Expansion for local coach company with sights on county crown
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Lincolnshire coach operator A C Williams has announced a fifty per cent expansion with the acquisition of neighbouring Southern Holidays, building on a record year which saw company turnover soar by 40%.
And now, the company’s chairman says they are setting their sights on becoming Lincolnshire’s biggest operator.
Together the merged companies will offer a fleet of nearly 30 vehicles, ranging from executive coaches through to double deckers and wheelchair minibuses and the merger will see the two companies offering a total of 50 holiday departures and over 200 day trips next year, alongside their schools and UK and European commercial contracts.
The entire fleet will be maintained through A C Williams’ own specialist workshop, and the company has invested £500,000 in equipment and vehicles this year alone.
“The joining of these well-respected names will provide all our customers with a bigger choice from our top of the range fleet of vehicles. Corporate customers will have greater flexibility from the bigger fleet and wider range of vehicle capacities, whilst our day trip and holiday travellers will find even more choice in types of trip and new destinations,” said the group’s executive chairman Glen Pratt.
“We want to become Lincolnshire’s best and most trusted coach operator and this expansion makes us well placed for future growth,” added Glen Pratt, who took over the A C Williams business just over twelve months ago, securing 25 local jobs at the time. The combined companies will employ 35 people.
For corporate customers, A C Williams has earned its reputation as a major contractor for schools transport, and also has a wide customer base in commercial contracts and private hire. For day trip and holiday travellers, the benefits will be a huge range, with the Spanish specialists Southern Holidays perfectly complementing the UK and continental itineraries of day trips and holidays offered by A C Williams.
Southern Holidays and the expanded fleet will benefit from future investment and expansion through the strong financial standing of A C Williams, which is owned and led by executive chairman Glen Pratt, a successful fund manager.
Directors Leigh and Rebecca Robbins and all the employees of Southern Holidays will continue in the newly merged group.
The intention is that in due course, A C Williams and Southern, both local family-grown companies, will operate all the merged services from the A C Williams site in Ancaster, with Southern staff transferring to the Ancaster offices from their current Sleaford base.
ENDS
Media enquiries: Please contact Maggie Taylor at Prima PR & Marketing: Tel: 01400 251557
Mob: 0797 3767 602 Email: maggie@primapr.co.uk
Editor’s note: Born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Glen Pratt is currently a Partner with a London-based fund management company, where he is a UK portfolio manager. He joined Fidelity, the world’s biggest investment house, direct from Nottingham University where he read economics, becoming one of their youngest ever fund managers at 25, and was managing a £2bn portfolio of client funds by his early 30s.
A C Williams was established in Ancaster in 1953, as a motor engineer and agricultural machinery repair business. Its first contract was transporting three children from a local farm to Ancaster Primary School. Now the company transports over 600 children every day, as well as providing transport for local football teams, service personnel and academic institutions. It also runs a year-round itinerary of leisure trips and holidays for local people, travelling throughout the UK and Europe. They bring to the merger a fleet of 24 buses, coaches and minibuses ranging from 65-seater executive coaches to specially modified vehicles which offer tables or wheelchair access.
Southern Holidays was established in 1998 with the aim of providing value-for-money Spanish package holidays without the hassle of airports. headed by Rebecca and Leigh Robbins it offers a wide choice of hotels and resort destinations from pick up points across the East Midlands, East Anglia and the South East.
Lincolnshire coach company on track to treble holiday turnover
Some coverage of this story: Midlands Business News: bit.ly/WPD6fW Lincolnshire Echo http://bit.ly/T4Ptk0
AC Williams Coaches continues to grow following take-over earlier this year, investing in new coaches and recruiting new staff as it prepares to launch expanded holiday programme
A Lincolnshire coach company is on track to treble its holiday sales following a successful take-over earlier this year.
Under the management of new owner, businessman Glen Pratt, A C Williams Coaches is already reaping the benefits of major investment and increased staffing during the year, with the announcement of more than £100,000 worth of new schools contracts won over the summer. Together with earlier wins, that’s helped boost the total increase in contract work this year to over 35%.
Now, the Ancaster-based company is launching a hugely expanded 2013 holiday and excursions programme, which is designed to secure a bigger chunk of this valuable market, with the company planning to triple the holiday division turnover in the next 12 months.
The company committed £10,000 of investment in the maintenance workshop to ensure the fleet runs at peak potential earlier this year, and has now invested a further £60,000 in new vehicles to cope with the increased demand.
And staff numbers have increased from 25 at the time of take-over to more than 30, with recruitment now underway for another full time marketing position at the Ancaster headquarters.
Owner and executive chairman Glen Pratt, said: “We are exceeding targets across the board and now our sights are set on taking a much bigger share of the local market for UK and European holidays. We’re offering three times as many holiday trips as last year, with many new destinations and many more departure dates and pick-up points.”
He added: “Now we’re on an extremely strong financial footing, we’re attracting many contract customers as well as being able to offer additional benefits to our holiday and day trip customers. That includes a 100% commitment to the brochure price, as I’m personally guaranteeing there will be no fuel or currency surcharges and no credit card charges. It’s a tough time at the moment for everyone, and we want to show how much we value our customers.”
ENDS
www.acwcoaches.co.uk
Media enquiries:
Please contact Maggie Taylor at Prima PR & Marketing:
Tel: 01400 251557 Mob: 0797 3767 602 Email: maggie@primapr.co.uk
Editor’s note:
Born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Glen Pratt is currently a Partner with a London-based fund management company, where he is a UK portfolio manager. He joined Fidelity, the world’s biggest investment house, direct from Nottingham University where he read economics, becoming one of their youngest ever fund managers at 25, and was managing a £2bn portfolio of client funds by his early 30s.
A C Williams was established in Ancaster in 1953, as a motor engineer and agricultural machinery repair business. Its first contract was transporting three children from a local farm to Ancaster Primary School. Now the company transports over 600 children every day. It also runs many leisure trips and holidays for local people, travelling throughout the UK and Europe, as well as providing transport for local football teams, service personnel and academic institutions. A fleet of 22 buses, coaches and minibuses range from a 75-seater Sykliner double decker executive coach to specially modified vehicles which offer tables or wheelchair access.
Staff celebrate as coach company saved
See coverage of this story in the media:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-17426196
http://www.midlandsbusinessnews.co.uk/2012-03/staff-celebrate-as-coach-company-saved.aspx
http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/business/ac-williams-firm-lives-to-fight-another-day-1-3675243
http://www.sleafordstandard.co.uk/news/business/jobs-saved-in-family-coach-firm-buyout-1-3642310
http://www.blmforum.net/en/blm/headline/2722/Jobs-secured-at-AC-Williams--Home-rest.htm
http://www.lincsmag.com/LincsMagnews/1NewsLincs/018_Staff_Celebrate_As_Coach_Company_Saved.html
Jobs secure as long-established Lincolnshire coach and bus operator is saved, with promise of more local jobs to come in future growth plans.
One of Lincolnshire’s best-loved coach companies has been saved.
A private investor has stepped in to secure the future of A C Williams Coaches, in a move which prompted celebrations by the 25 drivers, mechanics and office staff after learning their jobs were safe.
Coach and bus operator A C Williams was established nearly 60 years ago in Ancaster and despite a healthy demand for bookings, its future was threatened following the closure of its sister business in December, the A C Williams Renault car dealership.
Now its future is guaranteed, which is good news for customers who made bookings for future trips and holidays, as deposits will be safe and trips will take place as planned.
The company, which numbers Harlaxton College, The Red Arrows and football clubs Lincoln City and Boston United among its regular coach customers, has received a cash and management injection from investor Glen Pratt, who wants to save jobs by turning round small family-owned companies. He has plans to build the business through employee profit sharing and the partnership principles which have proved so successful for John Lewis.
As executive chairman of the company, Glen Pratt, age 39, a successful investment fund manager in London, will be keeping not just the A C Williams family name, but the Williams’ family involvement as well, with former directors David Williams and Alison Parker fulfilling non-managerial roles within the company.
The family approach will be expanded further, with financial accountant David Pratt joining his brother Glen on the board as finance director.
The company started out by transporting just three children to school from an outlying farm, but it is now one of the leading providers of school transport in the county, holding major contracts with Lincolnshire County Council, transporting 500 children every day. It also runs a busy schedule of day trips and holidays, and serves many local colleges, sports clubs and businesses including Norbert Dentressangle, formerly Christian Salvesen. The company’s 20-strong coach and bus fleet covers a wide range of transportation solutions, including state of the art executive coaches, double decker school buses, together with specially modified vehicles which offer tables or wheelchair access.
Under the new leadership, the company is set to expand and hopes to create more jobs in the local community in coming years.
Said Glen Pratt: “A C Williams is now fully funded for a long term future and the whole team is very excited at the prospect, with many new plans set to go ahead against the secure backing that’s in place. Those plans will build on the values the company is known for - safety, reliability, comfort and value for money.”
Former managing director David Williams said: “I am delighted that jobs will be saved and that the A C Williams name will continue, in what promises to be a bright future for the company.”
Peter Blair, a partner in the Nottingham office of corporate recovery specialists Begbies Traynor, was appointed joint administrator of A C Williams in December. He said: “We are pleased to have saved jobs and maintained important services in Lincolnshire. We are grateful for the support and tenacity of the A C Williams staff during difficult circumstances, and that we were able to retain those staff. We wish the new venture every success for the future.”
Glen Pratt added: “It’s a company with a strong heart and has been picking up new work even during the administration period, because people want to deal with A C Williams. There’s a real sense of goodwill. The entire team is looking forward to serving the people of Lincolnshire. ”
ENDS
Media enquiries:
Please contact Maggie Taylor at Prima PR & Marketing:
Tel: 01400 251557 Mob: 0797 3767 602 Email: maggie@primapr.co.uk
Editor’s note:
Born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Glen Pratt is currently a Partner with a London-based fund management company, where he is a UK portfolio manager. He joined Fidelity, the world’s biggest investment house, direct from Nottingham University where he read economics, becoming one of their youngest ever fund managers at 25, and was managing a £2bn portfolio of client funds by his early 30s.
A C Williams was established in Ancaster in 1953, as a motor engineer and agricultural machinery repair business. Its first contract was transporting three children from a local farm to Ancaster Primary School. Now the company transports 500 children every day. It also runs many leisure trips and holidays for local people, travelling throughout the UK and Europe, as well as providing transport for local football teams, service personnel and academic institutions. A fleet of 20 buses, coaches and minibuses range from a 75-seater Sykliner double decker executive coach to specially modified vehicles which offer tables or wheelchair access.