Sheffield coach company "desperate for help" after being badly affected by lockdown
A Sheffield coach company which has lost hundreds of thousands of pounds during lockdown has warned the industry will die unless there is help from the government.
Central Travel has been trading in Sheffield for over 28 years and employs 34 people but has been badly affected by the national lockdown.
The company has sustained losses of over £100,000 per month since March. Only two per cent of its coaches are currently able to operate, mostly providing rail replacement services.
Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East, has been working with the company to ensure the Government supports the passenger transport sector.
Paul Harrison of Central Travel said coach operators ‘are desperate for help otherwise the industry will die’.
He estimates that companies operating more than three licensed coaches need assistance of £80 per day to match the strain they are currently facing.
And because the industry will not be able to operate at cost with social distancing, they may need access to the furlough scheme in the long term.
Operators need to carry 35 passengers on a coach but safe social distancing requires a maximum of 10 passengers.
Coach companies in Sheffield are especially at risk as Chinese students make up a big portion of their customer base.
Chinese customers make up a third of Central Travel’s daily footfall. Sheffield universities are already reporting lower levels of international student admissions which could mean a very damaging change to local coach operators’ business models.
Currently, coach operators are not classed as leisure businesses so they cannot access vital Covid-19 business rates and grant schemes.
Mr Betts is supporting the Confederation of Passenger Transport which is calling on the Government to recognise coach operators as leisure businesses.
He said: "Coach tourism contributes over £6 billion to the UK economy every year, and employs 42,000 people.
"Coach operators connect vulnerable groups to vital services and are on the frontline of the battle to avoid climate change - one coach with an average capacity of 49 seats can take a whole mile of car traffic off the road."