29ACKLAMS COACHES LTD |
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018
media, employing Facebook as a tool
to promote these concerts and our
embedded transport services, and we
now have 36,000 Facebook followers.
We have had to invest heavily in new
IT systems to cope with the influx of
bookings for these events.
The holiday market
We have subsequently diversified into
the holiday market, specialising in
both day trips aimed at large families
and longer holidays directed towards
an older clientele where we pick up
the customer at their front door, take
them for their holiday and deliver
them home again upon the holiday’s
conclusion. This side of the business is
largely advertised through our holiday
brochures rather than social media as
this marketing format better suits the
older clientele. We ask our holiday
customers to fill out a questionnaire
at the end of their vacation, which
provides us with feedback on their
experience. From this we can improve
our provision where possible.
Taking care of the customer and their
needs is a very important aspect of our
company. Over the past five years, since
we began our holiday service, we have
expanded from 12 holidays per year to
150, and we travel to destinations all
over the UK, and even provide transport
to international destinations such as
parts of southern Europe.
We have highly specialised coaches
and one of our vehicles was chosen
to be the famous red “Brexit
Bus” because of the rear lounge
arrangement. This bus has gone on to
do other corporate work since. Most of
our vehicles have been British-built at
the Plaxton factory in Scarborough and
a highly specialised vehicle has recently
been purchased with a rear lounge and
full kitchen facilities.
We employ a team of 80, including our
own maintenance and vehicle cleaning
staff. Most of our staff, including office
staff, can drive our passenger-carrying
vehicles. This ensures they can drive
a vehicle in peak times or upon short
notice. The entire team at Acklams
share a passion for doing a good job;
we have a “can do – will do” approach
and maintain an excellent customer
service record, which is essential in
today’s market.
Acklams in Europe
Despite the widely purported negative
ramifications of the EU referendum,
Icannot see Brexit having a detrimental
effect upon our business, other than
the cost of fuel due to the falling value
of the pound. There has been an eight
pence per litre increase in the price of
fuel in the last six months alone, which
has had a significant impact upon the
costs of our operation.
As we travel across Europe there
are always different laws that must
be considered, and this produces a
significant amount of administrative
work. The toll situation and different
European vehicle specifications also
must be accounted for, which can be
very time consuming. To this end the
Confederation of Passenger Transport
is very good at keeping us informed
and updated about the weekly
variation of vehicle specifications in
Our new high-spec team
coach
We constantly
attract new
business by
offering high-
spec coaches
and well-
trained staff
“
“
Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett
Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles
