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Troubled coach holiday company finds new owners

18/01/2012 By Tracy Wilcox Leave a Comment

Troubled coach holiday company from Norfolk, Harrison Holidays, has been bought out by the Australian owned OzBus based in Cambridgeshire. The Kings Lynn based company, which had been operating for 50 years, called in the administrators in November after the company had experienced a challenging period of trading, running up debts in the region of half a million pounds.

OzBus, the new owners of Harrison Holidays, say they were attracted to taking over the failing company for a number reasons, including the firm’s long standing history in the area, and also because OzBus believe Harrison Holidays is a strong brand with a loyal customer base.

The new owners plan to run as many of the scheduled coach hire trips as possible, and also revealed plans to reopen Harrison Holiday’s shop on Kings Lynn high street. OzBus say they are confident they can breathe new life into the company, and take the coach hire company forward. All customers who’d booked coach holidays with Harrisons will be contacted by OzBus with regard to updates on their booking.

OzBus specialises in epic 3-month long coach hire trips running from the UK to Australia. The company’s main head quarters is based in Brisbane, however the UK base for the Aussie firm is in Cambridgeshire.

Going forward, OzBus plan to continue to offer the UK and European coach holiday tours as Harrison Holidays did, although there are plans to run adventurous OzBus holidays alongside the more traditional coach tours.

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One Norfolk based coach hire company taken over by another

01/09/2011 By Louise Williams Leave a Comment

Norfolk based coach hire firm, Maretts Chariots, will combine with Bluebird Travel from the beginning of September. The takeover by Maretts Chariots will bring the total number of coaches available for hire through the transport operator to 14, with a workforce totalling 21.

The boss at Maretts revealed the deal between the two companies had been on the table for some time, however now all of the elements are finally in place to push forward with the takeover of Bluebird Travel starting from September 1st.

Maretts Chariots will acquire two coaches, 7 staff members and Bluebird Travel’s depot which will become the company’s new administrative head quarters. The two companies will continue to operate under their respective names for the time being, with Bluebird’s services slowly being morphed into the Maretts Chariot brand over the coming months.

The last few years has been a trying time for the coach hire industry as a whole with many smaller companies going out of business with the pressures of the economic downturn and also spiralling fuel costs squeezing profit margins further.

The newly united coach hire company will offer coach travel services for school runs, as well as coach hire for private hire both locally and nationally. Bluebird Travel has been operating as a family run business since the 1980’s, while Maretts Chariots started as a spin off from the family’s field studies centre business in 1997.

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Norwich bus companies join forces to create new day ticket

29/10/2009 By Andrew Morgan 1 Comment

New all day bus pass to be used on majority of Norwich bus services

New all day bus pass to be used on majority of Norwich bus services

A number of Norwich bus companies who operate in the city have joined forces to offer customers a day ticket which can be used across all bus firms. The new scheme will come into force early next year and offers passengers a far more convenient service; prior to the new day pass, passengers could only use their day ticket on coaches of the original company where they’d bought the ticket.

Bosses of the bus companies gathered together to come up with an action plan. One of the company directors said the scheme has been a “long time coming” and is glad that customers will now have a more effective service. The new passes will be accepted on the vast majority of bus company vehicles operating in Norwich including Anglian First, Konectbus, Norfolk Green, Norse, Sanders Coaches and Simonds.

The news has been welcomed by members of Norwich Passenger Action Group who say that the new scheme would be particularly beneficial to commuters and tourists. Ticket prices for a day bus pass will stand at £5.50 for adults, £3.50 for children and a family pass can be purchased for £15.

The passengers are also being encouraged to get involved in the new venture. The Evening News has teamed up with the bus companies and is offering a £500 prize to the person who comes up with the name for the new day bus pass.

 

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