Two coach operators took to social media last week to highlight the plight of hundreds of coach operators that have vehicles parked up due to having no work at the moment. David Jeakins of Jeakins Coach Travel, which also owns Lianne Coaches, wrote: “Our industry has been decimated in just a few weeks. Jeakins and Lianne only have one hire this week that’s not a school contract; if the schools then close most operators will do too.
“Airlines and rail asking for help and we have nothing. A typical coach operator in the UK is family-owned, coaches cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. They are generally secured against the family’s houses and if they go pop now, the houses will be lost and not only will that lead to unemployment and homelessness, but the chances of them restarting are very low.
“Coaches are a vital part of society, you may just not see it on a daily basis, but we are the answer to environmental issues and traffic relief solutions. We move children to and from school, tourists bringing in money, commuters to and from work, we replace the airlines and railways when they’re in need and the list goes on. You’ll miss us when we’re gone.”
evin Mayne of Maynes Coaches designed the artwork and the hashtag to go with the text which has helped build the momentum of the campaign, with many operators changing the company name in the post on their social media pages and getting the hashtag #CoachCrisis known.