routeone speaks to Candice Mason, of Masons Minibus and Coach Hire, who says the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the role women have long played in the industry
Candice Mason of Tring-based Masons Minibus and Coach Hire believes there is a good chance COVID-19 could be the starting point for a turnaround in attitudes and the perception of, and by, women in the coach and bus industry.
Consider the campaigning of Helen Taylor, Nina Young-Dover, Laura Hadzik, Kathryn Pulham, Shirley Winn and Jenna Rush, among many others, she says – and it is obvious how driven women within this industry are, the lengths at which they will go to defend their families and livelihoods, and how instrumental they have long been to the successes of their companies.
The pandemic has not only shone a light on their efforts – it has also offered, Candice argues, an opportunity to look at equality and long-lasting change within the industry more widely. Now is the time to empower women and minorities from all walks of life and celebrate their achievements.
Changing attitudes
“We are lucky to now live in a country where a woman can do anything a man can do,” Candice states. But it hasn’t always been that way.
Not long ago, attitudes could be very different. And Candice warns there are still some who bring a generational prejudice, often through no fault of their own, which it is necessary to challenge. There is still progress to be made if more women and minorities are to achieve managerial roles within coach and bus. But behind the scenes at many companies, women design day trips, social media campaigns, manage finances and human resources and drive diversity and growth, often without the recognition they deserve. Can that be changed?
Candice’s career was first in early years, progressing into the management of nursery settings, then higher education as a training consultant, teaching college students and adults qualifications and assessing competency. Candice wasn’t the first and won’t be the last person to make the difficult decision to leave a promising career to support her husband. James Mason took over the business from parents Andy Mason and Gill Johnston alongside his brother Matt Mason, shortly inviting Candice too.
It was when Gill was ready to step down that James asked Candice to get on board in a supporting role. There had been no long-term commitment planned back then, but almost six years have since passed.
Candice successfully challenges the perception that coaching is an industry people must be born into. With her background in education and management, she has proved how transferrable those skills have been – and how fresh perspectives and a bit of risk taking can help grow a business.
Managing eight day nurseries and 250 staff, holding conferences, working with employers to manage staff training and apprenticeships in her role as Director of work-based learning, and assessing staff and the quality of services, equipped Candice with a unique set of people skills that has helped her identify the needs of Masons’ customers.
“Working in that environment requires you to be empathetic, caring, understanding and trustworthy. Those are excellent skills to have both with young people and older customers. I’ve dealt with a lot of people from all walks of life, so it equips you to help overcome those issues.”
Masons: Runs in the family
Like Candice, mother-in-law Gill had been the wife supporting her husband to run the company. The pair had taken the business from one coach and a notebook to a fleet of seven vehicles and a team of staff. “But Andy ultimately had the last say in those days,” Candice notes. “I think there was a difference in perception among that generation, which often meant women felt they did not have the confidence to push the business forwards in their own direction.”
Things are different now, for Masons at least. Since joining over five years ago Candice has been instrumental in restructuring internal systems and infrastructure, maximising the potential of services like Distinctive Systems’ Coach Manager, and upgrading the fleet.
Candice also admits she “knew nothing” about coaching at that time. But this had its advantages. Spending a great deal of time on the coaches to learn the ins-and-outs offered insight that couldn’t be gained from the office. “It meant I could learn and guide improvements as they were happening,” she explains. “I learned an incredible amount about our customers, what their interests were, what their needs were, what worked well for the drivers and the vehicles and what locations proved popular.
“I also learned a lot about the age range that were travelling with us and the level of social mobility they required. It taught me so much – and as a result we put a courier on every single trip, with their main role to make sure our customers get the best experience.”
Recent footage of Masons conducting vaccination transport for elderly and vulnerable users shows that level of insight goes a long way to building up trust within the community and customer base.
Candice’s perception is that women bring a certain level of emotional thinking to a business, while men might often be accused of thinking in more “black and white” terms. That is not to say, of course, that men and women all think alike, or in certain ways. Diversity simply brings advantages when looking for different perspectives.
“For example, in addition to thinking about finance arrangements and vehicle types, I would think about how to make sure our customers had a great time with us,” Candice explains. “You need a mix of those two attitudes – and I think that’s why women in this industry can be so successful. They bring about a certain je ne sais quoi that sometimes doesn’t exist in a male-dominated environment.”
Challenging perceptions
While Candice believes attitudes and perceptions are evolving, there is considerable work to do to change the perspective of some members of the industry. “It’s not even through any fault of their own,” she suggests. “Quite often those negative stereotypes come from upbringing.”
Being a male-dominated and often highly competitive environment might be what limits the industry’s appeal to a broader demographic. It takes a certain kind of person to thrive in that environment, Candice suggests, and most not born into the industry might not think to join unless they had a certain interest in the vehicles or driving them.
While her background in education has majored on equality, many industries have missed out on that sensitivity training. The result is not simply the prevalence of a certain demographic – it is an industry that must fight to attract young people. “That’s a massive gap that we all need to be working towards. You’ve got to give opportunities to people, regardless of their gender, age, race or religion.”
Benefits of diversity
Masons has two female drivers, both described as among the best the company employs. Both Candice and James agree that having those two women on the team has had a more positive impact than simply two great drivers, including better units among the staff as a whole.
“I can’t quite work out what their ingredient is,” says Candice. “Adding two women to a male dominated driving team has changed the dynamic. They bring forward great new ideas and seem to think completely differently to the men. An example is how they often respond more enthusiastically to training days. They gee up the whole team.”
While on pause because of the pandemic, Masons this year devised a recruitment and training programme which aims to take on two new drivers each year. “We’ve tried to write an advertisement that would be attractive to everyone. And we’re not just putting them through the mandatory training to pass their qualifications. They will learn the Masons way of doing things.”
The Masons way, as Candice describes it, is giving new starters the opportunity to learn about the industry, the business, and how they can get behind future growth. It’s certainly a departure from the classic ‘old boys’ club’ approach.
The job advert doesn’t simply promote the job of being a coach driver. To reach a wider audience, Candice has tried to keep it light-hearted but realistic: “Coaching is not a nine-to-five job. It’s about getting Mandy to her exam on time, Barbara to her National Trust visit with the Women’s Institute. People need to know being a coach driver is about more than simply driving a coach back and forth.”
Candice has also taken recruitment to broader horizons through social media, recognising that every channel should be exploited when looking for new candidates.
Starting point for change
With the COVID-19 pandemic putting businesses on pause, offering time for companies to reset and rethink, could this be the opportunity for the final push in shifting attitudes? Candice believes so.
“One of the things I love to do is watch what other operators are doing. During the lockdown periods I have watched them diversify, move business online, and think about the way they are marketing and selling their business,” she explains.
To that end, even Masons has taken the opportunity during the slowdown in business to look closely at the behaviour of its customers and how they want to book coaches. As a result, it is looking to push forward instant quotes, something Candice has been consistently told is not possible – but which is now close to going live. “My aim is to think about the realities of how people are purchasing these days,” she says. The naysayers are still making their voices heard, but whether it succeeds or not is perhaps less important than the fact that, once again, Candice is the driving force behind innovative change within the business.
And if changing things up is to be the lasting legacy of the pandemic, now is the opportunity for operators to embrace the message that the coach industry has a place for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, religion or gender.
