As you may have gathered from our news section things have gone very quiet on the tour front although weekends are still holding up weekdays are very up and down, last week we had nobody at all on Tuesday and ended up turning people away on Wednesday so we are going to offer weekday tours next week and see how it goes.
As you can imagine this is not good for our income and so I have looked to diversify a little, long term readers might remember that I used to be in Truck sales before I came into this line of work and I have remained close to the trade and even been known to have a dabble into the odd vehicle for resale, all of which I have managed somehow to make a modest profit on. I got the chance of buying a couple of minibuses last week and so flew over to UK and bought them, they will need a little work to bring them to our standard but I will be posting some pictures on the site soon, one coach is already under offer to a friend but the other will be for sale so watch this space!
I really do miss my days in sales sometimes and I can honestly say I have been privileged to know some of the finest and most genuine people as friends, colleagues and customers during my time in the truck business and I have fond memories of most of time in the trade. The only unhappy memories are from a time when we became increasingly ran by accountants and people from outside the tight knit community of professionals in the business that were looking for quick fixes and had no comprehension of how business was conducted between professional people in many cases as a result of relationships of many years, believe me, trust is not something easy won in the truck trade!
If my little side line is successful I may develop it over the winter as it is something that can run alongside our frantic seasonal business as I guess I still am a trader at heart!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Richards Blog – 16.09.08 – Problems problems!
It has been another stressful few days with our vehicle problems persisting, we finally had Celtic Prides’ electronic problems sorted and were happy to present it for its annual test with no warning lights on and great brakes (mostly replaced) on Wednesday true to form for this season it failed with a fault on a component that we cannot test manually and can only be tested on “shaker plates” at a test station. There has been no sign or wear in the component visually or driving the vehicle but to save a long technical description we are without a bus again as parts will have to be shipped from UK and the job will take a few days so any potential buyers of Celtic Explorer will have to wait for a few weeks as I don’t see us having Pride back this season!
These new test standards are being imposed by the Road Safety Authority and it would be fair to say that we now have the most demanding test inEurope after having probably the most relaxed 5 years ago! The thing is we still have the same or worse road surfaces and components that would have 3 year life in UK or much of Europelast less than 12 months here! I fully endorse the RSA and their aims but feel that the standards they expect are ONLY ACHIEVABLE WITH A DECENT ROAD SURFACE! This situation on top of fuel costs is really making us question how long it is economical to operate in Ireland for a small business like ours.
As if this were not bad enough the RSA seem to operate by instilling a sense of fear into every test station by holding them entirely to book if there is an accident caused by a vehicle failure so I fully understand where the testers are coming from and don’t blame them for being overly zealous in highlighting faults on vehicles but surely there has to be some compromise somewhere!
As usual I’am writing this at Caherconnell and have just done our first day of a diversion due to roadworks in Corofin and I got to thinking of the life of suspension components as I traveled over a section of road that was so bad that I could barely hold the steering at 15 mph – is zero tolerance of wear acceptable in operating conditions like this? If any of you in the trade think not – don’t just sit there - complain to someone as you can be sure this situation can only get worse!
Books – I have gone away from Welsh for the moment and may save the latest for holidays, I bought a great read the other “In Full Flight” by Alan Ruddock which tells the story of Michael O’Leary of Ryanair fame – it really is a riveting read – highly recommended if, like me you are interested in the Ryanair phenomenon.
Music – Went to a gig on Thursday at Smyths in Limerickby J90 – a Cork based 5 piece and whilst it was not my usual fare I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying it. They produce what I could only describe as a massive sound which incorporates many influences from Rap, Hip hop, dub and you name it! They seem to have a good following and I can well see why – they are a huge talent and I think we will hear more of them, they have a website www.j-90.ie so check it out, I’am going to download a couple of tracks and will let you know next week!
These new test standards are being imposed by the Road Safety Authority and it would be fair to say that we now have the most demanding test inEurope after having probably the most relaxed 5 years ago! The thing is we still have the same or worse road surfaces and components that would have 3 year life in UK or much of Europelast less than 12 months here! I fully endorse the RSA and their aims but feel that the standards they expect are ONLY ACHIEVABLE WITH A DECENT ROAD SURFACE! This situation on top of fuel costs is really making us question how long it is economical to operate in Ireland for a small business like ours.
As if this were not bad enough the RSA seem to operate by instilling a sense of fear into every test station by holding them entirely to book if there is an accident caused by a vehicle failure so I fully understand where the testers are coming from and don’t blame them for being overly zealous in highlighting faults on vehicles but surely there has to be some compromise somewhere!
As usual I’am writing this at Caherconnell and have just done our first day of a diversion due to roadworks in Corofin and I got to thinking of the life of suspension components as I traveled over a section of road that was so bad that I could barely hold the steering at 15 mph – is zero tolerance of wear acceptable in operating conditions like this? If any of you in the trade think not – don’t just sit there - complain to someone as you can be sure this situation can only get worse!
Books – I have gone away from Welsh for the moment and may save the latest for holidays, I bought a great read the other “In Full Flight” by Alan Ruddock which tells the story of Michael O’Leary of Ryanair fame – it really is a riveting read – highly recommended if, like me you are interested in the Ryanair phenomenon.
Music – Went to a gig on Thursday at Smyths in Limerickby J90 – a Cork based 5 piece and whilst it was not my usual fare I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying it. They produce what I could only describe as a massive sound which incorporates many influences from Rap, Hip hop, dub and you name it! They seem to have a good following and I can well see why – they are a huge talent and I think we will hear more of them, they have a website www.j-90.ie so check it out, I’am going to download a couple of tracks and will let you know next week!
Richards Blog – 16.09.08 – We have had visitors !
My blog is a little late this week as we have had guests and so I have not had much time to spare. My mother and father have been over from UK for a few days and it has been great to have a bit of company as well as a little help with the day to day running of the company. My father in particular is a great bus washer and he has had plenty of practice as true to form this year the weather was not too great during their stay but they did see the Cliffs in decent weather on Saturday.
It was really tough saying goodbye this morning but not so bad as we will see them soon one our tours start to slow down and we have our first break planned to Birmingham in November to visit a trade show and relax a little. We have added some tours for October but we will be cutting back a little with the last Galwayand Waterford tours running next week, we will still have a fairly full programme though for October.
We will hopefully be back to 3 coaches next week as Celtic Pride is nearly finished and should be back on the road soon after prolonged electronic problems. This means that Celtic Explorer is for sale , we have already had a few enquiries and I’am sure we will find a new owner soon. It really will seem strange as that coach has been my “office” for 6 seasons now and parting will be tough as it is still such a good reliable workhorse.
No books or music this week – too busy entertaining but might go out to a gig on Thursday – Watch this space!
It was really tough saying goodbye this morning but not so bad as we will see them soon one our tours start to slow down and we have our first break planned to Birmingham in November to visit a trade show and relax a little. We have added some tours for October but we will be cutting back a little with the last Galwayand Waterford tours running next week, we will still have a fairly full programme though for October.
We will hopefully be back to 3 coaches next week as Celtic Pride is nearly finished and should be back on the road soon after prolonged electronic problems. This means that Celtic Explorer is for sale , we have already had a few enquiries and I’am sure we will find a new owner soon. It really will seem strange as that coach has been my “office” for 6 seasons now and parting will be tough as it is still such a good reliable workhorse.
No books or music this week – too busy entertaining but might go out to a gig on Thursday – Watch this space!
Richards Blog – 06.09.08 – The Secret revealed !
I wonder if any of you have guessed the reason for our secret visits to UKlately, anyone that knows us probably will – we have bought another coach! Our latest purchase is a 35 seater with a very nice specification that includes full air conditioning meaning we will now have air con on our 3 front line vehicles. The vehicle is currently lying at our favourite coach repairers being given the “Barratt touch” which will include a repaint, panelwork and a full re trim which really will make it as good as new. These really are exciting times and we look forward to taking delivery probably in November.
One part of this story which is causing me sleepless nights is that we are selling Celtic Explorer aka “Perry” which has been a fantastic servant for 6 seasons now and has really become “my bus” I know it seems mad but I have become so attached to it and it really will break my heart to part with such a reliable vehicle. Lately Perry has been clocking up a lot of miles as “Celtic Pride” is still awaiting parts from the UK. So if you want a superb 2 owner low mileage vehicle and think you can offer a good kind home – get in touch. We have been given some thought about a name for our new coach and have decided to have an online competition – so watch this space!
Music – got out to a gig on Thursday at Smyths and enjoyed a great change of scene with a Limerick band called “Free beer (www.freebeer.ie) and had the sort of mad night that thankfully still happens every so often inIreland! They played a mix of trad and modern Irish Music which really entertained us especially some great “Saw Doctors” covers which made us both reminiscent of when we used to go to Saw Doctors gigs in England – oh happy days!
Book – “This is not a drill” by Paul Carter is nearly finished and I’am just starting my latest Irvine Welsh – “Porno” the follow up to trainspotting – not a read for the faint hearted but the start is filthy and captivating – great stuff!!
One part of this story which is causing me sleepless nights is that we are selling Celtic Explorer aka “Perry” which has been a fantastic servant for 6 seasons now and has really become “my bus” I know it seems mad but I have become so attached to it and it really will break my heart to part with such a reliable vehicle. Lately Perry has been clocking up a lot of miles as “Celtic Pride” is still awaiting parts from the UK. So if you want a superb 2 owner low mileage vehicle and think you can offer a good kind home – get in touch. We have been given some thought about a name for our new coach and have decided to have an online competition – so watch this space!
Music – got out to a gig on Thursday at Smyths and enjoyed a great change of scene with a Limerick band called “Free beer (www.freebeer.ie) and had the sort of mad night that thankfully still happens every so often inIreland! They played a mix of trad and modern Irish Music which really entertained us especially some great “Saw Doctors” covers which made us both reminiscent of when we used to go to Saw Doctors gigs in England – oh happy days!
Book – “This is not a drill” by Paul Carter is nearly finished and I’am just starting my latest Irvine Welsh – “Porno” the follow up to trainspotting – not a read for the faint hearted but the start is filthy and captivating – great stuff!!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Richards Blog – 28.08.08 – Its time to steal away !
It has been a very mixed week and loadings this season continue to baffle us! On Sunday I had 25 for the Cliffs and Chris only 4 forCork so it seems the madness is over for the moment! We have been plotting an escape for a while but believe me it is not easy however we are heading over to UK for the day tomorrow but why we are going is to remain a secret! We were secretly hoping that we might have no bookings for today and we might be able to have a night with my parents but we both knew that would never happen and I have ended up with a group for the Cliffs today so dreams of a curry at our favourite Indian restaurant in Sunderland – The Moti Raj and a pint of good English ale will have to stay on hold for a while! We are flying out to Newcastle in the morning and back late tomorrow night to Dublin then driving home before the tour on Saturday – a long day but it will be great to see my folks after the long season and better still they are coming to see us in a couple of weeks so happy days!
It will be great to have Chris with me this time as last time I went toUK a few weeks ago I had to go on my own. The secrecy around these trips will be lifted soon and next week we might have some good news for Barratt Tours and our customers!
I’am often asked if I miss anything about living in England and there really isn’t much but here goes:
1) My friends and family – because we are so busy and tend not to do the same thing as other couples our age it is really hard to make friends mainly as we do not have kids and tend to go away for much of our free time so we lead a fairly solitary life.
2) English Ale – I do really like Irish stout but I crave the kind of variety and character that can only be found in English real ale. It always baffles me how the large breweries have such a stranglehold over the pub trade here and it seems crazy that we have an endless selection of bland euro and US fizzy lagers but virtually no real ale. My favourite UK brews include Greene King Abbot Ale, Batemans XXXB and Caledonian Deuchers but here really are too many to mention!
3) The Sea – When we lived in Sunderland we were a 2 min walk from the promenade and we both really miss evening walks along the seafront.
4) English Indian Food! Now there is a contradiction in terms but we miss the cheap and cheerful cuisine that is so typical of an Enlish Tandoori restaurant! We have some great Indian restaurants here but nothing can beat the 7 pound three course special at our former local!
That really is about it and there are a great many plus points of living in Ireland that can cancel most of those out!
Music – it has been so hectic lately that I’am still catching up with CD s that I got for Christmas but one that needs urgent attention is the Paul Wella compilation that Chris bought me! Looks to have some great stuff from one of my all time favourite artists on it.
Book – “This is not a drill” by Paul Carter is proving to be every bit as good as the last one and I can empathise with a lot that he writes about in particular his father who was in the RAF got me thinking about my late grandfather who I never knew and his RAF career, anyhow the author likes cats and motorbikes so that makes him a decent sort in my book!
It will be great to have Chris with me this time as last time I went toUK a few weeks ago I had to go on my own. The secrecy around these trips will be lifted soon and next week we might have some good news for Barratt Tours and our customers!
I’am often asked if I miss anything about living in England and there really isn’t much but here goes:
1) My friends and family – because we are so busy and tend not to do the same thing as other couples our age it is really hard to make friends mainly as we do not have kids and tend to go away for much of our free time so we lead a fairly solitary life.
2) English Ale – I do really like Irish stout but I crave the kind of variety and character that can only be found in English real ale. It always baffles me how the large breweries have such a stranglehold over the pub trade here and it seems crazy that we have an endless selection of bland euro and US fizzy lagers but virtually no real ale. My favourite UK brews include Greene King Abbot Ale, Batemans XXXB and Caledonian Deuchers but here really are too many to mention!
3) The Sea – When we lived in Sunderland we were a 2 min walk from the promenade and we both really miss evening walks along the seafront.
4) English Indian Food! Now there is a contradiction in terms but we miss the cheap and cheerful cuisine that is so typical of an Enlish Tandoori restaurant! We have some great Indian restaurants here but nothing can beat the 7 pound three course special at our former local!
That really is about it and there are a great many plus points of living in Ireland that can cancel most of those out!
Music – it has been so hectic lately that I’am still catching up with CD s that I got for Christmas but one that needs urgent attention is the Paul Wella compilation that Chris bought me! Looks to have some great stuff from one of my all time favourite artists on it.
Book – “This is not a drill” by Paul Carter is proving to be every bit as good as the last one and I can empathise with a lot that he writes about in particular his father who was in the RAF got me thinking about my late grandfather who I never knew and his RAF career, anyhow the author likes cats and motorbikes so that makes him a decent sort in my book!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Richards Blog – 21.08.08 – Its my turn to get sick !
After writing a while ago about not being able to get sick when Chris was under the weather this week it was my turn! I have had a bit of a Kidney infection which attacked with a vengeance yesterday and I can honestly say I had a hell of a day but made it through and with an early night and a good hot curry I seem to have largely sweated it out and feel much better today. Fortunately my group were very understanding and I guess I really didn’t look well as Chris had some of my passengers today and they were asking about me!
As you know I really enjoy my job but I must say vehicle breakdowns and illness are the two things that make me wish I worked for someone else! We really are very lucky on both counts as we have never canceled a tour for either reason and I can only think of 3 breakdowns in 10 years not bad going really and in every case we were delayed by no more than 30 min but they largely happened at an opportune place and time!
Music – Still searching for an intro into the world of ambient jazz and the more I look the more confused I get – would love to hear your suggestions! Might get to another local gig tonight as I think it might be time to test my Kidneys recovery powers with a few pints (day off tomorrow!)
Book – Really enjoyed the oil rig book and have just started “This is not a drill” by Paul Carter. If it is as good as the last one it will be a great read.
As you know I really enjoy my job but I must say vehicle breakdowns and illness are the two things that make me wish I worked for someone else! We really are very lucky on both counts as we have never canceled a tour for either reason and I can only think of 3 breakdowns in 10 years not bad going really and in every case we were delayed by no more than 30 min but they largely happened at an opportune place and time!
Music – Still searching for an intro into the world of ambient jazz and the more I look the more confused I get – would love to hear your suggestions! Might get to another local gig tonight as I think it might be time to test my Kidneys recovery powers with a few pints (day off tomorrow!)
Book – Really enjoyed the oil rig book and have just started “This is not a drill” by Paul Carter. If it is as good as the last one it will be a great read.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Richards Blog – 11.08.08 – Baton Twirling and Gigging!
There has been a big event taking place in Limerick over the last couple of weeks – The International Baton Twirling Championships – I kid you not! I had no idea that twirling was so popular but I’am delighted that it is as we have enjoyed a bit of extra business as a result, I even sacrificed my Friday off to take a group to the Cliffs and hopefully fun was had by all!
It has been a better if a little exhausting couple of weeks and business has finally been about the level that we expect at this time of year but we do still suddenly get unexpected quiet times. We have been under a little pressure last week as we lost Celtic Pride for a couple of days but Celtic Princess AKA Curt stepped into the breach and performed brilliantly as ever – if only Mercedes could still build coaches as good as that – I may even buy a new one!
Talking of vehicles there may be a change afoot and we may be having another upgrade – so watch this space for details! We always hate parting with our vehicles and I well remember somebody in tears when we delivered Celtic Warrior (Wally) to his new owner! I must admit we do get far too attached to the vehicles but we really do like them and they tend to develop a personality – stupid I know but it is particularly hard when we have to part with a vehicle that has served us well as you never know if its replacement will be as good! That was certainly the case with last years purchase Celtic Pride – it has cost us an awful lot of money to put right but we feel that our investment will be rewarded by a trouble free season next year – here’s hoping!
Music – Went to a great gig on Thursday night at Smyths bar – a local band called The Wilful, I have mentioned them before but again they impressed with a totally mad set that included everything from Christy Moore to Gangster rap via Abba and the theme to Fraggle Rock (don’t worry you need to be a certain age!). A brilliant nights entertainment anyway !
Book – Just started a great read “Don’t tell my mother I work on the rigs” by Paul Carter – a great insight into the mad world of the oil industry and is great reading.
It has been a better if a little exhausting couple of weeks and business has finally been about the level that we expect at this time of year but we do still suddenly get unexpected quiet times. We have been under a little pressure last week as we lost Celtic Pride for a couple of days but Celtic Princess AKA Curt stepped into the breach and performed brilliantly as ever – if only Mercedes could still build coaches as good as that – I may even buy a new one!
Talking of vehicles there may be a change afoot and we may be having another upgrade – so watch this space for details! We always hate parting with our vehicles and I well remember somebody in tears when we delivered Celtic Warrior (Wally) to his new owner! I must admit we do get far too attached to the vehicles but we really do like them and they tend to develop a personality – stupid I know but it is particularly hard when we have to part with a vehicle that has served us well as you never know if its replacement will be as good! That was certainly the case with last years purchase Celtic Pride – it has cost us an awful lot of money to put right but we feel that our investment will be rewarded by a trouble free season next year – here’s hoping!
Music – Went to a great gig on Thursday night at Smyths bar – a local band called The Wilful, I have mentioned them before but again they impressed with a totally mad set that included everything from Christy Moore to Gangster rap via Abba and the theme to Fraggle Rock (don’t worry you need to be a certain age!). A brilliant nights entertainment anyway !
Book – Just started a great read “Don’t tell my mother I work on the rigs” by Paul Carter – a great insight into the mad world of the oil industry and is great reading.
Richards Blog – 14.08.08 – Singing in the rain – The joys of fluid dynamics!
As I write this I have to confess to being totally burned out! I,am in Doolin enjoying lunch but it has been a stressful week, we have had a water leak which defies logic on Celtic Explorer and every night this week has been spent on the roof trying to concoct another remedy. The leak started in a mild way last Sunday but developed into a gusher yesterday on our Galway tour, fortunately none of passengers got wet as we were able to move them to dry seats again, apologies to all concerned we hope it didn’t detract from a lively tour! I think I found the cure last night but guess what? It is totally dry at the moment so I cannot prove it! I have never found a way to replicate Irish rain of the type we have had this week but fingers crossed. Most operators would not tell you things like this but believe me every coach leaks and I know of one very flash model from a major manufacturer that is famous for it! As it happens this coach is also Spanish or Portuguese like ours so maybe the rain in Spain never falls on the coach! I have to say that as usual Chris has been a tower of strength and a source of some good ideas (and some not so good!x) on these late nights in the garage so thanks to her!
Music – Went to another great gig on Thursday night at Smyths bar – a local band called Revenge, they played some really clever mixes and one in particular that stood out was Seven nation army by The White Stripes which had clever use of the rhythm to incorporate a bit of Sweet dreams by The Eurythmics amongst others! The lead singer could really work (and wind up!) the crowd – a great night!
Book – Enjoying don’t tell my mother ….. and just bought another Welsh – guess which one? – tell you next week!
Music – Went to another great gig on Thursday night at Smyths bar – a local band called Revenge, they played some really clever mixes and one in particular that stood out was Seven nation army by The White Stripes which had clever use of the rhythm to incorporate a bit of Sweet dreams by The Eurythmics amongst others! The lead singer could really work (and wind up!) the crowd – a great night!
Book – Enjoying don’t tell my mother ….. and just bought another Welsh – guess which one? – tell you next week!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Richards Blog – 04.08.08 – Good morning – let the madness begin !
I must confess that today is my most hated day to work in the year – August Bank Holiday Monday! I write this during my break at Caherconnoll and things have already started in a small way I have met a coach in a rather awkward spot but managed to get through unscathed and I got stuck at a hotel picking up some passengers by some rather stupid car parking but I managed to maneuver out. I’am now eagerly looking forward to the trip around Black Head and running the gamut of cyclists, hikers, motor homes and hire cars that makes this job so interesting! In the best spirit of blogging I shall write another update at our lunch break to tell you how the busiest day of the year is shaping up.
Well so far so good at Doolin having my diet lunch and the nerves are still intact! Anyone that has been on our tour might remember the section from Ballynalacken Castle to Doolin is very narrow with poor visability so today I was debating whether to go that way and finally took a 5 min diversion via a wider road. I was so pleased I did as I saw a scene below of one of my colleagues from a large tour company firmly stuck against some cars at a very narrow point so a good result missing that! The trip around Back head was very busy with the usual inconsiderate and reckless car driving to contend with but no real delays so off to The Cliffs next !
Now at The Cliffs and other than a slight delay at the car park entrance we are nearly on time so giving people our normal hour and a half break, met a Bus Eireann driver in Doolin who told me it had taken hime over 30 min to get through Lahinch so returning via a different route to miss the traffic – hopefully!
Well I have arrived home about 7.35 with no damage and a few tips so hopefully our clients have appreciated my efforts to show them as much as possible without getting stuck in traffic for hours, I’am delighted the bank holiday is over and after coach cleaning settle in the chair with a large malt and look forward to doing it all again tomorrow!
Music – I was looking for a bit of walking music the other day for my daily walk up the Cliffs and I have decided Blue Monday by New order is near to the ultimate! – even Chris is into it now !
Book – Filth by Irvine Welsh is going great and my final verdict is coming soon!
Well so far so good at Doolin having my diet lunch and the nerves are still intact! Anyone that has been on our tour might remember the section from Ballynalacken Castle to Doolin is very narrow with poor visability so today I was debating whether to go that way and finally took a 5 min diversion via a wider road. I was so pleased I did as I saw a scene below of one of my colleagues from a large tour company firmly stuck against some cars at a very narrow point so a good result missing that! The trip around Back head was very busy with the usual inconsiderate and reckless car driving to contend with but no real delays so off to The Cliffs next !
Now at The Cliffs and other than a slight delay at the car park entrance we are nearly on time so giving people our normal hour and a half break, met a Bus Eireann driver in Doolin who told me it had taken hime over 30 min to get through Lahinch so returning via a different route to miss the traffic – hopefully!
Well I have arrived home about 7.35 with no damage and a few tips so hopefully our clients have appreciated my efforts to show them as much as possible without getting stuck in traffic for hours, I’am delighted the bank holiday is over and after coach cleaning settle in the chair with a large malt and look forward to doing it all again tomorrow!
Music – I was looking for a bit of walking music the other day for my daily walk up the Cliffs and I have decided Blue Monday by New order is near to the ultimate! – even Chris is into it now !
Book – Filth by Irvine Welsh is going great and my final verdict is coming soon!
Richards Blog – 11.08.08 – Baton Twirling and Gigging!
There has been a big event taking place in Limerick over the last couple of weeks – The International Baton Twirling Championships – I kid you not! I had no idea that twirling was so popular but I’am delighted that it is as we have enjoyed a bit of extra business as a result, I even sacrificed my Friday off to take a group to the Cliffs and hopefully fun was had by all!
It has been a better if a little exhausting couple of weeks and business has finally been about the level that we expect at this time of year but we do still suddenly get unexpected quiet times. We have been under a little pressure last week as we lost Celtic Pride for a couple of days but Celtic Princess AKA Curt stepped into the breach and performed brilliantly as ever – if only Mercedes could still build coaches as good as that – I may even buy a new one!
Talking of vehicles there may be a change afoot and we may be having another upgrade – so watch this space for details! We always hate parting with our vehicles and I well remember somebody in tears when we delivered Celtic Warrior (Wally) to his new owner! I must admit we do get far too attached to the vehicles but we really do like them and they tend to develop a personality – stupid I know but it is particularly hard when we have to part with a vehicle that has served us well as you never know if its replacement will be as good! That was certainly the case with last years purchase Celtic Pride – it has cost us an awful lot of money to put right but we feel that our investment will be rewarded by a trouble free season next year – here’s hoping!
Music – Went to a great gig on Thursday night at Smyths bar – a local band called The Wilful, I have mentioned them before but again they impressed with a totally mad set that included everything from Christy Moore to Gangster rap via Abba and the theme to Fraggle Rock (don’t worry you need to be a certain age!). A brilliant nights entertainment anyway !
Book – Just started a great read “Don’t tell my mother I work on the rigs” by Paul Carter – a great insight into the mad world of the oil industry and is great reading.
It has been a better if a little exhausting couple of weeks and business has finally been about the level that we expect at this time of year but we do still suddenly get unexpected quiet times. We have been under a little pressure last week as we lost Celtic Pride for a couple of days but Celtic Princess AKA Curt stepped into the breach and performed brilliantly as ever – if only Mercedes could still build coaches as good as that – I may even buy a new one!
Talking of vehicles there may be a change afoot and we may be having another upgrade – so watch this space for details! We always hate parting with our vehicles and I well remember somebody in tears when we delivered Celtic Warrior (Wally) to his new owner! I must admit we do get far too attached to the vehicles but we really do like them and they tend to develop a personality – stupid I know but it is particularly hard when we have to part with a vehicle that has served us well as you never know if its replacement will be as good! That was certainly the case with last years purchase Celtic Pride – it has cost us an awful lot of money to put right but we feel that our investment will be rewarded by a trouble free season next year – here’s hoping!
Music – Went to a great gig on Thursday night at Smyths bar – a local band called The Wilful, I have mentioned them before but again they impressed with a totally mad set that included everything from Christy Moore to Gangster rap via Abba and the theme to Fraggle Rock (don’t worry you need to be a certain age!). A brilliant nights entertainment anyway !
Book – Just started a great read “Don’t tell my mother I work on the rigs” by Paul Carter – a great insight into the mad world of the oil industry and is great reading.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Richards Blog – 31.07.08 – It had to happen !!
As you can imagine we drive a large number of miles every year and are constantly at the mercy of our Garda Traffic Corps and no matter how careful we are there will always be a day when you will get caught for some traffic offence. I have been extremely lucky as I have been driving professionally for over 20 years and never had a ticket (other than for parking!!) and my license was totally clean.
I was heading back from Dublin in our car last night after a long day over in England on business and at about 11.00 traveling through Littleton Co. Tipperary – a typical sleepy country village and one of the countless ones we still have to pass through thanks to our still woeful infrastructure and whilst I had slowed for the village I didn’t slow enough and got caught by a radar gun. The officer was standing about 200 yards from the de restriction sign which lies at the bottom of a hill at the end of a fast stretch of road and, needless to say I was one of many who got caught so I will soon be Eu80.00 poorer and have 2 penalty points. I do not dispute the facts of the case but for years it has been accepted that traffic does not strictly observe the 50 km speed limit in these places late at night and indeed the Garda NEVER enforced this. I have traveled over that road countless times at all hours and never seen a speed check in a village at night. It would be fair to say that the officer would have caught 90% of vehicles last night – sitting ducks? - I think so!
The Garda are currently suffering from a major image problem in Ireland and antics like this will not help, I think once the respect of the public is lost their already difficult jobs will become impossible. If this all sounds like a rant to be honest it is, if I had got done for doing 130 kph in a 100 limit I would have no argument but I wonder what mine and other tickets issued last night really will achieve in cutting road deaths, I see dangerous inconsiderate and often downright reckless driving every day and people are getting away with it en mass! I’am not sure of the wisdom of writing this but my goodness I do feel better!!!
Music – Still a bit chilled but really enjoying listening to some old school chilled Ibiza stuff like To the River by Groove Armada and la Passonara by the Blow Monkeys. I’am thinking of checking out a bit of ambient jazz too, we were in Lanzarote about 4 years ago and there was a great dj playing that kind of stuff – any suggestions of where to start?
Book – Filth by Irvine Welsh is drawing to a close and I honestly am reading it in small bursts as I don’t want to finish it, it really is that good, If you like this kind of stuff and as I said earlier you are not easily offended you really have to check it out – a masterpiece to my mind!
I was heading back from Dublin in our car last night after a long day over in England on business and at about 11.00 traveling through Littleton Co. Tipperary – a typical sleepy country village and one of the countless ones we still have to pass through thanks to our still woeful infrastructure and whilst I had slowed for the village I didn’t slow enough and got caught by a radar gun. The officer was standing about 200 yards from the de restriction sign which lies at the bottom of a hill at the end of a fast stretch of road and, needless to say I was one of many who got caught so I will soon be Eu80.00 poorer and have 2 penalty points. I do not dispute the facts of the case but for years it has been accepted that traffic does not strictly observe the 50 km speed limit in these places late at night and indeed the Garda NEVER enforced this. I have traveled over that road countless times at all hours and never seen a speed check in a village at night. It would be fair to say that the officer would have caught 90% of vehicles last night – sitting ducks? - I think so!
The Garda are currently suffering from a major image problem in Ireland and antics like this will not help, I think once the respect of the public is lost their already difficult jobs will become impossible. If this all sounds like a rant to be honest it is, if I had got done for doing 130 kph in a 100 limit I would have no argument but I wonder what mine and other tickets issued last night really will achieve in cutting road deaths, I see dangerous inconsiderate and often downright reckless driving every day and people are getting away with it en mass! I’am not sure of the wisdom of writing this but my goodness I do feel better!!!
Music – Still a bit chilled but really enjoying listening to some old school chilled Ibiza stuff like To the River by Groove Armada and la Passonara by the Blow Monkeys. I’am thinking of checking out a bit of ambient jazz too, we were in Lanzarote about 4 years ago and there was a great dj playing that kind of stuff – any suggestions of where to start?
Book – Filth by Irvine Welsh is drawing to a close and I honestly am reading it in small bursts as I don’t want to finish it, it really is that good, If you like this kind of stuff and as I said earlier you are not easily offended you really have to check it out – a masterpiece to my mind!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Richards Blog – 24.07.08 – Fully booked !!
We had a first on Sunday, we think it was the first time in ten years that we had every seat taken – Chris with 24 for the Cliffs and me 37 to Blarney. I originally had 33 bookings but we got 4 people extra at Limerick Tourist Office and we still had a few to pick up at the Bus Station and must admit to breathing a huge sigh of relief when everyone had a seat – no matter how much we check and double check you can still forget a booking somewhere! Everything went to plan with my tour although Chris was slightly delayed at The Cliffs waiting for some of her guests, however in general our stress levels were OK and we made it through the day fairly easily.
Its fair to say at the moment that our stress levels go up with tiredness, as I hope you realise we do love our jobs but at this time we do tend to get a little burned out although we hope our customers never notice. Our biggest problem is a lack of any “me time”, I have a couple of hobbies that I would love to pursue but by the time the bus cleaning is finished at 9.00 every evening all I can think of is sleep! We have always said if we could take even 3 days off mid season it would just re charge the batteries and get us through but unfortunately that is a dream!
So at the moment we are kept going by dreams of Thailand – our favourite holiday destination and we are just about booked up to go for Christmas this year which should be great fun! I cannot wait to eat my xmas dinner in the sun.
I suppose at this point I should mention my hobbies well first of all is my car a 1966 MGBGT which I have owned for 15 years and is well overdue some restoration, my other hobby is model railways- I’am currently building an n gauge model of a subject I grew up with – coal mining and the model will be loosely based on Westoe Colliery in South Shields in England set in the late 70s – I may post a pic or 2 of progress soon!
Music – I seem to be drifting towards chill out music as tiredness gets hold and my current favourite is a little known track called “Easter Song” by A man called Adam – it takes me right back to Koh Larn in Thailand! – check it out and join me!
Book – Filth by Irvine Welsh is going great and is now featuring some dialogue from a tape worm – great lunch time reading !!!
Its fair to say at the moment that our stress levels go up with tiredness, as I hope you realise we do love our jobs but at this time we do tend to get a little burned out although we hope our customers never notice. Our biggest problem is a lack of any “me time”, I have a couple of hobbies that I would love to pursue but by the time the bus cleaning is finished at 9.00 every evening all I can think of is sleep! We have always said if we could take even 3 days off mid season it would just re charge the batteries and get us through but unfortunately that is a dream!
So at the moment we are kept going by dreams of Thailand – our favourite holiday destination and we are just about booked up to go for Christmas this year which should be great fun! I cannot wait to eat my xmas dinner in the sun.
I suppose at this point I should mention my hobbies well first of all is my car a 1966 MGBGT which I have owned for 15 years and is well overdue some restoration, my other hobby is model railways- I’am currently building an n gauge model of a subject I grew up with – coal mining and the model will be loosely based on Westoe Colliery in South Shields in England set in the late 70s – I may post a pic or 2 of progress soon!
Music – I seem to be drifting towards chill out music as tiredness gets hold and my current favourite is a little known track called “Easter Song” by A man called Adam – it takes me right back to Koh Larn in Thailand! – check it out and join me!
Book – Filth by Irvine Welsh is going great and is now featuring some dialogue from a tape worm – great lunch time reading !!!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Richards Blog – 19.07.08 – Up the Banner ! (Me Ar*# !)
Sunday was what could only be said to be a fraught day at Barratt Tours! As usual we were both out on tour me to The Cliffs and Chris to Blarney. Also on Sunday was theMunster hurling final between Clare and Tipperary in Limerick which Tipperary won by the way.
The match turned out about 5.45 so I held back as long as I could and hit Limerick about 6.30, to cut a long story short the next hour was spent in gridlocked traffic and I arrived in Limerick station at 7.40, I never even attempted any further stops as I really just wanted to get out of town by that stage! Chris fared even worse as she was delayed at Buttavent Horse fair for 45 min before she even hitLimerick! She then had to drop passengers off at The Raddisson Hotel right in the thick of the traffic! She finally arrived about 7.30 at which point her nerves were jangled enough for her to give in and sit back and enjoy a coffee before even thinking of heading back!
She left the Raddisson at 8.00 and arrived back in our yard believe it or not at 9.30 – Limerick was still at a standstill 3 hours after the match finished! We both agreed if the next Munster final was in 100 years it would be too soon!
Whilst I would never want to spoil everyone’s enjoyment of the match I do feel that something urgently needs to be done re a traffic plan or park and ride or something as I do not think it is acceptable that Irelands third city should be gridlocked for over 3 hours even on a Sunday making it impossible for the precious few tourists we have to get around let alone people trying to run a business like us!
Music – Retro again this week, still on Tom Robinson and downloaded some tracks from ‘Power in the Darkness” surely a masterwork with “Up against the wall” being my favourite. I had to pay for these as I guess EMI still hold the rights to them but still well worth checking out.
Book – The Masterchefs –Finished now and the ending did not in any way disappoint! Just started “Filth” and it is even more disgusting and slightly depraved – a great read for me in other words, I’am afraid I find myself drawn to stuff like this – I really like gritty reality in a book, as you may have surmised I’am not a big Mills and Boon reader!
The match turned out about 5.45 so I held back as long as I could and hit Limerick about 6.30, to cut a long story short the next hour was spent in gridlocked traffic and I arrived in Limerick station at 7.40, I never even attempted any further stops as I really just wanted to get out of town by that stage! Chris fared even worse as she was delayed at Buttavent Horse fair for 45 min before she even hitLimerick! She then had to drop passengers off at The Raddisson Hotel right in the thick of the traffic! She finally arrived about 7.30 at which point her nerves were jangled enough for her to give in and sit back and enjoy a coffee before even thinking of heading back!
She left the Raddisson at 8.00 and arrived back in our yard believe it or not at 9.30 – Limerick was still at a standstill 3 hours after the match finished! We both agreed if the next Munster final was in 100 years it would be too soon!
Whilst I would never want to spoil everyone’s enjoyment of the match I do feel that something urgently needs to be done re a traffic plan or park and ride or something as I do not think it is acceptable that Irelands third city should be gridlocked for over 3 hours even on a Sunday making it impossible for the precious few tourists we have to get around let alone people trying to run a business like us!
Music – Retro again this week, still on Tom Robinson and downloaded some tracks from ‘Power in the Darkness” surely a masterwork with “Up against the wall” being my favourite. I had to pay for these as I guess EMI still hold the rights to them but still well worth checking out.
Book – The Masterchefs –Finished now and the ending did not in any way disappoint! Just started “Filth” and it is even more disgusting and slightly depraved – a great read for me in other words, I’am afraid I find myself drawn to stuff like this – I really like gritty reality in a book, as you may have surmised I’am not a big Mills and Boon reader!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Richards Blog – 13.07.08 – If I cannot call in sick, I will call in dead!
This weeks blog has been prompted by Chris who is suffering from cold at the moment, I don’t seem to have caught it yet, however if I do it will certainly be worse and develop into “man flu!” She had to work yesterday as we needed a second coach for overloads – business is still ok at weekends! She bravely battled through and nearly lost her voice but she is a bit better this morning – just as well as she is going to Cork (I let her have an easier day).
Fortunately over the last few years we have both had good health with all of our ailments coming in the winter when we can usually suffer in peace but it can really be an effort trying to put a brave face on the day when you feel terrible, however I have noticed that Chris seems to get the sympathy vote from people whereas I just have to get on with it! This really isn’t fair because as everyone knows we suffer far more than women!
If we really could not work we do have friends who could probably help us out but thankfully we haven’t had to try yet! So all in all being sick is not really option however death might be an excuse in exceptional circumstances!
I’am hoping to have our new package tours online this week and we have some cracking tours planned with Murder Mystery in Antrim, The Magic of Wales, Dublin Christmas shopping and Birmingham bike show to tempt you, pleas have a look and we would love to see you on one!
Music – Coldplay – Viva la Diva – Totally predictable I know but as much as something tells me I shouldn’t like them I cannot get away from the shear brilliance and remarkable Musicality of Coldplay – is it me or does “Violet Hill” sound like Gilmour Pink Floyd? I must say Viva la Vida is another work of brilliance. The new Fratellis is a definite grower and the pick for me now is “A heady tale” – another real tub – thumper!
Book – The Masterchefs – drawing to a close now and I sill don’t know how it will end – absolutely superb! It has given me a real thirst for more Welsh and just bought “Filth” – a tale of sleaze and corruption in the police – just my kind of read!
Fortunately over the last few years we have both had good health with all of our ailments coming in the winter when we can usually suffer in peace but it can really be an effort trying to put a brave face on the day when you feel terrible, however I have noticed that Chris seems to get the sympathy vote from people whereas I just have to get on with it! This really isn’t fair because as everyone knows we suffer far more than women!
If we really could not work we do have friends who could probably help us out but thankfully we haven’t had to try yet! So all in all being sick is not really option however death might be an excuse in exceptional circumstances!
I’am hoping to have our new package tours online this week and we have some cracking tours planned with Murder Mystery in Antrim, The Magic of Wales, Dublin Christmas shopping and Birmingham bike show to tempt you, pleas have a look and we would love to see you on one!
Music – Coldplay – Viva la Diva – Totally predictable I know but as much as something tells me I shouldn’t like them I cannot get away from the shear brilliance and remarkable Musicality of Coldplay – is it me or does “Violet Hill” sound like Gilmour Pink Floyd? I must say Viva la Vida is another work of brilliance. The new Fratellis is a definite grower and the pick for me now is “A heady tale” – another real tub – thumper!
Book – The Masterchefs – drawing to a close now and I sill don’t know how it will end – absolutely superb! It has given me a real thirst for more Welsh and just bought “Filth” – a tale of sleaze and corruption in the police – just my kind of read!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Richard's Blog – 05.07.08 – Where is your guestbook?
You might have noticed our guestbook on the site (www.4tours.biz), we really are delighted with the kind comments that have been put on there and whilst we edit the guestbook to take out the huge amount of spam that we get in particular a kind gent called Fabiola who send us about 5 posts a day to delete! I can honestly say that in the 2 years that we have had the site we have never deleted any valid post – we honestly never only pick the best ones and you can test if they are genuine by e.mailing the people who post.
You might notice none of our competitors has the confidence in their product to have such a facility – instead they rely on testimonials which really anyone can write! We hope that people do read our guestbook and hopefully it generates some business for us.
Talking of our competition, one of our competitors had their 10th Anniversary and since they use the same lunch stop as us we kind of gate crashed the party. I would just like to offer our congratulations to them but did get to thinking about the contrast between our 10th Anniversary tour (pics here) and theirs in that they had invited the great and good of Dublin and tourism agencies etc on a specially chartered coach whilst on our anniversary day all we did was offer our customers a great tour at the best price – what we try to do everyday! I’am not saying either approach is right or wrong just a reflection of different philosophies! Maybe we miss some publicity opportunities but to use on of these new buzz phrases I suppose our success is “organic” and I think we are quite happy with it that way as we don’t owe it to anyone other than you – our friends and customers (often they are both!)
Talking of publicity we had a meeting with a true gentleman yesterday (on our day off!) who will be helping us raise our profile locally particularly with the launch of our Autumn 2008 Nicetours programme so look out for us on our new reality tv show (I wish!)
I’am hoping for a day off on Monday and after I have delivered some day tour brochures (hopefully by motorbike if the weather is decent) I intend to put our new tours for October, November and December on the website so you can book us out as quickly as possible and we can then arrange some more (dreaming again!)
Music – The Fratellis – Here it Stands – growing on me but too early to pass judgment, very different though I also got that track by Whitewater and it is steadily growing on me whilst I also heard a long forgotten favourite on the radio the other day and had to download it – Tom Robinson and War Baby – what a fantastic set of lyrics and free from Toms’ website but do leave a donation as I think he is a true gent and talent!
Book – The Masterchefs – nearly finished now and I can really highly recommend it (if you are not easily offended!) Just bought my next read – tell you next week!
You might notice none of our competitors has the confidence in their product to have such a facility – instead they rely on testimonials which really anyone can write! We hope that people do read our guestbook and hopefully it generates some business for us.
Talking of our competition, one of our competitors had their 10th Anniversary and since they use the same lunch stop as us we kind of gate crashed the party. I would just like to offer our congratulations to them but did get to thinking about the contrast between our 10th Anniversary tour (pics here) and theirs in that they had invited the great and good of Dublin and tourism agencies etc on a specially chartered coach whilst on our anniversary day all we did was offer our customers a great tour at the best price – what we try to do everyday! I’am not saying either approach is right or wrong just a reflection of different philosophies! Maybe we miss some publicity opportunities but to use on of these new buzz phrases I suppose our success is “organic” and I think we are quite happy with it that way as we don’t owe it to anyone other than you – our friends and customers (often they are both!)
Talking of publicity we had a meeting with a true gentleman yesterday (on our day off!) who will be helping us raise our profile locally particularly with the launch of our Autumn 2008 Nicetours programme so look out for us on our new reality tv show (I wish!)
I’am hoping for a day off on Monday and after I have delivered some day tour brochures (hopefully by motorbike if the weather is decent) I intend to put our new tours for October, November and December on the website so you can book us out as quickly as possible and we can then arrange some more (dreaming again!)
Music – The Fratellis – Here it Stands – growing on me but too early to pass judgment, very different though I also got that track by Whitewater and it is steadily growing on me whilst I also heard a long forgotten favourite on the radio the other day and had to download it – Tom Robinson and War Baby – what a fantastic set of lyrics and free from Toms’ website but do leave a donation as I think he is a true gent and talent!
Book – The Masterchefs – nearly finished now and I can really highly recommend it (if you are not easily offended!) Just bought my next read – tell you next week!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Richard's Blog – 28.06.08 – Do you really think I look slim?
I hinted last week that I’am on a diet so I might as well make it official, back in February after our hols I looked in the mirror and decided I was turning into a real coach tour driver (developing a large belly!) and also with the trauma of turning 21 again I decided it was time to do something, Chris also wanted to join me (although her problem isn’t quite as severe as mine!) So we now becoming leaner as well as greener !
This job really is the worst for dieting as we are either driving or eating all the time! We also get no exercise so it really is not good, so here is a breakdown of how a typical Cliffs tour used to go followed by the improved version!
Breakfast – Tea and Cereal (ok really)
Mid morning at Caherconnoll – Tea and a beautiful scone with 2 butters and jam
Lunch in Doolin – Irish Stew or Fish and Chips.
Afternoon at Cliffs – Tea and snack followed by a snooze on the back seat!
Dinner – whatever is going but often a takeaway or a ready meal with a beer or glass of wine (large)
So here is the improved version :
Breakfast – Tea and oatabix with some fresh fruit
Mid morning at Caherconnoll – Tea and a neutrigrain bar (not too bad really!)
Lunch in Doolin – Open ham or chicken brown bread sandwich (or if I’am weak kids portion of Bacon and Cabbage!)
Afternoon at Cliffs – Piece of fruit with water follwed by a good half hours walk around the Cliffs (weather permitting!)
Dinner – We are trying to eat less processed food and so it might be a curry or stir fry type of thing with a very small glass of wine (we get 6 glasses out of a bottle!).
The change really has made a difference and I’am delighted to have lost a sone and a half already and I honestly do feel drastically better, I really enjoy the walking and it gives me a great chance to listen to more music on my ipod.
Talking on ipods I’am the proud owner of a first generation nano which I absolutely love, I have looked at the new ones with video etc and I can honestly say I have no desire to change I love the great design and simplicity of the old one and hell, even I can work it!
Music – The Fratellis – Here it Stands – My downloading activity has been curtailed by our pc choosing to have a heart attack this week but I’am still absolutely mad on that Muse album, I cannot get Invincible out of my head – didn’t get to a gig Thursday night but could well do this week.
Book – No change but really enjoying The Masterchefs – highly recommended (if you are not easily offended!)
This job really is the worst for dieting as we are either driving or eating all the time! We also get no exercise so it really is not good, so here is a breakdown of how a typical Cliffs tour used to go followed by the improved version!
Breakfast – Tea and Cereal (ok really)
Mid morning at Caherconnoll – Tea and a beautiful scone with 2 butters and jam
Lunch in Doolin – Irish Stew or Fish and Chips.
Afternoon at Cliffs – Tea and snack followed by a snooze on the back seat!
Dinner – whatever is going but often a takeaway or a ready meal with a beer or glass of wine (large)
So here is the improved version :
Breakfast – Tea and oatabix with some fresh fruit
Mid morning at Caherconnoll – Tea and a neutrigrain bar (not too bad really!)
Lunch in Doolin – Open ham or chicken brown bread sandwich (or if I’am weak kids portion of Bacon and Cabbage!)
Afternoon at Cliffs – Piece of fruit with water follwed by a good half hours walk around the Cliffs (weather permitting!)
Dinner – We are trying to eat less processed food and so it might be a curry or stir fry type of thing with a very small glass of wine (we get 6 glasses out of a bottle!).
The change really has made a difference and I’am delighted to have lost a sone and a half already and I honestly do feel drastically better, I really enjoy the walking and it gives me a great chance to listen to more music on my ipod.
Talking on ipods I’am the proud owner of a first generation nano which I absolutely love, I have looked at the new ones with video etc and I can honestly say I have no desire to change I love the great design and simplicity of the old one and hell, even I can work it!
Music – The Fratellis – Here it Stands – My downloading activity has been curtailed by our pc choosing to have a heart attack this week but I’am still absolutely mad on that Muse album, I cannot get Invincible out of my head – didn’t get to a gig Thursday night but could well do this week.
Book – No change but really enjoying The Masterchefs – highly recommended (if you are not easily offended!)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Richard’s Blog – 21.06.08 - Can you combine business and pleasure ? (I hope so!)
Things are frantic at the world headquarters of Barratt Tours at the moment, as well as dealing with the day to day chores of running our tours and vehicles, Chris is particularly busy putting together some exciting Nicetour packages which include the murder mystery break that I already hinted at, a house party in Tramore and The Dublin Christmas Market. I have not been idle in this respect (contrary to popular belief!) and I got to thinking about whether I could combine my newly revisited passion for motorcycling and coach tours.
Of course I can! We are going to try to offer a tour to Birmingham in England in November – but why? So we can all visit the Motorcycle and Scooter show at the National Exhibition Centre. It is very early days but I posted a thread on biker.ie and believe it or not we are getting a few enquiries already. There will be plenty of driving in that weekend but it would be a great change to have a load of biker buddies to look after instead of tourists – should be interesting!
So what other hobby can I combine with business? Another thought is my love of all things vintage (hi, Chris!) no really, I intend to get our finest coach – Bertie aka Celtic Spirit finished this winter and might just offer a weeks tour in classic comfort for enthusiasts and incurable romantics like me!
As ever I would love to hear your thoughts on this and it helps to reassure me that someone actually reads this! Please get in touch if only to say “hi” or better still, “have you lost weight” (we are both on diet at the moment!). A good friend of mine who was once in the coach trading business used to always say to people “have you lost weight?” before offering the deal of a lifetime on a one owner, low mileage bargain, and do you know, it worked!
Music – The Fratellis – Here it Stands – Only just downloaded the new album and will reserve judgment for the moment but I don’t think it is going to beat their debut album – Costelloe Music, but who could expect that? as I don’t ever recall hearing a better first album other than possibly The Arctic Monkeys. Whilst on music we enjoyed a terrific gig by Whitewater at Smyths bar in Limeick on Thursday night they have a single out for download so I may check it out by next week.
Book – No change but really enjoying The Masterchefs – highly recommended (if you are not easily offended!)
Of course I can! We are going to try to offer a tour to Birmingham in England in November – but why? So we can all visit the Motorcycle and Scooter show at the National Exhibition Centre. It is very early days but I posted a thread on biker.ie and believe it or not we are getting a few enquiries already. There will be plenty of driving in that weekend but it would be a great change to have a load of biker buddies to look after instead of tourists – should be interesting!
So what other hobby can I combine with business? Another thought is my love of all things vintage (hi, Chris!) no really, I intend to get our finest coach – Bertie aka Celtic Spirit finished this winter and might just offer a weeks tour in classic comfort for enthusiasts and incurable romantics like me!
As ever I would love to hear your thoughts on this and it helps to reassure me that someone actually reads this! Please get in touch if only to say “hi” or better still, “have you lost weight” (we are both on diet at the moment!). A good friend of mine who was once in the coach trading business used to always say to people “have you lost weight?” before offering the deal of a lifetime on a one owner, low mileage bargain, and do you know, it worked!
Music – The Fratellis – Here it Stands – Only just downloaded the new album and will reserve judgment for the moment but I don’t think it is going to beat their debut album – Costelloe Music, but who could expect that? as I don’t ever recall hearing a better first album other than possibly The Arctic Monkeys. Whilst on music we enjoyed a terrific gig by Whitewater at Smyths bar in Limeick on Thursday night they have a single out for download so I may check it out by next week.
Book – No change but really enjoying The Masterchefs – highly recommended (if you are not easily offended!)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Richards Blog – 08.06.08 – Is there light at the end of the tunnel? (or is it the express train coming?
Events this week have taken over my blog again and you will be delighted to hear that I’am not talking about The Lisbon Treaty! What I’am talking about is the incredible rise in Fuel costs over the last week indeed is has got so serious that the Irish Road Haulage Association had a crises meeting last night and their President has warned that many hauliers will go out of business within a month if some relief is not given and having been involved closely with haulage in a past life and don’t doubt him for a minute.
So, if are reading this in Ireland you might be wondering what of the bus and coach operators? Do they not use diesel? Or are their profit margins so huge that they can absorb such outrageous increases? These would all be reasonable questions as the outcry from our industry has been, well, non existent!
Well the answer is we all use diesel and as far as I can see margins are tiny if indeed many are making a profit so why are we so quiet?
The only answer I can give to this is that we do not have a representative trade body, we have the Coach Tourism Council that speak very eloquently for their members on many matters but, unfortunately do not speak for companies like us who do not match criteria to become a member (age of vehicles, number of staff etc). There are some other bodies such as FOTA and PAMBO but to be honest they seem to have many other agendas (which they do follow very well).
So whats the answer if we want our voice to be heard? The only answer I can think of is to try to form a trade association that leaves behind issues of hierarchy and mistrust of members motives and gets stuck into the big and burning issues that threaten the very existence of our industry and fight some of the other obstacles to profitable operation that exist for everyone in our industry – what do you think?
Both the hauliers and fisherman have made the news this week and compliments to both for putting their point across, we really do need to act.
You might be wondering how this all affects us personally, well I have to say that fortunately because of prudent fleet replacement and refurbishment we are able to weather the storm better than if we had huge finance payments to meet every month but nonetheless our margins are squeezed particularly when combined with the global downturn in business.
So how can you help this poor coach operator? Here is a good way, book one of our tours instead of going with one of the multi national large groups and let our lean green touring machine sock it to them and prove you don’t need 20 new buses to become a major player in the business!
Music – The Stone Roses – Best of – another revisit really but great to here some fantastic ravey, rocky music that become their trademark, still cant decide if Fools Gold or I’am the Resurrection is my favourite roses track!
Books – No change from last week (been very busy!)
So, if are reading this in Ireland you might be wondering what of the bus and coach operators? Do they not use diesel? Or are their profit margins so huge that they can absorb such outrageous increases? These would all be reasonable questions as the outcry from our industry has been, well, non existent!
Well the answer is we all use diesel and as far as I can see margins are tiny if indeed many are making a profit so why are we so quiet?
The only answer I can give to this is that we do not have a representative trade body, we have the Coach Tourism Council that speak very eloquently for their members on many matters but, unfortunately do not speak for companies like us who do not match criteria to become a member (age of vehicles, number of staff etc). There are some other bodies such as FOTA and PAMBO but to be honest they seem to have many other agendas (which they do follow very well).
So whats the answer if we want our voice to be heard? The only answer I can think of is to try to form a trade association that leaves behind issues of hierarchy and mistrust of members motives and gets stuck into the big and burning issues that threaten the very existence of our industry and fight some of the other obstacles to profitable operation that exist for everyone in our industry – what do you think?
Both the hauliers and fisherman have made the news this week and compliments to both for putting their point across, we really do need to act.
You might be wondering how this all affects us personally, well I have to say that fortunately because of prudent fleet replacement and refurbishment we are able to weather the storm better than if we had huge finance payments to meet every month but nonetheless our margins are squeezed particularly when combined with the global downturn in business.
So how can you help this poor coach operator? Here is a good way, book one of our tours instead of going with one of the multi national large groups and let our lean green touring machine sock it to them and prove you don’t need 20 new buses to become a major player in the business!
Music – The Stone Roses – Best of – another revisit really but great to here some fantastic ravey, rocky music that become their trademark, still cant decide if Fools Gold or I’am the Resurrection is my favourite roses track!
Books – No change from last week (been very busy!)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Richard’s Blog – 08.06.08 – What do you think? ……….
I don’t know if I have mentioned this but we are a member of our local Tourism Learning Network which is being facilitated by our friends at Mayday management. The aim of the network is to improve access to learning for small companies like ours and also to help us improve our business in many ways. I personally feel it has been a real benefit and that Mayday has made a great job of a very hard and often unrewarding task.
One of the crucial areas that being a member has helped us is that it has encouraged us to take an outside view of our business which is often hard when you seem to spend your life driving and washing busses! I hate to use a buzz phrase but here goes – “looking outside the box” has in some ways changed the company and is an exercise that I would recommend to all small business owners. I intend to re read a book I read last year called The Art of Possibility by Ben and Rosalind Zander and the gist of this is often that the answer to your problem may lie under your nose if you can look beyond the obvious.
We are currently operating a customer survey in conjunction with The Network and whilst we have done one in the past this one is proving to be very illuminating and whilst I ‘am pleased to say feedback has been generally positive, people do say things on paper that they would never say to your face! One response that particularly hurt was the lady with Christine on Sunday who answered the question “would you recommend Barratt Tours to a friend or family” to which she answered with an emphatic no with “no” other explanation! If by any chance the lady is reading this please drop Chris a line to let her know where we went wrong!
So, as ever, if I’am missing something obvious that will prove popular or a group of you think it might be fun to spend a week doing goodness knows what in Ireland, get in touch and you will find that we are far more broad minded and imaginative than your average tour company!
This week’s music – Forever Delayed – The Manic Street Preachers- A glorious re visit to many forgotten tracks and contains “A design for life” which is surely in my top ten favourite tracks of all time! And it was only Eu4.99 in Galway – what more could you want!
This weeks book – Still on with Ruinair but just starting something juicy – Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh – its early days but shaping up to be great read (if you aren’t easily offended!!) This has inspired me to read Trainspotting as I love the film and never got round to reading it.
One of the crucial areas that being a member has helped us is that it has encouraged us to take an outside view of our business which is often hard when you seem to spend your life driving and washing busses! I hate to use a buzz phrase but here goes – “looking outside the box” has in some ways changed the company and is an exercise that I would recommend to all small business owners. I intend to re read a book I read last year called The Art of Possibility by Ben and Rosalind Zander and the gist of this is often that the answer to your problem may lie under your nose if you can look beyond the obvious.
We are currently operating a customer survey in conjunction with The Network and whilst we have done one in the past this one is proving to be very illuminating and whilst I ‘am pleased to say feedback has been generally positive, people do say things on paper that they would never say to your face! One response that particularly hurt was the lady with Christine on Sunday who answered the question “would you recommend Barratt Tours to a friend or family” to which she answered with an emphatic no with “no” other explanation! If by any chance the lady is reading this please drop Chris a line to let her know where we went wrong!
So, as ever, if I’am missing something obvious that will prove popular or a group of you think it might be fun to spend a week doing goodness knows what in Ireland, get in touch and you will find that we are far more broad minded and imaginative than your average tour company!
This week’s music – Forever Delayed – The Manic Street Preachers- A glorious re visit to many forgotten tracks and contains “A design for life” which is surely in my top ten favourite tracks of all time! And it was only Eu4.99 in Galway – what more could you want!
This weeks book – Still on with Ruinair but just starting something juicy – Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh – its early days but shaping up to be great read (if you aren’t easily offended!!) This has inspired me to read Trainspotting as I love the film and never got round to reading it.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Richard's Blog 02.06.08 – Roll up for the mystery tour.
On Wednesday last week our normal attraction on the Galway tour – The Corrib Cruise was not available and so since we had some existing bookings we offered those passengers the option of taken a tour to Galway which followed one of our old itineraries which incorporated a tour across peat bogs on the edge of Connemara and a visit to Standuns shop in Spiddal.
To our surprise we got a few extra bookings and they all seemed to like the idea of a one off kind of tour. I ran the tour and whilst the weather was not the best I think a great time was had by all (myself included – change of scene!) and I got to thinking would people trust us to show them something great on one of our tours which would not be in a strict itinerary? I know of some fantastic places on the Burren which never see a coach tour but they are not “big names” –so will they sell tours? I would love to hear what you think – I love the idea of a mystery tour like coach tour companies used to offer in days gone by. Some attractions close at the end of September so our normal tour programe will change – it might be a thought to throw in a few more adventurous tours for October – please as ever let me have your thoughts.
To be honest I do not get too much feedback yet from my blogs and so I would love to hear your thoughts – I might even publish some, or how about a Barratt Tours forum or chat room? I really like the idea of turning our website into something that is more of a community – so drop me an e.mail if you agree.
Also to explain my state of mind for the week I’am going to start telling you my favourite music for the week which will normally be my most listened to album on my ipod and also what book I’am slowly reading! So here goes –
Music – Muse – Black holes and Revelations – I never really get up to date with the music scene and I know this has been out ages but I love the massive sound and production, it is one of the few truly epic new (ish!!) albums that I have heard, got to say after careful consideration Knights of Cydonia is my favourite track.
Book – Ruinair – Paul Kilduff – A brilliant tale of one mans revenge on our favourite budget airline! Absolutely hilarious read that any of you that have enjoyed Ryanair “hospitality" will identify with!
To our surprise we got a few extra bookings and they all seemed to like the idea of a one off kind of tour. I ran the tour and whilst the weather was not the best I think a great time was had by all (myself included – change of scene!) and I got to thinking would people trust us to show them something great on one of our tours which would not be in a strict itinerary? I know of some fantastic places on the Burren which never see a coach tour but they are not “big names” –so will they sell tours? I would love to hear what you think – I love the idea of a mystery tour like coach tour companies used to offer in days gone by. Some attractions close at the end of September so our normal tour programe will change – it might be a thought to throw in a few more adventurous tours for October – please as ever let me have your thoughts.
To be honest I do not get too much feedback yet from my blogs and so I would love to hear your thoughts – I might even publish some, or how about a Barratt Tours forum or chat room? I really like the idea of turning our website into something that is more of a community – so drop me an e.mail if you agree.
Also to explain my state of mind for the week I’am going to start telling you my favourite music for the week which will normally be my most listened to album on my ipod and also what book I’am slowly reading! So here goes –
Music – Muse – Black holes and Revelations – I never really get up to date with the music scene and I know this has been out ages but I love the massive sound and production, it is one of the few truly epic new (ish!!) albums that I have heard, got to say after careful consideration Knights of Cydonia is my favourite track.
Book – Ruinair – Paul Kilduff – A brilliant tale of one mans revenge on our favourite budget airline! Absolutely hilarious read that any of you that have enjoyed Ryanair “hospitality" will identify with!
Monday, June 2, 2008
24.05.08 - The Knights of The Road (are they all dead?)
This week my blog is on a subject suggested by Christine and I quite like it so here goes.
One of the many things I enjoy about this business is the fun and camaraderie between other coach drivers but lately we have noticed that even that is being slowly eroded, the custom has always been for fellow drivers to exchange a wave when we meet on the road but I have noticed these greetings fall into x distinct categories:
1) The flash of lights and cheery wave – This is normally exchanged between those that know each other or work on the same job (like day tour drivers).
2) The simple wave – Normally used between drivers who act in the spirit of common courtesy – always nice to be acknowledged!
3) The nonchalantly raised hand or fingers from the steering wheel – The lowest form of acknowledgement normally reserved for rival companies and larger bus operators who may or may not be owned by the state! But is it still recognition!
4) The didn’t see you – no reaction at all – maybe they didn’t see us! We might give these the benefit of the doubt!
5) The total ignore – This is the one that is becoming the most popular and this is mainly the preserve of drivers on big name tours or our semi state tour company who as we all know are are far too important to acknowledge mere mortals like ourselves!
The total ignore is also often spectacularly demonstrated when we stop at major attractions like The Cliffs and Blarney as you can meet these characters in the coach park and even speak to them but still receive a blank! I often wonder why, if they are so great are they driving for someone else rather than driving their own bus like us. The funny thing is (and Chris made this observation!) they all tend to look the same, they are short bald grey men with a massive stomach gained from endless years of three free meals a day and they are easy to spot when dealing with passengers as they have a healthy disdain for them too as that is their guides job to talk and “anyhow what would I want to have anything do with that shower anyway! “
Those of you that have traveled with me lately might have notice that I’am currently on a diet as I looked in the mirror and thought I might be developing a tour driver stomach to go with my fashionably reseeding hair line! And perish the thought I might be turning into one of them.
So if your thing is traveling with grumpy old men and neurotic tour guides book with one of the big groups but if you want a blogger as your guide – book with us or better still take one of new nicetours and you will get both of us!
One of the many things I enjoy about this business is the fun and camaraderie between other coach drivers but lately we have noticed that even that is being slowly eroded, the custom has always been for fellow drivers to exchange a wave when we meet on the road but I have noticed these greetings fall into x distinct categories:
1) The flash of lights and cheery wave – This is normally exchanged between those that know each other or work on the same job (like day tour drivers).
2) The simple wave – Normally used between drivers who act in the spirit of common courtesy – always nice to be acknowledged!
3) The nonchalantly raised hand or fingers from the steering wheel – The lowest form of acknowledgement normally reserved for rival companies and larger bus operators who may or may not be owned by the state! But is it still recognition!
4) The didn’t see you – no reaction at all – maybe they didn’t see us! We might give these the benefit of the doubt!
5) The total ignore – This is the one that is becoming the most popular and this is mainly the preserve of drivers on big name tours or our semi state tour company who as we all know are are far too important to acknowledge mere mortals like ourselves!
The total ignore is also often spectacularly demonstrated when we stop at major attractions like The Cliffs and Blarney as you can meet these characters in the coach park and even speak to them but still receive a blank! I often wonder why, if they are so great are they driving for someone else rather than driving their own bus like us. The funny thing is (and Chris made this observation!) they all tend to look the same, they are short bald grey men with a massive stomach gained from endless years of three free meals a day and they are easy to spot when dealing with passengers as they have a healthy disdain for them too as that is their guides job to talk and “anyhow what would I want to have anything do with that shower anyway! “
Those of you that have traveled with me lately might have notice that I’am currently on a diet as I looked in the mirror and thought I might be developing a tour driver stomach to go with my fashionably reseeding hair line! And perish the thought I might be turning into one of them.
So if your thing is traveling with grumpy old men and neurotic tour guides book with one of the big groups but if you want a blogger as your guide – book with us or better still take one of new nicetours and you will get both of us!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Richard's Blog 17.05.08 – Its never 10 years!
As you might have seen in our NEWS section we are 10 years in business this week, time has honestly flown! So you are probably wondering what has changed in the business in the last 10 years so here is a few thoughts (random as usual!)
1) Our customers we had a fairly predictable clientel when we started being mostly visitors from the US,England and Ireland but we really do now get a whole range of nationalities now which makes for an interesting and increasingly challenging life! Due to us not having as many English speakers on board we do sometimes miss the hilarious banter and fun of our early days but having said that some of our new visitors do have a good sense of humour! – a good laugh can break many international barriers!
2) Our vehicles have changed of course although I am determined to get our first coach BERTIE out of retirement since our trade bodies are telling us that vehicles over 5 years old should be retired from tourism work I will launch a 33 year old one and believe me he will still do a good days work in comfort (other than a bit of a bouncy ride!) but our current fleet really is a revelation in terms of comfort and reliability – I never like to boast about such things but 2 breakdowns in 10 years is not too bad and I honestly don’t believe such standards of reliability are achievable with brand new vehicles!
3) Seasons have changed – no, not climate change, but we are finding our peak is becoming shorter and the traditional “shoulder” season is becoming more challenging – our loadings are currently well down for a number of reasons, so we are going to react swiftly as we always do and go on Holidays! (only kidding!!) but we are going to expand our NICETOURS.BIZ side of the business to give more custom tours and imaginative itineraries – look out for a Murder mystery weekend soon!
4) We have changed personally in that we have grown in confidence and I hope, ability – its hard to believe that the quiet shy florist that I met 15 years ago has turned into the confident and talented tour driver/guide that Christine has become (she never reads this!) I think we both underwent a personal change this winter when Christine’s brother – Michael passed away suddenly and now we are much calmer and speaking personally, delays on tours, the odd rude and unreasonable passenger, our beloved Road Safety Authority and all our other cares really do not bother me as we have realized more than ever that life is for living! Our inner selves I suppose have changed with our holidays to Thailand– it has been a revelation to see such dignified and serene people who really have little in life still managing to smile – a lesson for us all there I think!
We never tire of our business but I think after 10 years the amount of corruption and “back scratching” in our industry still irritates us as we feel we never get the help and promotion we deserve – if we were judged on the quality of our tours we think we would be millionaires!
So I hope you enjoyed my ramblings this week and maybe next week might be a good time for another installment in our history unless of course, something more topical comes up!
1) Our customers we had a fairly predictable clientel when we started being mostly visitors from the US,England and Ireland but we really do now get a whole range of nationalities now which makes for an interesting and increasingly challenging life! Due to us not having as many English speakers on board we do sometimes miss the hilarious banter and fun of our early days but having said that some of our new visitors do have a good sense of humour! – a good laugh can break many international barriers!
2) Our vehicles have changed of course although I am determined to get our first coach BERTIE out of retirement since our trade bodies are telling us that vehicles over 5 years old should be retired from tourism work I will launch a 33 year old one and believe me he will still do a good days work in comfort (other than a bit of a bouncy ride!) but our current fleet really is a revelation in terms of comfort and reliability – I never like to boast about such things but 2 breakdowns in 10 years is not too bad and I honestly don’t believe such standards of reliability are achievable with brand new vehicles!
3) Seasons have changed – no, not climate change, but we are finding our peak is becoming shorter and the traditional “shoulder” season is becoming more challenging – our loadings are currently well down for a number of reasons, so we are going to react swiftly as we always do and go on Holidays! (only kidding!!) but we are going to expand our NICETOURS.BIZ side of the business to give more custom tours and imaginative itineraries – look out for a Murder mystery weekend soon!
4) We have changed personally in that we have grown in confidence and I hope, ability – its hard to believe that the quiet shy florist that I met 15 years ago has turned into the confident and talented tour driver/guide that Christine has become (she never reads this!) I think we both underwent a personal change this winter when Christine’s brother – Michael passed away suddenly and now we are much calmer and speaking personally, delays on tours, the odd rude and unreasonable passenger, our beloved Road Safety Authority and all our other cares really do not bother me as we have realized more than ever that life is for living! Our inner selves I suppose have changed with our holidays to Thailand– it has been a revelation to see such dignified and serene people who really have little in life still managing to smile – a lesson for us all there I think!
We never tire of our business but I think after 10 years the amount of corruption and “back scratching” in our industry still irritates us as we feel we never get the help and promotion we deserve – if we were judged on the quality of our tours we think we would be millionaires!
So I hope you enjoyed my ramblings this week and maybe next week might be a good time for another installment in our history unless of course, something more topical comes up!
Friday, May 23, 2008
10.05.08 – why do you not have a tour on Fridays?
We are often asked that very question, so since I have spilled the beans on a typical working day I shall now reveal what happens on a Friday (which is our one day off work together!)
Well the story normally starts on Thursday night on which we always try to have a night out together and a dinner and a few medicinal drinks! This week we both finished fairly early on Thursday night – Chris had been to Kerry and me to the Cliffs so we were both in about 7.00, so then it was a quick shower and change into the glad rags and head off in our car to town (we leave the car and collect it Friday!).
We had a drink in a bar in town then went for a lovely Indian meal at one of our favourite restaurants – Poppadom. After a superb feed we headed to one of our newer haunts Smyths bar where as usual we were the oldest in the place – but never mind! We saw an excellent band there called The Wilful from Galway – great stuff – highly recommended if you have never heard a heavy rock cover of Abba! – we really enjoyed their set and it was just the thing to take away the cares of last week.
So rather late we took a taxi home and retired to bed for a lie in until woken by our first booking at 08.00! We then had a leisurely breakfast before I started washing and fueling busses and did a couple of repair jobs as well as ordering some parts for next weeks jobs. Chris did some e.mails and booked train tickets as well as another vital job – the washing.
We then headed for town in style on my new motorbike – Thanks again Chris! As we had to do some banking before taking off to do a bit of bike touring to Cashel for lunch then back to Limerick to pick up the car and a take away for Friday night and a peaceful night watching telly and of course answering e.mails and online bookings then an early night ready to start another week of tours!
I hope this answers why we do not have a tour on Fridays as we actually cant legally work 7 days and I don’t think either of us could stand not having the few hours to ourselves on Thursday night and Friday morning, so if you are trying to contact us on a Friday by phone and we don not answer straight away we might just be motorbiking!
Well the story normally starts on Thursday night on which we always try to have a night out together and a dinner and a few medicinal drinks! This week we both finished fairly early on Thursday night – Chris had been to Kerry and me to the Cliffs so we were both in about 7.00, so then it was a quick shower and change into the glad rags and head off in our car to town (we leave the car and collect it Friday!).
We had a drink in a bar in town then went for a lovely Indian meal at one of our favourite restaurants – Poppadom. After a superb feed we headed to one of our newer haunts Smyths bar where as usual we were the oldest in the place – but never mind! We saw an excellent band there called The Wilful from Galway – great stuff – highly recommended if you have never heard a heavy rock cover of Abba! – we really enjoyed their set and it was just the thing to take away the cares of last week.
So rather late we took a taxi home and retired to bed for a lie in until woken by our first booking at 08.00! We then had a leisurely breakfast before I started washing and fueling busses and did a couple of repair jobs as well as ordering some parts for next weeks jobs. Chris did some e.mails and booked train tickets as well as another vital job – the washing.
We then headed for town in style on my new motorbike – Thanks again Chris! As we had to do some banking before taking off to do a bit of bike touring to Cashel for lunch then back to Limerick to pick up the car and a take away for Friday night and a peaceful night watching telly and of course answering e.mails and online bookings then an early night ready to start another week of tours!
I hope this answers why we do not have a tour on Fridays as we actually cant legally work 7 days and I don’t think either of us could stand not having the few hours to ourselves on Thursday night and Friday morning, so if you are trying to contact us on a Friday by phone and we don not answer straight away we might just be motorbiking!
03.05.08 – A week at Barratt Tours
Well, that’s our hardest week over! The first of 26 and business is ok but a bit quiet still during the week. Of course with us not increasing our prices for 3 years the massive increase in fuel costs is proving a huge strain when we are carrying small numbers of passengers, but as usual we will keep at it and hopefully as the season wears on our investment of time and money into an online presence will start to pay off with more online bookings.
Talking of online bookings regular visitors to my blog will know that we have decided to make our tours from Dublin exclusively available online and because of that we reduced the price of our best selling D1 Moher Magic tour by six euros this season. We heard this week of one day tour operator that is offering hotels and agents a 25% commission on bookings – do you think this is right? I would love to know your opinions – why not CONTACT ME and tell me! One thing you can be sure of is that we will continue to offer you the best value we possibly can whilst still keeping a sustainable profit margin.
If any of you in the industry are shocked by me revealing details like this I will make no apologies as we have been dealt some severe blows over the last couple of years because we have kept Barratt Tours honest, and I can safely say that I have no regrets over the way we have grown over the years as it is on our terms and with clean hands!
Talking of online bookings regular visitors to my blog will know that we have decided to make our tours from Dublin exclusively available online and because of that we reduced the price of our best selling D1 Moher Magic tour by six euros this season. We heard this week of one day tour operator that is offering hotels and agents a 25% commission on bookings – do you think this is right? I would love to know your opinions – why not CONTACT ME and tell me! One thing you can be sure of is that we will continue to offer you the best value we possibly can whilst still keeping a sustainable profit margin.
If any of you in the industry are shocked by me revealing details like this I will make no apologies as we have been dealt some severe blows over the last couple of years because we have kept Barratt Tours honest, and I can safely say that I have no regrets over the way we have grown over the years as it is on our terms and with clean hands!
26.04.08 – Another season, hopefully another dollar – a day in our life !
I’am finally getting organized with my blogs so from now I promise Saturday will be blog day! If you are on our Cliffs of Moher tour on a Saturday look for me typing on my laptop at Caherconnell fort !
Today is the first day of our full season and while as I hope you realise I really do enjoy my job I must admit to not being too overjoyed at the 06.50 alarm this morning! As from here starts 26 weeks of hard work with no break!
I thought that my blog today would be a good time to reflect on what a typical day for us might consist of, today is quite easy as we only have one coach out on tour so Chris came in to help me with my pick ups but this is how a typical day might go:
06.50 – Alarm (10 min to come round then 15 min to get ready)
07.15 – Out into the yard to prepare the coaches- visual checks and check oil levels etc, any final cleaning and loading water etc while Chris checks e.mails and compiles today passenger list or lists.
08.15 – Breakfast (if there is time!)
08.30 – 09.00 Leave the yard for first pick ups and meet at the Tourist Office
09.50 – Cliffs tour departs for Railway station to collect passengers from Dublin
10.15 – Tour leaves (train on time today) I will not run through all the tour so jump forward to approx 19.00 arrive back to Limerick Station for Dublin passengers before dropping passengers on our short breaks at their hotels in Limerick – finish around 19.20.
19.50 – Arrive back in yard, check e.mails, Chris will now sort bookings and answer e.mails from today, I start fuelling and cleaning, 2 coaches were used today with the pick ups so both are dirty and need fuel, also Celtic Pride needs a bulb replaced, Chris at least had chance to cook today so dinner is nearly ready.
21.00 – Dinner then a chance to relax at last but still some online tickets to book.
22.00 – online booking close for tomorrows' tours.
23.00 – Booking line closes
23.30 – so to bed! Ready for 06.50 alarm tomorrow and Blarney and Cork for me and The Cliffs of Moher for Chris.
Hopefully this will give you a guide as to what our life is like and why 26 weeks of this can be tiring! But having said that we wouldn’t change it, after all, who would then offer you great tours at the best price!
Today is the first day of our full season and while as I hope you realise I really do enjoy my job I must admit to not being too overjoyed at the 06.50 alarm this morning! As from here starts 26 weeks of hard work with no break!
I thought that my blog today would be a good time to reflect on what a typical day for us might consist of, today is quite easy as we only have one coach out on tour so Chris came in to help me with my pick ups but this is how a typical day might go:
06.50 – Alarm (10 min to come round then 15 min to get ready)
07.15 – Out into the yard to prepare the coaches- visual checks and check oil levels etc, any final cleaning and loading water etc while Chris checks e.mails and compiles today passenger list or lists.
08.15 – Breakfast (if there is time!)
08.30 – 09.00 Leave the yard for first pick ups and meet at the Tourist Office
09.50 – Cliffs tour departs for Railway station to collect passengers from Dublin
10.15 – Tour leaves (train on time today) I will not run through all the tour so jump forward to approx 19.00 arrive back to Limerick Station for Dublin passengers before dropping passengers on our short breaks at their hotels in Limerick – finish around 19.20.
19.50 – Arrive back in yard, check e.mails, Chris will now sort bookings and answer e.mails from today, I start fuelling and cleaning, 2 coaches were used today with the pick ups so both are dirty and need fuel, also Celtic Pride needs a bulb replaced, Chris at least had chance to cook today so dinner is nearly ready.
21.00 – Dinner then a chance to relax at last but still some online tickets to book.
22.00 – online booking close for tomorrows' tours.
23.00 – Booking line closes
23.30 – so to bed! Ready for 06.50 alarm tomorrow and Blarney and Cork for me and The Cliffs of Moher for Chris.
Hopefully this will give you a guide as to what our life is like and why 26 weeks of this can be tiring! But having said that we wouldn’t change it, after all, who would then offer you great tours at the best price!
19.04.08 – An online revolution?
Those of you that have been following our progress over the last few years will know that our business is slowly changing as the web plays an increasingly important role in our bookings. Last year we introduced online booking and it has slowly been growing to the point where this year we have taken the decision to make ourDublin tours exclusively available online as that way in these days of spiraling costs we can keep our prices as keen as possible. The reason our tours are so competitively priced is that we do not employ huge numbers of staff or directors and we do not offer commissions to third parties – what you pay comes to us! You might be surprised at how much of what you pay larger companies goes on commissions, lavish brochures etc etc. So we hope that our little business can compete with the big boys and win on the fairest sales market of all – the World Wide Web.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this but when we were discussing this decision we thought of the budget airlines – who would imagine we could travel to England for less than fifty euro 10 years ago? When we first moved to Ireland we were paying at least eighty nine pounds! We are not getting into the green issues here but the reality is people are traveling more and demanding better value so hopefully small enterprises like us can prosper. So look out we are becoming a lean green touring machine!
We would love to hear your thoughts on this but when we were discussing this decision we thought of the budget airlines – who would imagine we could travel to England for less than fifty euro 10 years ago? When we first moved to Ireland we were paying at least eighty nine pounds! We are not getting into the green issues here but the reality is people are traveling more and demanding better value so hopefully small enterprises like us can prosper. So look out we are becoming a lean green touring machine!
11.04.08 – History as promised (a little late!)
Finally with the Cliffs situation resolved I can return to our history and I promise to all my fans (both of you!) to blog more often as I got a new laptop on hols so it makes things easier as I can write while our passengers are enjoying our various stops.
We left the story with our house in England sold and a house in Ireland bought, this was about September 97 and at this point I left my job only to be offered about 6 months more work as a consultant! At this point we both lived with my mother for a few weeks before Chris took the brave decision to move to Ireland on her own to start generating some business and sorting the vast amount of paperwork while I worked at delivering new trucks inEngland! It was a hard life living with my folks and being spoilt rotten but I made the best of it!
I really must mention the move before I go any further; we had quite a lot of furniture to move and half a bus – honestly! I bought another very rotten Bristol like Bertie which I broke for spares, so with my contacts in haulage I managed to buy a 40 foot trailer very cheap which I packed with the parts and the furniture. I then managed to borrow a 38 tonne tractor unit for a weekend (only a local job – honest!) to take the trailer to Ireland with my dad helping with the driving where it lived in our yard until the previous house owners had moved out – I then sold the trailer for a profit – ever the salesman! We then went across in our trusty Ford Escort van to do the move and get Chris settled in – I could only stay a week and so flew back with a heavy heart but it was the right thing to do as I could still make good money in England.
Chris came back for Christmas 97 and I was thrilled to see her at Teeside Airport although it made parting again in the new year even harder, in the meantime between working and trying to keep my old banger car going (company car long gone) I had time to put the finishing touches to Bertie often helped by my faithful pal and best man – Neil (thanks again!). Finally in February 98 Chris flew across and we made the best journey of all. With Bertie who typically never missed a beat and settled into his new home in our garage where he lives to this day! I then had to head back and finish some final business before I made the break together with Neil and headed across with our Sherpa Minibus (the only Barratt bus never to carry a paying passenger!). Neil stayed and worked at all the many jobs for six weeks and its fair to say we would never have got the work done without him. Finally we got to May and had all the red tape behind us and were set to operate our first tour but one small problem remained – we had no brochure, our printer at the time let us down badly and they were finally delivered a week late. I often think about the man at a certain Limerick print company who laughed at us when I complained – it gives me quite a laugh now 10 years and probably 250.000 brochures later – none of which they printed! I’am quite enjoying this revenge thing now so heres to the Area Manager at a well known Irish Bank (not Bank of Ireland who we are now with so there is a clue!) who told me that I was mad to start a tour company and would be better getting another job selling trucks! Well Mr Harry G – I think we have proved you wrong in fine style!
So our first job was a Private Hire for a well known Irish Professional Organisation and this was really a practice for our first tour on 12th May 98 – how did it go? WATCH THIS SPACE ……..
We left the story with our house in England sold and a house in Ireland bought, this was about September 97 and at this point I left my job only to be offered about 6 months more work as a consultant! At this point we both lived with my mother for a few weeks before Chris took the brave decision to move to Ireland on her own to start generating some business and sorting the vast amount of paperwork while I worked at delivering new trucks inEngland! It was a hard life living with my folks and being spoilt rotten but I made the best of it!
I really must mention the move before I go any further; we had quite a lot of furniture to move and half a bus – honestly! I bought another very rotten Bristol like Bertie which I broke for spares, so with my contacts in haulage I managed to buy a 40 foot trailer very cheap which I packed with the parts and the furniture. I then managed to borrow a 38 tonne tractor unit for a weekend (only a local job – honest!) to take the trailer to Ireland with my dad helping with the driving where it lived in our yard until the previous house owners had moved out – I then sold the trailer for a profit – ever the salesman! We then went across in our trusty Ford Escort van to do the move and get Chris settled in – I could only stay a week and so flew back with a heavy heart but it was the right thing to do as I could still make good money in England.
Chris came back for Christmas 97 and I was thrilled to see her at Teeside Airport although it made parting again in the new year even harder, in the meantime between working and trying to keep my old banger car going (company car long gone) I had time to put the finishing touches to Bertie often helped by my faithful pal and best man – Neil (thanks again!). Finally in February 98 Chris flew across and we made the best journey of all. With Bertie who typically never missed a beat and settled into his new home in our garage where he lives to this day! I then had to head back and finish some final business before I made the break together with Neil and headed across with our Sherpa Minibus (the only Barratt bus never to carry a paying passenger!). Neil stayed and worked at all the many jobs for six weeks and its fair to say we would never have got the work done without him. Finally we got to May and had all the red tape behind us and were set to operate our first tour but one small problem remained – we had no brochure, our printer at the time let us down badly and they were finally delivered a week late. I often think about the man at a certain Limerick print company who laughed at us when I complained – it gives me quite a laugh now 10 years and probably 250.000 brochures later – none of which they printed! I’am quite enjoying this revenge thing now so heres to the Area Manager at a well known Irish Bank (not Bank of Ireland who we are now with so there is a clue!) who told me that I was mad to start a tour company and would be better getting another job selling trucks! Well Mr Harry G – I think we have proved you wrong in fine style!
So our first job was a Private Hire for a well known Irish Professional Organisation and this was really a practice for our first tour on 12th May 98 – how did it go? WATCH THIS SPACE ……..
05.04.08 – A victory for common sense
I know some of you have been following my blogs about the situation at The Cliffs of Moher and our protest last year regarding parking charges. I ‘am delighted to report that an acceptable compromise has been reached which now means there will be a one euro per head facilities charge payable to Cliffs of Moher staff on arrival. This allows us to use the new coach parking facilities which offer our customers a safe and convenient parking facility. I’am personally delighted that this has happened but I do wonder if this could not have been done this time last year if Clare County Council had negotiated with us rather than threatening and intimidating us by issuing Parking tickets and photographing us, all of which when combined with lost revenue must have cost an enormous amount of tax payers money.
I will not dwell on the negative aspects of this story but I must thank all the operators that supported the action and brought about the change – thanks and congratulations to you all. For those that did not support our action and continued to pay the exorbitant charges all I can say is I hope you enjoy the rewards that our action has given you!
So we look forward to working with the County Council to promote this superb facility and whilst we do not bear grudges the wounds that last year inflicted will be slow to heel however we are determined to make this work.
In conclusion I now promise you all part 2 of my history but events have rather overtaken my literary endeavors.
We have also had a lot to contend with on a personal level as sadly Christine’s brother Michael was taken from us far too soon in March and so my thoughts are still with her and her Mother at this difficult time.
I will not dwell on the negative aspects of this story but I must thank all the operators that supported the action and brought about the change – thanks and congratulations to you all. For those that did not support our action and continued to pay the exorbitant charges all I can say is I hope you enjoy the rewards that our action has given you!
So we look forward to working with the County Council to promote this superb facility and whilst we do not bear grudges the wounds that last year inflicted will be slow to heel however we are determined to make this work.
In conclusion I now promise you all part 2 of my history but events have rather overtaken my literary endeavors.
We have also had a lot to contend with on a personal level as sadly Christine’s brother Michael was taken from us far too soon in March and so my thoughts are still with her and her Mother at this difficult time.
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