Oakwood Travel (Classic Bus North West)

[P528LND]

RE: Classic Bus North West

(25/12/2013 22:23)KU02 YUH Wrote:  Why don't companies start with one service and expand on that to make it better, expanding in small steps by branching off of that route to provide a better service for its identified customer base whilst expanding (as such)? Your idea regarding the 12 is a perfect example - improving what they've already established alongside expanding into a new market! Or have I lost the plot?

I agree with you massively, however when a small company starts up in an area where another has a massive monopoly to the point that no matter where they run they will have competition, they have no chance running one route, because passengers then only have the choice of going to one or two places on this one route. With a full network going, you can then actually compete on other corridors and giving a much larger area for people to get around in on day tickets and week tickets.

Even though that sounds self explanatory, it's still not that easy - because there's never enough money in a new-starting company for them to be able to do this, market it, make it run perfectly etc. etc.

ClassicBus had a golden opportunity when they set up in an area where the competition is [merely] a municipal, they could have put up a good fight if they weren't playing around in Manchester. This here was the worst thing they could have done to themselves for its own reasons.

That's enough input for me anyway, there could have been much more problems behind closed doors that played a bigger part. The likelihood is, we probably will never know.