School Partners with Tyrers for Coach Routes
Wednesday, 01 July 2020
After twenty seven very successful years, Bolton School’s ‘in-house’ coach service, BSS Coaches, is ceasing to trade. In recent years it has run almost half of the school’s coach routes for pupils and operated as a successful business, providing coach services to other schools, local clubs and groups as well as day trips across the region and trips abroad. During this time the profit generated from transport has helped BSSL make sizeable donations to the School’s bursary fund which enables children from families who would otherwise not be able to afford the school fees to access the education we offer. New legislation which comes into effect from 1 August, stipulates that coaches and buses making multiple stops on a route must have disabled access. Unfortunately, the School’s coaches do not comply with this legislation and cannot be effectively adapted for disabled access. The transport business cannot operate profitably from external commercial work alone and, as a consequence, will cease running. However BSSL’s other trade from Leisure, Events, Patterdale Hall and uniform sales will continue as will BSSL’s contribution to the bursary fund from these activities.
From September, the School will enter into a partnership with Tyrers Coaches to deliver the twenty school coach routes and transportation for many of the school’s other activities will also be provided by third parties. All the BSS Coach Drivers will be given the opportunity to transfer to Tyrers where their conditions of employment will be protected.
Clerk and Treasurer at the School, Cathy Fox, said: “It is with great sadness that we see the demise of BSS Coaches and I would like to offer a personal thank you to David Horrocks, the School’s Transport Manager, who has been with the company for 27 years, starting as a driver and successfully building the business as manager since 2004.”
Bolton School and Tyrers will work in partnership to ensure the coach service continues to be delivered safely and effectively and that school travel guidelines relating to the Covid-19 situation are adhered to. All Tyrers’ drivers operating the school routes will undergo the same stringent safeguarding checks and training as the School’s used to and, in many cases, they will be the same drivers.
The operational and contractual arrangements between School and parents of pupils travelling will not change; however some routes and stop have been altered slightly. All the information about coach fares, stop times and routes, including online forms to request changes can be found here. Alternatively enquiries may be made by email to the finance office at Billing@boltonschool.org.uk
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