RURAL ECONOMY AND CONNECTIVITY COMMITTEE

CALL FOR EVIDENCE ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE RURAL ECONOMY AND CONNECTIVITY IN

SUBMISSION FROM ELIZABETH YULE TRANSPORT

Elizabeth Yule Transport are a family run business with a fleet of 8 PCV vehicles based in , , Scotland.

Our company was established in 1966 by Mrs Elizabeth Yule and through the aid of her business partners, myself - Richard Morton (a great nephew of Mrs Yule) and Alexandra Bridges we proudly entered our 50yrs of service to the Coach Industry 4 years ago.

We carry out various work from Local Bus Services, School Contracts, Weddings, Funerals, Airport Transfers, Rail Replacement, Local Tours, Scottish Island Tours, Cruise Ship Tours from Invergordon, Greenock and Queensferry, Concerts, Sporting Events etc. We travel all over Scotland to various Visitor Attractions like the Falkirk Wheel, Edinburgh, Stirling and various other Castles, Distilleries in Speyside as well as Scottish Islands like Islay, Arran, Jura, Millport, Orkney etc.

At present our workforce consists of 12 employees, 9 of which are full time employees and all local to the area and the two business partners.

Our School Contracts require us to transport pupils from Calvine, , , Pitlochry etc to Pitlochry High School and Breadalbane Academy in Aberfeldy. We also carry out School Trips for Pitlochry, Grandtully, , Kirkmichael and Perth Schools.

We also supply transport on an annual basis to the Enchanted Forest Trust a Local Charity run Company which brings in excess of £7.5M to Pitlochry and surrounding areas. This unfortunately like 100% of all our Private Hire Tour work has been cancelled this year, along with the closure of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre to which we also supply transport from local hotels on a daily basis throughout the season, this is not only a loss of roughly £4m to the local community but a substantial financial impact to our company.

To what extent have the sector(s) been equipped to mitigate these impacts directly and to what extent have they needed to rely on interventions from Scottish and UK Governments / other external bodies?

Elizabeth Yule Transport like many other Coach Companies are extremely exposed to the impacts of COVID-19.

In the early stages prior to Lockdown we received various cancellations for the first few months to which we lost thousands of pounds worth of Private Hires.

After Lockdown was announced we then received more devastating news of further cancellations throughout the summer season adding to our problems. We have since in the last month received information regarding our main sources of income like the Enchanted Forrest and the Pitlochry Festival Theatre closing for the complete season. We are now facing an 18 month winter to which we have lost 100% of private hire work costing us in excess of £350,000 in Annual Turnover. This is asking serious questions regarding the future operation of our company and will have devastating effects to our employees, families and the town of Pitlochry as a whole.

We understand the decision to restrict travel and impose a minimum of 2 metres social distancing. However these restrictions leave us completely unable to mitigate the impacts of the crisis on our business. Without coach industry government support it is likely that many companies like ours will have no option but to close doors for good as no one is going to pay the price for a Coach running at 25% capacity, this also affects our Local Service Bus ticket revenue which is a substantial source of income.

For us, time is running out. We currently face standing costs of £13,000 per month even with finance payment holidays, staff on furlough and our doors closed.

Can you share the findings of any research that may have been undertaken into the impacts of COVID-19 on the sector(s) and communities in question and how they have responded? Are there examples of innovation and best practice internationally in responding to COVID-19 that could benefit the sector(s) and communities in question in Scotland?

We understand our trade association; The Confederation of Passenger Transport UK has undertaken a series of industry surveys to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on the industry. Key findings are: • Coach operators are extremely reliant on the furlough scheme with over 80% of all staff on furlough across the Scottish coach industry. • Over 20% of operators have not been able to access the Coronavirus Business Support Fund despite assurances that, as a tourism and leisure industry, the coach businesses would be able to do so. • 48% of operators operate home to school transport contracts, however there is a large variance in payment rates and conditions across Scotland. Some local authorities are paying 100% of contract rates, others 33% effectively creating a postcode lottery for operators. • Around 80% of the coach industry’s income is derived from tourism related activities. • Despite staff on furlough and operations closed the average coach company faces almost £1,450 per day in standing costs. • Cash reserves have further been depleted by refund requests from customers.

What has been the immediate impact of COVID-19 on the sector(s), including on livelihoods and on the wellbeing of those working in the sector(s) and in dependent communities?

Like many in our industry Elizabeth Yule Transport is heavily reliant on seasonal business, during the winter months our operation does very little private hire work and often runs at a loss. We use the busier summer season to recover these losses and prepare our business for the next winter period, however this year there are no summer operations at all. The effects of COVID-19 hit our business sector at the worst time possible and the continued measures has put the future viability of our industry into question.

We play a vital role in the Scottish Tourism industry. The industry supports over 1.8m tourist journeys, equating to £850m of value to the Scottish Economy. We as explained above transport large numbers of people to Scotland’s towns, cities, rural and remote locations, attractions and hotels.

We perform an essential role in cruise ship tourism, school transport, sporting and cultural events in addition to providing local links that are critical to accessibility to work as well as social events.

Without companies such as ours these communities and important aspects of daily life will be severely affected. Destinations and businesses will see significant reductions in visitors and revenues, and those who rely on us to access locations or activities that are otherwise inaccessible would see further social isolation.

What is your assessment of the resilience of the sector(s) to the COVID-19 crisis, and how might resilience to future shocks, including further waves of infection from COVID-19 and future pandemics, be improved?

Our industry is completely exposed to the current crisis. We have no options available to us that can help absorb the effects of the current wave let alone further waves or future pandemics.

Due to the confined space of a coach it is unlikely that we will be able to operate in the foreseeable future. Current social distancing measures advise from as little as 10-25% of total capacity, this alone will put our future operations in jeopardy due to further impacts on our financial standings.

Should the social distancing not be reduced to allow an increase in passengers and Specific Government Support, it is unlikely that our company will survive the current crisis nor any future waves of infection.

How effectively has the support provided by the relevant division(s) of the Scottish Government and/or related bodies addressed that sector’s / those sectors’ needs? Has support been equitable, and has it been appropriate to the long-term recovery that you would like to see?

Whilst our business was successful in receiving Coronavirus Business Support funding of £10,000 we were initially refused and it was not until we received assistance from our trade association that we were successful in our application.

Our application to the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund was unsuccessful, however at this stage we have not been informed as to why we were unable to secure funding when other coach operators have received funds. We had forecast a loss of £99,000 in Cash Flow, however we had not been classed as “Pivotal” to progress through to the second stage of the application. I have been in touch with Enterprise Scotland and my Local MP John Swinney who has pursued this on our behalf and asked that I be given an explanation as to why we are not classed as “Pivotal” and why we did not tick all the boxes required.

It is our hope that the Scottish Government comes to the aid of the Scottish Coach Tourism and considers a sector-specific solution that allows our industry to survive. Scotland needs a strong coach industry; not only for its crucial role in supporting the wider tourism industry post COVID-19, but also as key resilience partner in supporting Scotland’s recovery.

What lessons can be learned from how the relevant divisions of the Scottish Government and/or related bodies have responded to the impact of the COVID19 emergency on the sector(s) in question? Are governance arrangements adequate to deal with disruption, such as that caused by COVID-19? Can you provide specific examples of good practice in this respect?

It is my understanding that there has been a lack of consistency within Local Council with regards to Home to School Transport and Local Bus Service Contracts with some continuing to paying 100% and others as little as 33%. My personal opinion is that this funding should have been paid out at 100% from every Local Authority as this revenue had already been accounted for prior to COVID-19.

In what ways do you anticipate that COVID-19 will result in longer-term or possibly permanent changes to ways of working in the sector(s) and what are the practical and financial implications of these changes?

Without sector specific funding it is likely that businesses such as ours will begin to fail due to the extended loss of work associated with COVID-19.

It is possible that this will in turn cause hardship for the many businesses that rely on group travel. There will be fewer available vehicles to cover rail replacement and there may be occasions where no vehicles are available. Shortages in vehicle availability for home to school transport could also be seen.

Even if our company survives the crisis we find it impossible to invest in vehicle improvements or replacements for many years due to the financial difficulties suffered, slowing air quality improvements.

What should the Scottish Government be doing to support the sector(s) in question to deal with these future challenges?

The Scottish Government should identify and provide industry specific support to help the coach industry meet the unique challenges that we face. CPT has proposed such a model that seeks a per vehicle funding package based on the average costs that the industry incurs.

The government should engage with CoSLA to attempt to generate a uniform response across the country to the payment of supported services and home to school contracts. Likewise, the expectations of each authority as to how home to school transport should be carried out should be as consistent as possible.

We hope that the above comments will be helpful to the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee. Please do contact us should you have any questions about our comments our would like further information on any aspect of our response.