Bourton-on-the-Water operator Pulham’s Coaches has been recognised as an exemplar operator through the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s Earned Recognition scheme. An audit of all systems and processes was carried out in February.
“It’s always been an ambition of mine to join the Earned Recognition scheme,” says Finance Director Kathryn Pulham. “I love an audit and Earned Recognition offered positive challenges to think about how we could streamline the procedures that we had, and how we could make things better.”
Alongside its CoachMarque and Guild of British Coach Operators memberships, Pulhams says it plans to use the membership to publicise to its clients how serious it takes compliance and safety, alongside other aspects of the business such as cleaning schedules and recruitment policy. “There’s a whole host of things it includes, and it’s very timely for us because we would have an Earned Recognition audit this year and a Guild of British Coach Operators audit the following year,” says Ms Pulham. “That means we will have an audit every single year from now on, as long as we remain members of those schemes. That’s an opportunity to demonstrate to our customers how serious we are about running our business in a compliant and professional way.”
Ms Pulham describes the process to achieve compliance as “gruelling” but that it is nothing less than what professional coach operators should be aiming for. “We want our industry to be seen in a professional light. We want customers to be satisfied with the services we offer. And we want our staff to be professional and behave in a professional manner. Earned Recognition is nothing short of what we should all be aiming for.”
KPI reporting comes through the assistance of Distinctive Systems’ vehicle maintenance system and TruTac, which have both been “incredibly supportive” in setting up the necessary background systems. “We have enjoyed working with our suppliers – they take positive feedback in improving the systems that we are all working on to try and reach these targets,” says Ms Pulham.
Pulhams says the Earned Recognition has put it back “in the game” following the pandemic. “We perhaps would have joined earlier, if not for the pandemic,” says Ms Pulham, “But hopefully as we emerge it will give us a platform to generate new business.”
The government’s review of heavy vehicle testing recently suggested that Earned Recognition members’ vehicles could be subject to less frequent test intervals.
