Carnforth family business celebrates 150th anniversary

The former ship’s captain had the foresight to swap the sea for the road when he saw business declining at his home port of Milnthorpe.

He bought a carriage to transport people and goods to and from Silverdale station and as tourism grew, so did his company which today is known as Travellers Choice, still run by the Shaw family.

Robert’s great grandson, also Robert, and his wife, Pam, are both Travellers Choice directors. Their sons, Mark and John are managing directors; Mark’s wife, Jackie is sales manager and John’s wife, Caroline is operations manager.

“It’s quite an achievement for a company to be in the same family for 150 years and a group of our staff have been with us for a long time too so they’re all part of the family,” said Jackie.

The coach company moved to its present location in Carnforth in 1995 and also has a depot at Dalton-in-Furness as well as operating Hunters coaches in Edinburgh. It employs around 130 people including drivers, mechanics and office staff.

In its early days, Shaw’s was mostly known for its carriages, charabancs and ‘motorised cars’ and by 1946 bought its first 29-seater motor coach. Until 1990, as funeral directors, the company also transported the dead as well as the living.

Twenty-five years ago, the company – then known as Shaw Hadwin – carried 30,000 passengers a year on daily excursions, and while it still offers day trips and holidays, this sector is small compared to other areas of the business.

Their fleet of 100 coaches ferry children to and from school and work for major tour operators specialising in incoming tourists from countries including China, America, Japan and Australia.

Ten years ago, Travellers Choice coaches were even involved in the London Olympics, transporting the athletes and media.

Their private hire service is used by a variety of organisations, with the military being their biggest customer.

“We’ve always worked with the military, providing coaches for all the forces, generally on training exercises abroad. It’s what kept us going, especially during Covid which was a scary uncertain time for many coach companies,” said Peter Butterfield, commercial and compliance manager.

Although many other such companies closed during the pandemic and Travellers Choice had to furlough some staff, it managed to continue, with some of their coaches even being used for school runs in London.

As the country emerges from the pandemic, the rising cost of fuel is another challenge for companies such as Travellers Choice. They estimate their fuel costs will increase by 40% and the scarcity of drivers could see wages rising by 15-20%.

“We are in the privileged position where we’ve not had to close our doors and have no intention of doing so,” said Peter.

The Carnforth depot is growing and recently saw the opening of its own testing centre while the coaches have to keep up-to-date with customer requirements which nowadays include satellite tv and WIFI.

It’s a far cry from 1872 when Robert Shaw first set out on what was to become a 150-year journey for his descendants.

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