The winter months in the private hire minibus and coach industry often sees revenue streams fluctuate and this year is no different. Operators UK wide have a different story to tell with some citing bumper results whilst others are openly contacting me advising how quiet they are and need more work.
When you combine the two, it blends into one for a business like Proximity. After a massive September which took me out of the business for large periods, we did suffer in October as the pipeline opportunities were probably not followed through as rigorously and vigorously as usual. Never the less, we recorded a ninth straight green shoot on our forecasts in what was on reflection a conservative Y1 target.
November saw a really positive month in terms of fulfilment and future orders. Anyone who knows me will know that we do not price with a view to scraping the barrel or indeed driving the market down. We do price our work blindly, but any operator who does business with us will vouch it’s always at their price, not ours. This gives us a real indication of the market place and the disparity is quite alarming. Our job is to ensure we offer our customers the level of service that we aspire and for our suppliers to deliver. Cutting corners is not an option.
The market place is very much a buyers market at this time of year and we have to find the sweet spot that enables us to work with operators of all sizes, in all areas. Whilst this is a fine balancing act, our average quotes and orders so far in Q4 illustrate our appetite to retain strong rates as the visual shows (see visual below).
We have found that November has tipped October (primarily due to us not converting to the usual levels in September for the month ahead, something we have addressed by bringing in a dedicated sales resource in the New Year). December will eclipse November with a host of last minute Christmas Parties and a strong sporting calendar between Christmas and New Year.
We track our numbers through the excellent #Savari management system that has already given us an edge on conversions and future forecasts. This has seen us take great satisfaction in the consistent levels of service we are producing not just through our excellent supply chain but our internal stakeholders too. We benchmark every day, we know where we need to be to produce strong conversions that lead to positive reviews and future retention.
As we enter 2026, AI is already part of our business with the use of Apollo.io a tool that we believe will enable us to explore every opportunity of scope.
Screen grab 1: Average Values: 1st Oct-1st Dec inclusive
Screen grab 2: Overview of fulfilled revenue in September, October and November, with actual and projected for December in dark/pale blue.
