Matthews featured in Buszone Magazine
Monday, 08 February 2010 15:32
Customer Service is King
ONE OF THE LARGEST TRANSPORT COMPANIES IN IRELAND, PADDY MATTHEWS TAKES TIME TO TELL US HOW HIS DESIRE FOR PERFECTION LED TO THE CREATION OF MATTHEWS COACHES WHICH IS PROVING TO BE A NATIONAL SUCCESS.
Article courtesy of Buszone. Read Issue 7 online here.
By any standards what Paddy Matthews has done with his Company within the Bus & Coach industry is remarkable. From a single staff member, himself, he has built it into a highly respected private hire and daily commuter transport Company which now employs 48 people at Inniskeen, Dundalk.
Paddy Matthews has always been involved in the transport industry, driving trucks all over Ireland and Europe for 18 years. However, after been in receipt of disability benefit for six years, paddy decided to look at some alternative means of employment. During a visit to the local rehab office he met with Tom Kavanagh, the Regional Manager of Rehab, where they discussed Paddy’s skills.
With a Heavy Goods CPC under his belt, Tom thought he should take the CPC for the Coach industry. Midway through the course he was offered an opportunity that was going to change his life. A local operator was selling up and offered Paddy first refusal. It was 1995 and Paddy purchased the bus and contracts for a total of £8K.
The first bus was a 16 seat, Mercedes Benz 308D, the start of what was to be one of Dundalk’s success stories offering commuter services to the town for shopping, local school outings, sporting events, social clubs. Business grew, and in the first twelve months Paddy had increased his fleet with three further buses.
In 1996 he purchased a ‘82 Leyland Tiger from Carolan Coaches in Nobber Co Meath. He had a plan for the Tiger, Coach day trips which was really unheard of so Paddy took a gamble and placed an advert in the local newspaper offering a day trip to the Viking Hotel owned by Daniel O’ Donnell. The trip would head for Donegal stopping at Jackson’s Hotel for breakfast and onto the Viking for dinner. This success eventually saw Paddy looking to create other day trips. “Looking back now I am still surprised at how I managed to find enough hours in the day to grow the business,” said Paddy.
THE COMPANY
Now it’s a family affair with Mary, Paddy’s wife and their three sons, all involved in the running of the business, providing excellent and efficient service to their customers, both in their private hire and daily commuter service.
What is remarkable is that Paddy gives credit to the entire staff for the scale of the Company’s achievement. ‘Our staff are our frontline and first impressions last’ states Paddy as he welcomes us into his office. This was evident when Irish Coach Operators had their fuel rebate taken away. “How many operators survived after that is very surprising. In our case we had a large short fall, worrying times I have to admit but I knew that with the help of the staff we could get through it.” mentions Paddy. “We took all the frontline staff into a meeting and explained the situation, our calculations showed that with a small increase in passenger numbers we could survive and in turn retain all staff” continues Paddy.
He knew in his heart of hearts that they would make a special effort and it worked. Passenger numbers increased, drivers ensured that all customers received a warm welcome on board, all runs were on time, basically gave the customers an experience.
When asked about what form of advertising is most successful to his business Paddy states “Our drivers are our No. 1 advertisers, with them working to give all customers an extraordinary experience we can be assured of repeat business and many referrals.”
R&D
Research and development is key in this industry. Since our expansion in the commuter side of the business offering a scheduled route between Dundalk and Dublin, growth has been remarkable.
Their service, which offers a detailed schedule between the country’s capital and Dundalk, starting at 6.00am until 12 midnight is structured to suit various customer types, from visitors to professionals travelling to employment, over 2400 passengers to and back from Dublin per day on their 27 services. We were even shown evidence that customers are looking for additional night services on the route.
Development of the fleet is a must. Each year they upgrade a number of vehicles and in turn the drivers appreciate the comfortable environment they work within. Their drivers treat the vehicles as their own and in turn ensure the vehicle is cleaned regularly, ensuring that each customer experience the high standard offered by Matthews Coaches. They are currently integrating some features one would experience on an aircraft with the latest being a Safety DVD played to customers during the service. With increased competition they have to ensure to offer something different, add additional products. At the beginning of last year the Company decided to do some research in internet onboard its vehicles. In March they contacted Fleet Connect and had Wi-Fi fitted to 23 coaches used on their commuter routes. This new feature will allow passengers onboard to access the internet while they are on the coach to one of the many destinations. The service is being offered free to all passengers on board the coach who have a wap enabled phone or have access to a laptop. “Its astonishing the benefits of having this on our vehicle both from our customers and for the Company” states Paddy.
We also fitted GPS tracking in the vehicles which enabled the Company to monitor vehicle driving paterns and to study the habits of their drivers and with some work have now reduced their fuel bill by 18%. For the customer, the journey is fast and efficient, but no time is wasted while travelling as they have access to their emails and get a head start on their days work. Paddy believes that being a small private Company gives him a benefit of flexibility in introducing these benefits to his much appreciated customers. Back at the yard developments have taken place.
With the Matthews site a former farm yard the Company took the liberty of the slatted cattle shed where they now harvest rain water and this water is recycled and used in the daily washing of the vehicles.
SAFETY
Safety on Matthews coaches is a must. At the end of 2008 the private Company had breathalyser systems fitted to all their coaches. A first for Ireland, the Alcolock 500 system is an alcohol activated immobiliser. The Company operates a highly successful commuter and tour service and already has a 100% safety record.
Alcolocks can be retro-fitted to any vehicle. This addition to the fleet impressed the RSA and was launched at a formal presentation at the Citynorth Hotel in Julianstown by Gay Byrne. A large cross section of the business, tourism and political sectors were present for the launch which coincided with National Road Safety Week.
“At Matthews Coaches all our clients are highly valued and fitting Alcolocks confirms our commitment to their safety,” states Paddy. At Matthews their motto has always been – ‘We don’t follow standards. We set them.’
During the cold spell at the beginning of the month Matthews staff went a little further to put their commuters first. Paddy had been getting reports that Bettystown roads were impassable as there was no sign of gritting taking place. A number of services had to be cancelled, leaving his 1400 regular commuters stranded, so Paddy took drastic action and took matters into his own hands. Using their own gritter and salt, a number of staff, including Paddy, worked tirelessly over a weekend to clear the road and keep both his passengers and buses moving.
TOURS
Management haven’t forgotten the roots of the Company. Today the Company runs a very successful tour schedule covering all of Ireland and the UK. Today about 40% of the population is between 40 and 70 and in recent years the Company has seen an increased demand for coach Tours. It’s important to note that much planning is completed in advance. Ensuring attractive tours is a must to be successful in this end of the industry, adding additional features each year. “We have a strong loyal customer base, developed over the years, knowing that we have mastered the art in assuring that they will receive the professional service that they expect,” states Paddy.
TODAY
This month the Company has taken delivery of nine new Volvo Plaxton coaches, all of which were getting Wi-fi fitted while we were there. It’s important to ensure there is a plan each year. We take delivery of new vehicles in January and break them in gently when the service is busy with the extra student volume.
As the colleges close in April the new coaches slide gently into tour mode until October when the colleges reopen. Their vehicles turn 300k kilometers each year and it is important that the fleet is kept uptodate. With a strong family support it allows Paddy to look at the future. They have just completed and submitted their tender to supply vehicles at the 2012 London Olmypics. He is also working with the local Chamber of Commerce and Council planning to make the local area more accessible.
“We need to provide a local transport infrastructure for our local towns to survive. I am currently looking at electric vehicles with the possibility of starting some form of local service” states Paddy. With a fleet of 24 vehicles, the oldest 2008 reg Paddy states “the future is bright”.
Matthews Coaches doing ordinary things extraordinarily well