"The colour of our coaches isn't the only thing that is green about us!"

At Skills Motor Coaches we are totally committed to playing our part in ensuring a greener and friendly future, through investment; training and education. As a company we feel it is our Corporate Social Responsibility to play our part in working towards a greener future. Therefore we are constantly analysing the way we work and how we can improve our operational efficiency and ways to reduce our carbon footprint together with ways that we can encourage our staff and our customers to think and make greener choices. Already we have made significant progress to help contribute to a greener future, as you will discover...

Our On Going Achievements
Today 85% of our fleet conforms to Euro 3 emissions standards. At the beginning of 2008 over a million  pounds was invested into Euro 5 compliant coaches as part of an ongoing replacement program. Skills are one of the first coach operators in the country to offer a 61 seat, single deck coaches to these standards.

Over £15,000 has been invested into new fuel tanks and computerised fuel pumps to accurately monitor the total fuel consumption of individual vehicles. We are constantly refining our traffic management process to reduce unnecessary mileage or wasted journeys.

In 2001, a naturally captured water filtration plant alongside our vehicle wash area was installed. The filtration plant collects rainwater, from the roof of our main office building and is used in the vehicle wash, which is used to clean and maintain all our vehicles.

All rubbish collected from our vehicles, workshops and offices is recycled, from plastic bottles to waste oil.

Leading by example Skills' Managing Director & Financial Director regularly cycles to work. We also actively encourage our workforce, if practical, to walk, cycle, use public transport and encourage the use of car sharing wherever and whenever possible.

Our plans are to continue to evaluate and look for more ways in which we are able to improve the way our company works. Every effort is being made to reduce the company's carbon footprint, from using more efficient energy saving supplies and reducing energy usage, to the investment in more environmentally friendly touring coaches. Our achievements are just the beginning, but there is still so much more to be done.

By reading the information on this page we hope to encourage you, your business, organisation and personal decision making, towards being ethically and socially responsible for the choices you make both on a personal and professional level. Consider how your actions can make a difference to the effects on the environment and the world we live in today.  

Corporate Social Responsibility
The concept of CSR is to understand that as a business we are all responsible for our decisions and actions, whilst considering the best interests for society and the impact that we have on it. By doing this,  CSR encourages businesses to look at how areas of their corporation and its activities can effect the environment, health, safety, wellbeing of ourselves, others and the planet. Working together everyone can help out by looking at ways in which we affect the environment, locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Simple steps can be made by examining and evaluating suppliers, employees' wellbeing, surrounding communities and the ways which businesses operate.

Art Competition For School's 2008
In the summer of 2008 Skills Motor Coaches, along with Motorvation - its private hire division, organised it's very own art competition for school children. The competition was aimed at primary schools in Nottingham city, that were already provided transportation solutions. The competition was set to the children aged 5-11years old, to come up with an advert which promotes greener travel choices to and from school, specifically encouraging walking, cycling, public transport and coach travel and persuading motorist and their parents to leave the car at home.

Darynel Ebanks, a nine year pupil at Bluebell Hill Primary School, St Anns, has won the city wide competition to design the back end of a bus. 

Throughout May, hundreds of primary and infant school children in Nottingham were invited by Skills Motor Coaches and Motorvation, its private hire division, to create an environmental message to be incorporated in the livery of their fleet of school service buses.  Over 50 entries were received.  The judges, who included Evening Post columnist Erik Petersen, chose Darynel’s design with its catchy message ‘help make your future green’, as the winner.

The artwork was computerised and printed on to large posters then attached to the back panel of Skills’ / Motorvation’s fleet of school buses.  They were seen by thousands of motorists and pedestrians from the start of the new term in September 2008.

Among the runners up who also highlighted the message of getting to and from school at the smallest cost to the environment, were Chloe Corbett-Hall and Abdulla Husain from Bluebell Hill Primary School and Lucy Elwood, Anis Sofia Afifi, Kayci Clark and Tara Wyse from Claremont Primary School.  All these will receive artists’ materials and a painting set.

Nigel Skill says he was very pleased at the number and the high quality of the entries sent in.  “Picking the winner was a delight as all the boys and girls seemed to have a clear understanding of the environmental issues we are trying to promote. Darynel’s design will be a welcome addition to the fleet and, I’m sure It’ll do a lot to promote ‘green’ travel to and from school.”

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Scientists, media and governments have highlighted the issues of global warming and how our carbon consumption is contributing to the changes in our world today. Fact! Global warming is happening and it is very much on the increase. By working together we can all make a difference and reduce our carbon footprint and the effects it is having on our environment. If your travelling needs are for business, social, domestic or pleasure the choices we make can dramatically effect the impact we have. Travelling by plane is the most polluting mode of transport. Budget airlines have been one of the major factors in increased levels of Co2 pollutants. Journeys in Britain and Europe can be carried out in much more friendlier ways to the environment, travelling by Bus/Coach or by Train. Choosing different ways to get around can reduce your carbon footprint! Travel to work can be reduced by leaving your car at home and walking, cycling, taking  the bus or tram or by using coaches to transport your group or employees.  The choices you make can have an effect on the environment and will help reduce the negative impacts of driving. For each full coach, on average 20 cars are taken off the road.

But remember - if we all work together we can all work towards a greener future! By hiring or using coach travel for business, socially, domestically or for pleasure, you can help contribute to reducing the damage on the environment. We are all responsible for our actions and the effects it is having on the planet.

Think Green,  Think Skills Green next time you choose your coach hire supplier.

Leave the car at home and let the coach ease the pain! 
Leave the car at home, save money on petrol or diesel, and go miles further on a coach holiday this summer. The huge increases in pump prices make travel by coach the best value option by far for millions of motorists looking to beat the credit crunch and enjoy a holiday without breaking the household budget.

Coach tours are hassle and worry free, especially compared with air travel. You don’t have to worry about finding a space to park your car at an airport or stand in lengthy queues for check-in and security checks. Above all you will not have to pay a huge airline flight surcharge costing more than the ticket itself. On a coach tour you know your bags will stay with you from start to finish!

What’s more you can do all of this with a healthy conscience. Not only is modern coach travel seven times safer than travelling by car, but it is also almost six times ‘greener’ than driving a car or going on holiday by air whilst generating half the Co2 emissions per passenger kilometre than a train.

Further Information / Useful Links
If you require more information on how your holidays or travelling needs can benefit from coach travel or our coach services, or you are interested in a coach hire quotation for your business or organisation, then please call us on 0845 450 2221. Our members of staff will be happy to direct your call. 

Greener Living

Information by The Coach Tourism Council, travel by coach and reduce your carbon footprint more info?

Corporate Social Responsibility, information on the actions you can take for you business more info?

Business In The Community Website, information on how you can help in your area more info?

Information provided by Government regarding the environment and greener living more info?

Act on CO2 website, providing information on carbon emissions and CO2 calculator more info?

The Big Green Switch, independent website offering good advice on greener living more info?

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, information on climate change more info?

International / Local Charities

Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres. Our chosen charity for 2009. more info?

Oxfam is an international charitable organisation, providing charity to 3rd world countries more info?

Unicef is an charitable organising protecting the survival of children  in poorer counties more info?

Government Charity Commission website, provides information and listings on all charities more info?