damage.
“The red B10M T9 in our fleet came from Andrews in the north of Scotland and I went to Aberdeen to collect it. That was another 49-seater, but we took the toilet out and up-seated it to 53. We’ve spent quite a bit of money on that coach.
“Joe has found the last two we’ve bought on the internet. The first was a 1999 57-seater from Beestons of Hadleigh. What I liked about doing business with them was that they were happy for us to take the coach away there and then because they’d checked and knew we were ok. The other has just come from Silverdale Coaches of Airdrie. It’s a 53-seater with a toilet, but we’ll take that out and probably re-space the seats. It has that many seats because the Royal Class cushions are shorter.
“None of our other coaches have toilets. Four are 57-seaters while the rest seat 53. All have lap or three-point belts. All but four have air-conditioning.
“Our B10Ms are mostly bodied by Van Hool although we do have a pair of Plaxtons which account for two of the 57-seaters. One is the last new coach we bought in 1999. The other was up-seated for us by Plaxton as part of the deal when we bought it. I think five of today’s fleet were new to Shearings.”
Nesbit Bros has always prided itself on maintaining its own vehicles and continues to do so. The complexity of a Van Hool Volvo B12B tri-axle bought some years ago was not welcome and that’s another reason why the fleet has been standardised on B10M.
The exception in the current line-up is a Toyota Optimo, recently acquired from Fowler’s Travel of Holbeach Drove, an operator that Ian has always been happy to work with, not least because of his high regard for proprietor Andrew Fowler. Its acquisition is a new foray into small group travel that was Joe’s idea and the vehicle is already proving its worth.
Said Ian: “In our garage we have two pits, a rolling road and shaker plates – everything we need to maintain our fleet and undertake pre-MOT inspections ourselves. If it needs doing, it gets done. We get MOT test slots wherever we can.
“We used to use the test station at Grantham, but when that closed, we went to Nottingham. That also closed so we used Volvo at Wellingborough, but now we go to Ford & Slater in Corby.”
Focused approach
Nesbit Bros’ primary business is home to school transport. It has 12 contracts that are a mix of commitments for county councils and for local private schools. Much of its private hire work is education related as well, and there are also two groups of foreign students that it regularly carries in the summer.
With the firm a longstanding part of its community, many bookings are often the result of established relationships that go back decades, although the particular faces of customers may change over the years.
There’s no appetite to get involved in providing excursions, undertake local bus work, or tours for other providers, especially abroad, although the firm has got involved in such activities in the past.
“We run to schools in Oakham, Uppingham, Melton Mowbray and Stamford,” said Joe. “The ones to Stamford are quite long and cover most of Rutland. We still have customers that have been with us since the start of the business or maybe date back to when we took over Ward’s and Central Coaches.”
Said Ian: “We’re getting good money for what we’re doing, but it would always be nice to have more work. Often something turns up about this time after the start of the new school year because someone has taken on more than they can handle. That’s when we get a phone call.
“As operators, we’re the ones that take the gamble when we’re pricing work. The cost of fuel is creeping up again and we have little control over what we’re paying for insurance. I’m not going to put a price on proper maintenance, but unfortunately not everyone we deal with sees it like that.
“Much of our work has come through word-of-mouth recommendation, although Joe now has a Facebook page which is reaching a lot of people.
“Whatever the reason, we’ve just had a good summer. In fact it has been a good year generally.
“There’s work out there for all of us at the right rate, but there are still too many that want to undercut on price. That has been the biggest problem for this industry for years.”
Said Joe: “Facebook works really well. I put up pictures of the coaches we buy and that generates a lot of interest. Through Facebook, I think everyone now knows we’re interested in buying good quality T9 B10Ms.”
Said Ian: “All our Van Hool T9s are fitted with Eminox exhaust after-treatment systems, bringing them up to Euro 4, as are three of the Van Hool T8s. If the ULEZ in London is going to require Euro 6 we’ll either not go or unfortunately customers will have to pay. It’s cheaper to pay the charge than buy a new coach.
“To be honest, none of my drivers like going to London. I don’t want to go there either. Since I started driving, Vauxhall Bridge coach park has gone. So has the old one in Warwick Road. Covent Garden as we knew it has gone as well. We’ve just lost coach parking on the Embankment because they wanted a cycle superhighway. It’s not just the problem of finding somewhere to park. It’s the cameras and the fines. Then there are cyclists that want to overtake you on the inside when you’re trying to turn left.
“I think I pay my drivers a good wage – more than most in this area at the moment. We have eight full-time drivers and five part-time. It’s a good crew. There isn’t really a pecking order when it comes to work, but full-timers obviously have priority when it comes to private hire.
“We have one lady driver, Karen Boothe, who is full-time. She’s good. She just gets on with the job. I keep a driver to a coach and she’s driving one of the T9s.
“There are still two drivers here who worked for Ad and Bill – Reg Harris and Roy Gardner. Paul Read in the workshop has been here a long time as well. His dad used to drive for Ad and Bill and I set him on years ago. He works with Dennis Farrow who used to run Farrow Coaches years ago. When it comes to engineering, Dennis can do anything.
“All our coaches are manual gearbox so the first thing I look for when I take someone on is do they have the ability to drive properly? It’s a problem now that people have automatic licences that have been upgraded. They also need to be good with customers and look after their vehicles.
We have all the cleaning materials they might need and washing the exterior isn’t hard because of the automatic wash.”
New generation
“Joe is a qualified mechanic,” Ian continued. “He completed his City and Guilds at City College, Coventry – a three year apprenticeship in transport engineering and maintenance. He’s also halfway through obtaining his transport manager’s CPC. He’s now responsible for much of the day-to-day running of the business, although I’m still here most days. If there’s some bodywork that needs repairing, I’m happy to spend my time in the garage doing that.”
“Dad has been bringing me to the garage since I could crawl,” said Joe. “I always thought I would come into the business and I’ve been involved since I left school in 2005. I went straight into my apprenticeship and also got my PCV licence. I’m usually here from early in the morning so it’s long days, but it doesn’t feel like work because it’s what I’ve know since I was a kid. I do enjoy it.
“On a typical day I’ll drive a school run in the morning. Then I’m in the office sorting rotas, quotes and dealing with drivers. Eileen Tomes works in the office as well, and she’s been here a long time. Before I know it, it will be lunchtime. If there’s job needing doing in the yard or the workshop, I’ll go and do that and then it will be time for schools in the afternoon. After that I’m back in the workshop or the office.
“I’ve put private registration plates on some of the coaches and I designed our new ‘NB’ livery which Stephen Robinson of Oakham-based Signs and Graphx applies in vinyl. It was Wallace Arnold that had the big WA on the side of their vehicles and that’s where I got the idea.
“Dad has bought several coaches that I’ve found on the internet and I’m pleased that I’ve been able to sell a couple of our old ones through my Facebook page. They went to Hereward Coaches of Kimbolton, which bought one and then came back for the other.
“We’ve got our Optimo mini coach now that’s doing two school runs Monday to Friday and some private hire as well. What I would like to get next is a 70-seater, because I think there are separate jobs for everything and it’s important to cover all the bases.
“I’m very proud of our Volvo Van Hool T9s. They’re lovely coaches to drive and are well suited to private hire. We have a good fleet now. The question is in what direction we will go when we can’t obtain them anymore. Of course we’ll adapt and invest in whatever we go for and in its proper maintenance. Diagnostics won’t be an issue, but it will be interesting to see which manufacturer’s product it is.
“I’d like to upgrade the workshop as well. We already have all the equipment, but it would be nice to do little things like having the garage floor painted.
“I’m the third generation in this business and I want to make Dad proud. Highlighting the anniversary was my idea because it’s important that people are reminded that we’ve been here a long time and that we have standards. We value our customers. I won’t have a coach going out looking dirty. It’s our family name on the side and there’s no excuse for it.
“With Nesbit Bros having traded for all those decades, we must be doing something right. What I would like is to see it continue for at least another 65 years.” [/wlm_ismember]
