Inspiration – Networking – Quality
Want to know the story behind McCombs Travel? We sat down to speak to guest Caroline McComb, owner of McCombs Coach Travel with husband Rodney McComb to discuss their huge success story. They have been an EVM customer for as long as they can remember! Let’s see what they had to say in this month’s interview.
Based in the heart of Northern Ireland, McCombs Coach Travel started in 1996. Mr Rodney McComb was working as a taxi driver in Belfast. He decided to take the plunge and start searching for opportunities to help develop the drive and passion he had inside him. Working for Malone Lodge Hotel, he discovered he was dealing with high end customers which included lots of different clientele visiting Belfast city centre. As well as providing transport for those, he used his passenger carrier to juggle school runs, tours and also helping a professor at a Queens University with visitors. Eventually he started working for an international youth hostel which saw people across the world coming to visit Ireland. Belfast was the only place with overseas tourists at the time, which included a lot of Australian back packers. From here, he started his own daily tour is Causeway Tour and gradually updated his vehicle to a 16-seater to have more capacity to move more people.
Fast forward to now, they have a variety of vehicles in their fleet including 3 EVM Mini-Coaches and undertake a great variety of work. They run the Causeway tour every single day and have secured several awards over the years that include their famous and well-known Games of Thrones tour (the first in Ireland) and Chartered Institute of Marketing Award for Tourism & Hospitality Excellence in November 2014, plus more. Impressive right?!
Over lock down they have unintentionally moved into specialised tours and entertaining. Caroline explains ‘lockdown has helped us to develop, create and get us back on our feet’. They now offer two more tours inspired by the popular programs, Line of Duty and Derry Girls, which has proved popular. Transport for shopping trips has also carried on which is always fully booked keeping them on their toes. Although the market has changed since, Caroline tells me they are planning to look at overnight trips to expand the business and offer to their clients which will hopefully be available very soon.
The most important factor that they focus on is the interior of a vehicle. Our guest Caroline explains ‘that’s the main area that any customer uses. We want to make their experience the best’ and in doing so ‘it’s always nice to see each time we buy a new Mini-Coach from EVM
, that there is always something small that’s been added which gives a nice new luxury touch, like the diamond stitching on the last order’. As well as mechanical, they value the interior and tell me ‘no-one could come close to the EVM product’. Before joining EVM, Shaun McBride, now EVM Sales Manager for Ireland, has ‘always sorted an issue out quickly for us’ and Mercedes Benz Truck and Van have been hugely supportive for them. The maintenance contract is set up in place so ‘we don’t have to worry about anything’ Caroline explains.
You can instantly gage they are both driven, like-minded people who want to make sure they provide and achieve the best. She tells me ‘I’m not sure we need to be motivated! We will always have our heads down and keep working’.
Their latest challenge they faced was a project during lock down. Talking more in-depth Caroline tells me ‘we were working around the clock with lots of ideas to make sure our recovery was strong. We received a tender document which was too big of a job, and we kindly declined it due to the fleet capacity that was required. But the supplier came back wanting us specifically to represent the event. It was a very difficult and worrying moment, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was nice to work with other companies who helped us pull it off’. McCombs provided transport for the UEFA Super Cup which was a great success in 2021.
Is there anything you’d want to change from the past?
‘Not things that were in our control no. We’re both very determined and hardworking people. It’s nice to check with the other if we are unsure about making a decision and making one together.
Who do you look up too?
More than those in the public eye, we love to work with and look up to other business owners. Most people who are self employed are so motivated in what they do, and no matter what line of business they are in we can all relate to each other’s struggles.
What are you currently reading/listening too?
Rodney loves a crime novel – anything by Lynda La Plate. I’m not really a reader, I prefer a long beach walk with us two, our two teenage girls and the dog!
Do you have any advice to give to other EVM customers?
It sounds cheesy, but honestly, in the 25+ years that we have been in business, we’ve never seen a better small vehicle that what EVM produces, so our advice would be to not look any further. Not only is the product fantastic, but the aftersales service is terrific too. In Northern Ireland we are supported by Shaun McBride and he is superb, he can literally make anything happen! From a maintenance point of view, all our EVM vehicles are maintained by Mercedes Benz Truck & Van as soon as we buy them, and the service we receive from Peter is fantastic. The EVM product is perfect for us from start to finish.
Caroline tells me they are always looking to develop and improve what they can offer and bring to the table. It’s what pushes them to become the best in the bus and coach industry. Let’s see what they have got in store in the coming months and thank you to our wonderful guest!