Shearings

Shearings

Setra S416GT in August 2011
Parent	3i
Founded	1919
Headquarters	Wigan
Service type	Coach services
Fleet	279 (September 2013)
Chief executive	Denis Wormwell
Website	www.shearings.com

Shearings^[1] is Europe’s largest coach tour operator, specialising in holidays for the over-55s including escorted tours, short breaks, river cruises and ocean cruises. The company’s head office is in Wigan, with its hotel division’s headquarters in Torquay.

History

In its present form, Shearings is an amalgamation of four separate companies: Smiths Happiways, Shearings, National Holidays and Wallace Arnold.^[2]

Smiths Happiways

In 1903 William Webster commenced trading as a haulage and removals contractor and passenger carrier, offering coach transport, and by 1931, Webster Bros (Wigan)^[3] offered excursions and tours to North Wales and Manchester.^[4]

In 1914, James Smith began operating coach tours from Wigan and Southport. The first tour was to John O’Groats. Webster Bros purchased James Smith’s coach business in 1931, and a new company, James Smith & Co (Wigan) Limited, was formed. By 1935, Webster Bros (Wigan) marketed 'Webster’s Tours', operated by James Smith & Co.^[4]

The first tours to Continental Europe were offered in 1938, continuing up until the outbreak of World War II. Smiths claimed to be the first company to operate coach tours to Europe after the war, with a sell-out 14-day tour to Switzerland in May 1946. In 1947, the company carried 6,000 passengers, of which more than 10% travelled to mainland Europe.^[5]

In 1958, Smiths was purchased by Les Gleave, and renamed Smith’s Tours (Wigan).^[5][6] Wilf Blundell of Southport purchased Smith’s Tours from Gleave in 1964.^[7]

Blundell began his coach operation with just one coach in 1950, later purchasing Blundells Coaches (Southport) Ltd^[8] in 1952, Enterprise Coaches Ltd in 1955, Poole’s Coaches Ltd in 1958 and Tootle’s Tours Ltd in 1960. This portfolio of companies formed Blundell Holiday Group Ltd.^[7][9]

Blundell purchased Spencer’s Tours and Happiway Tours from Edwin Holden in 1968, merging both companies to form Happiway-Spencers Ltd.^[10] By 1975 Blundell’s coaches were branded as Smiths Happiway-Spencers, and in 1980 the company Smiths Happiway-Spencers Ltd was formed, consolidating Blundell’s coach operations.^[10][11]

Shearings

Shearings was founded in 1919 in Oldham by Herbert Shearing. Shearings took over Eniway Motor Tours Ltd in 1935, a company offering express coach transport between Manchester and London.^[12]

On Herbert Shearing's retirement in 1949, two new companies were formed: Shearings Tours (Manchester) Ltd and Shearings Tours (Oldham) Ltd. In 1953 the business was sold to James Robinson, then-owner of Happiway Tours Ltd. Happiway Tours was sold to Edwin Holden, owner of Spencers Tours, in 1957. Robinson kept the Shearings Tours companies, consolidating them as Shearings Holidays Ltd in 1963, before selling the company to the Jackson family of Altrincham in 1964.^[1][12]

Jackson had purchased Pleasureways in 1955 and, following an agreement to share resources and pick-up points with Blackburn based Ribblesdale, their coaches being branded Shearings-Pleasureways-Ribblesdale, shortened to Shearings Ribblesdale in 1979 and Shearings Holidays in 1982.^[12]

Merger with Smiths Happiways

In March 1982, Associated Leisure Limited^[13] acquired the Blundell Group including Smiths Happiways-Spencers. The Spencer name was quickly dropped, the company becoming Smiths Happiways. Associated Leisure acquired Shearings Holidays in January 1984 and later that year, Associated Leisure was bought by Pleasurama.^[14][15]

From 1985 Pleasurama’s coaches were rebranded Smiths Shearings, but both companies continued to operate separate programmes until 1987, when the two were formally merged as Smiths Shearings.^[15]

Merger with National Holidays

National Holidays was established in 1976 to co-ordinate the coach activities of the state owned National Bus Company.^[16] As part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, National Holidays was sold to Pleasurama in July 1986.^[17] Coaches in National Holidays livery were rebranded Shearings National in 1989.^[15] Also in 1989, Mecca Leisure Group purchased Pleasurama immediately dropping the Smiths name, and subsequently merging National Holidays with Shearings.^[18]

In 1988 the business of Jenkins, Skewen was purchased.^[19]

The Rank Organisation took over Mecca in 1990,^[20] and continued to own Shearings Holidays until selling it to a management buyout in 1996 backed by Bridgepoint Capital.^[21]

In March 1990 the business of Eagle Coaches, Tunbridge Wells was purchased with 25 buses and coaches^[22] followed in May 1990 by Gwalia Coaches, Llandudno Junction with 23 coaches.^[23]

Merger with Wallace Arnold

In February 2005 venture capitalist 3i, then owners of Shearings Holidays' main competitor Wallace Arnold, purchased a controlling stake in Shearings.^[24][25] 3i merged the two competitors under the WA Shearings brand.^[26][27]

In September 2007 WA Shearings was rebranded as Shearings Holidays.^[28] The merger included eight travel shops in Yorkshire, rebranded from Wallace Arnold Travel to WA Shearings. These kept the WA Shearings name until 2010, when they reverted to their original Wallace Arnold Travel name.^[29]

Company Overview

Shearings Group

Today, Shearings Holidays is part of Shearings Group, which also comprises Bay Hotels, Coast & Country Hotels, value brand National Holidays, Scottish tour operator Caledonian Holidays and Wallace Arnold Travel.

Coach Fleet

As of September 2013 the fleet consisted of 279 coaches. Until 1991 Shearings fleet purchases were Leyland Tigers^[30][31] after which it switched to Volvo B10Ms and later Volvo B12Ms. Since 2009 it has purchased Setras with 164 in the fleet as at September 2013. The balance of the fleet comprises Volvo B12Ms purchased between 2003 and 2006.^[32]

Hotels

Shearings’ Hotels division is based in Torquay. As at October 2013, Shearings owns 49 properties across England, Scotland and Wales operated under the Bay Hotels and Coast & Country brands.^[33]

Bay Hotels (strapline: "The best of times") are focused around the communal holiday experience, often with cabaret entertainment. Coast & Country (strapline: "Inviting hotels in stunning locations") have all been upgraded to at least three-star standard, and offer a more relaxed atmosphere, often with additional facilities such as swimming pools, saunas, fitness rooms and jacuzzis.

Shearings also work with a wide variety of hoteliers across the UK and Europe, from small family-run hotels to large chains. The company has a particularly close relationship with the Hotel Britannia Excelsior in Lake Como, with whom Shearings has worked for many years. Shearings offers all-inclusive holidays into this hotel all year round.

River cruises

Over the past few years, Shearings has grown its river cruise programme. As of 2013, the company exclusively charters five river cruise vessels: the MPS Rotterdam, the MPS Da Vinci, the MV Virginia, the MV Esmeralda and the MS Alegria. Shearings also sells onto other operators’ river cruises.

Former operations

In the late 1980s Smiths Shearings purchased some bus operations in Skewen,^[19] and established operations in Telford,^[34] Barnsley^[35] and Tunbridge Wells.^[22] These were sold to the management team who established a company called Timeline Buses to take them over in 1991/92.

References

External links

• Shearings Facebook page
• Shearings Flickr page
• Smith & Shearings Flickr gallery
• Shearings Flickr gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shearings.