Shearings hits the road to success
COACH tour holiday specialist Shearings Group has notched-up annual revenues of £200m for the first time in its history after passenger numbers hit a new record.
The Wigan-based company, which also owns a number of leisure hotels as well as 240 coaches, said earnings had surged 22% in 2014 to £7.1m as 1.1 million people (up 2%) took holidays with it.
Total revenues increased 3% to £200.8m (2013: £195m) amid strong demand from its core 50+ customer base.
As well as higher passenger numbers the company said it had become leaner during 2014, which had bolstered margins.
It also invested significantly too. Total expenditure on hotel refurbishments in 2014 reached £3.6m, while its has upgraded its fleet in the last two years to the tune of £25m. Its Shearings Holidays and National Holidays brands are set to take delivery of 38 new high specification Mercedes Benz Euro 6 coaches this month.
The business, which was the subject of a management buyout last year, also reduced its overall net indebtedness further to £4.5m (2013: £7.8m).
Chief executive Denis Wormwell said: “This was a truly transformational year for the group with a successful capital restructuring and the third successive year of improved financial results, despite the challenging backdrop of unfavourable weather in the earlier part of 2014.
“Our loyal customers are experiencing the benefit of our ongoing investment programme in hotels, coaches and digital technology and we’ve attracted thousands of new customers with our ever-expanding range of short and long breaks in the UK and overseas markets.”
Shearings said some of its best performing breaks were European Battlefields tours commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War and its range of river cruises. It also saw growth in a new ‘Your Time’ holiday brand, which targets the over 65s singles market.
Its National Holidays business, which specialises in value-led breaks and live events, said among its strongest sellers were the new Coronation Street Attraction tour, which took over 22,000 bookings, and Dancing on Ice: The Final Tour.
In the year to date, Shearings said that total bookings remained positive and forward sales for the summer were up on the previous year, despite the continuing trend towards late bookings.
Over a third of the Group’s bookings are now made online and it expects this to increase to 50% by the end of next year.
Wormwell added: “The ongoing rise in bookings and customer volumes has given us the confidence to continue the significant capital investment in our hotel estate. Over the next two years will be investing almost £10m in room upgrades and improved facilities which we expect to increase further our repeat booking rates and customer loyalty.”
Alongside its results, the group also announced the appointment of former Travelodge CEO and chairman Grant Hearn as a non-executive director.
