ANDREW POOLEY Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company
HELPING TO DEVELOP THE WHOLE SOUTH DEVON ECONOMY ANDREW POOLEY UPDATES US ON THE COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS INITIATIVES HE’S OVERSEEING AT THE HERITAGE RAILWAY, RIVER BOAT AND BUS COMPANY.
“We are really proud of the way the company is performing at the moment, despite the challenging economic climate,” he said. “Any company today needs to work for the good of its whole community and we are determined to support all the communities we are connected to, and help make the whole area more attractive to visitors, who bring huge amounts of money into the area.” The company has pioneered a new series of passes which they believe make their trains, boats and buses the most economical way of travelling around the South Hams and South Devon as a whole. “We have the Jubilee pass which allows unlimited, affordable travel on all our services for between 2-5 days. We reckon that could save an adult more than £100 if they travelled on all our routes including Teignmouth, Torbay, Salcombe, Dartmouth, Dittisham, Paignton, Brixham and Totnes. A family could save £300 in the same way. The Jubilee Pass also allows you to claim 10% off in many stores and restaurants in the area, including Rockfish, Dartmouth (and the store discount element lasts for the whole season, not just for the duration of the Pass). “The Victorians brought holidays for the masses to the coasts of Britain on the trains and I think we are moving into a time with higher fuel prices when not only the cost of travel to a destination will be important, but the cost of exploring once there will come into play too. “We provide a system that encourages people to visit this area because they
know they will see more of it in a fun and interesting way. We believe that we can help the sustainability of the whole area through bringing more visitors here, who bring money into the local economy.”
Mr Pooley explained that the company was committed to keeping hold of and investing in staff from the local area. “We’ve invested in our staff and worked hard to ensure they have year-round jobs,” he said. “We want our staff to be multi-skilled – so we now have trained shipwrights, plumbers and electricians working for us who can maintain our fleet and stock. This not only gives them more job security it helps us to create a good solid business for the future. We’ve also invested in new technology and simple things like a streamlined phone system so that
everyone gets the same customer service from trained staff.” The company wants to be a part of the community in all its bases, look after their customers and staff, promote the area as a whole to tourists and help grow the economy of the whole area. “We have acquired other
Everyone who uses our network will spend time in Dartmouth – and they will spend money.
businesses in the area, but these were not hostile takeovers,” he said. “They approached us as they believed we could do the best job as the custodians for their business. “We also want to do our bit for the community and donate to charity – last year we chose Barnado’s as our charity and this year we are supporting Rowcroft Hospice and the RNLI. In addition, we have invested in our facilities, including £1.2 million on our station in Paignton that is packed with green technology but still manages to give the right nostalgic feel for our customers. “We do a lot of research into what our customers and the community wants and we are developing what we offer in line with that – for example our new Ambassador Pass enables locals to use our network. Tthis pass costs just £15 and allows half price travel for the rest of the season. Businesses that don’t change are going to struggle – especially now. “We are being creative and proactive in our marketing to promote not just our services, but South Devon as a whole,” he said. “We are one of the few businesses from this area which go to national trade fairs at the NEC and elsewhere telling
contd over 61
Managing Director,
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144