Pupils see France by coach
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's a growing business . .
THERE'S MORE to school transport than carrying children to school every weekday with occasional visits to swimming baths, although this work is the basic diet of many coach firms.
One company that has branched out is Biss Brothers of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, One of this firm's principal fields of work is Continental travel by schools.
For some years the company has concentrated on Continental travel. The schools side of the business is marketed by a separate company — Biss Brothers Travel Centre Ltd — with an office at Harlow. Coaches are hired to Travel Centre at an economic rate by Biss Brothers coaches — and then the Travel Centre organises the actual work.
Last year the company took around 120 coachloads of children to Europe in the same coaches used for luxury tours and express services, making around 5,000 passenger journeys. This is only five years after beginning to specialise in this field.
For 1977 Biss Brothers have produced their third large illustrated brochure to try to encourage Continental travel by schools, and 6,000 of these have been distributed in a large area of southern England.
Although the education sector in this country has by no means escaped the economic crises, the level of bookings from school parties did not decline at all last year — no doubt partly owing to the great deal of work Biss Brothers put into this sector of their market. The summer is the busiest period, but the company has had some success in encouraging schools to make journeys in the spring and autumn.
"We look for business mainly in Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk and the Greater London area," Ken Howlett of the Biss Travel Centre told me.
If the school is within 100 miles of the port to be used then the price advertised in the programme applies. For schools over 100 miles from the port, a surcharge of 40p per mile for loaded journeys also is charged to the nearest pick-up point. Selling the school travel programme is the responsibility of M Howlett, who runs the Harlow office. The brochures are posted t most schools which fall within an arc drawn from the Wash to Southampton. • It is always difficult to ensure that these get to the right teacher who has the responsibility or resourcefulness to organise school trips abroad. Sometimes the brochures are mailed addressed to the Headmaster and sometimes to the Head of Languages — either waY they stand a good chance of getting to the right person.
"Apart from the chancy business of mail-shots the message about the facilities offered by Biss Brothers spreads through the educational grapevine by word of mouth'', said Mr Howlett. "The turnover of teaching staff at some schools is quite incredible — we often get inquiries from people we have dealt with before but who now work for schools at the other end of th( country." Adverts are also taken in The Teacher, which also brings in some bookings.
School visits are supposed to be educational rather than merely a short holiday on the Continent, so when Biss Brothers first started to set up their programme they searched out a small — typically French— town with easy access to the Channel ports. Le Treport, a small town in Normandy, seemed to fit the bill admirably and the company is still using it today for a large number of two and three-day trips.
Accommodation of varying standards is on offer. Holland is also an interestingvenue largely because of the land reclamation carried out there.
A few years ago school children demanded hotel accommodation instead of the hostels they had been happy with in the past. This trend now seems to have been reversed with the cheaper hostels more popular because of the changing economic situation.
When the party stays in an Auberge (dormitory) meals are
3ken in a café mentioned in the Biss brochure. It gives pupils a 3ste of French life: "Pierre and Yvonne have owned and lanaged this café for years," says the brochure. "Pierre goes shing in his own boat and its not unusual for gish to be served -let Pierre has caught that very day.'"
Since the "discovery" of Le Treport the company has xpanded to offer visits of varying duration and standards of ccommodation. Chartres, Rouen, Paris, Roman France, Holland, lelgium, Luxembourg, are established features.in the school rrochure: Champagne, Germany and Amsterdam are additions.
Most schools using Biss Brothers to visit the Continent take dvantage of the itineraries and tours already vvorked and priced ly the firm, but Biss Brothers can offer tailor rnade tours as well, With such a high proportion of the work being on the :ontinent the company has an agent in France to handle affairs I that end, and to keep an eye on the hotels. Biss Brothers have lad trouble with some hotels and have even considered buying heir own.
When a teacher phones the Biss travel office in Harlovv with a ,pecific inquiry for a school trip, he is given an option on the iooking. Biss Brothers then hold a booking in their name without ibligation for an agreed period of time — usually two weeks. 'his allows the teacher time to collect numbers for the trip and to let deposits from the children.
On the strength of the option Biss Brothers make hotel eservations for the trip. While on the Continent the coach and Inver are available free of charge to the school, provided an iverage of 100 miles per day is not exceeded. Any miles ravelled over this limit are charged at 40p per mile.
This brochure lays out tables of charges for the usual ontinental departures for periods of either two or three days for tumbers of paying passengers varying betwei3n 20 and 40. At he lower end of this passenger range two adults travel free while it the top end of the range four adults travel 'tree. Many school s ha' ,e special funds they can make available for educational trips an d a feiiv have a wealthy benefactor who sometimes puts up money. The Education Department insists on a certain ratio of s/.aff members to students on these trips — usually one to 12 and this is why Biss Brothers allow some adults to travel fri2e with the fare-paying children.
As such a lava ,e proportion of the work is on the Continent — with schools. tor Jrs and an express service to Athens — the company has Standardised on heavy-duty chassis for its coaches and reclining s eats in the bodies.
The older o oaches are largely AEC, the newer ones Volvo. But in the future he company decided to standardise on Leyland Leopard. Ger ieral manager Bill Varney told me that the high purchase pr ice of Volvo coaches makes them uneconomic.
The chei2per Leopards have proved very reliable, although their fuel r onsumption is rather on the heavy side, says Mr Varney.
The or ily problem with running heavy chassis coaches is that the body styles tend to date long before the chassis wear out. With th,2 recent large rises in chassis price, Biss Brothers are now considering rebodying some of their older chassis. Latest recruit to the fleet is a Van Hool-bodied Leopard.
Ear lier Van Hools in the fleet greatly impressed Bill Varney and Roge r Biss because of their great body strength. All the drivers have": their own regular coaches and all take their vehicles to the Continent. In busy periods some drivers can take three separate twO-day school trips over the Continent — and of course come ba ck with duty-free cigarettes and spirits on eYery journey. Biss
.others pay for all their drivers" passports and renewals from the d ate that they join the firm.
With charges as low as £16.65 per child for a two-day trip to Le Treport. Biss Brothers see their school travel business continuing to hold steady through the depression. But with a business as diverse as theirs, the future must look good.
e Martin Watkins