A small change to booking online

 

10th August 2020

 

Currently we are having to allocate seating to maintain social distancing, seats are unable to be selected when booking online. Please add notes if you have any special requirements regarding seating, however, please bear in mind that these cannot always be met.

 

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Our latest update

 

17th July 2020

 

We have reviewed our procedures, please see the changes to our “Looking ahead…” dated 17^th June 2020, below.

 

We want to share some of the changes to our Operating Procedures you should expect to see.

 

Please read our operation procedures thoroughly before you depart on your Holiday/Day Excursion. We have put these guidelines in place to protect yourself, your fellow passengers and our staff.

 

1.   If you join the coach at the depot, our toilets will be available however, waiting room will be closed.

 

2.   Before entering the coach, your driver/courier will disembark and complete a temperature check for each passenger before allowing you to board. If your temperature is too high (>37.7°C) you will be requested not to travel, for the safety of all other passengers.

 

3.   Face coverings must always be worn onboard (this can be a scarf or other textile item), if you do not bring one with you, we will have face masks available for purchase as this is a legal requirement. Please understand there are legitimate health related exceptions to this, if a fellow passenger isn’t wearing a face covering, they may have a valid reason.

 

4.   At comfort stops and when we reach hotel, venues or attractions we ask you to wait for your driver/courier to get off the coach whilst you board & alight. Please disembark from front to rear and embark from rear to front to avoid coming within 1 metre of other passengers.

 

5.   You must use the hand sanitiser provided whilst entering the coach.

 

6.   There will be seats on the coach that can not be used, this will be made clear by using signage on these seats. We will contact you If your chosen seat has had to be changed.

 

7.   Our onboard toilet is only available for emergency use. Please ensure that you wash your hands thoroughly and wipe down touch points before exiting using wipes provided. There will be onboard signage reminding you to do this.

 

8.   Your driver/courier will be wiping down touch points onboard at every comfort stop with antiviral wipes.

 

9.   You are welcome to bring drinks, sweets and small snacks to consume onboard the coach however please don’t eat sandwiches on the coach.

 

10.   Please try to minimise your use of the coach toilet.

 

We wish you a happy, safe and enjoyable experience with us.

 

 

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Coronavirus Update

 

4th July 2020

 

We are opening our phone lines on Monday 6th July!

 

Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm

 

We are slowly welcoming our sales team back to answer your calls whilst we prepare for our holidays and days out to resume in August.

 

In order to keep everyone as safe as possible, for the time being we will only be available for contact by phone, email or post. If you would like to make a booking but feel this is best handled in person, please contact us for an appointment.

 

Please Note: We are unable to process refunds over the phone as we will need a written record of your request.

 

We have been working on getting our coaches and our offices as safe and secure as possible, please see below some of the things we are putting in place.

 

We are also working with all venues and hotels in order to make sure that from start to finish you can enjoy your day out or holiday with peace of mind.

 

If you have any questions or concerns on any of the information provided, please let us know, as we always welcome your feedback.

 

We are all very excited in speaking with you again soon!

 

We are very proud to display this logo.

 

We have considered and introduced safe practices for both our customers and staff. If you would like to know what we are doing, please see below.

 

We want you to enjoy your holiday and day out with peace of mind!

 

 

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Looking ahead...

 

17th June 2020

   

For those of you who had a Holiday or Day Excursion booked in late March through to the 14th of June and received a letter from us with a copy of your confirmation, this correspondence serves as a Credit Note which is financially protected in the same way as your Holiday by our Travel Bond with BCH until 31st December 2021. Details can be found at www.BCH-UK.org.

 

July and August Holidays and Day Excursions are under review, anyone with an existing booking will be contacted directly in due course.

While the office is closed, you are still able to book online or by sending an email to let us know your interest without having to make any financial commitment at this stage (please email us at info@kirbyscoaches.co.uk). If you do choose to register your interest, we will contact you as a priority when the office re-opens.

 

Below are the measures and procedures we plan to implement to keep yourselves and our drivers/couriers safe when you are able to travel with us again. We are confident we will start to operate some Day Excursions and Holidays in August and hopeful that some will operate in July.

 

We look forward to welcoming you back onboard soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Enhanced Air Filtration Onboard

 

The air system in our coaches refreshes the air every few minutes. Increased service intervals and regular anti-virul treatment keeping the air you breath clean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Face Covering & Masks

 

Current government guidelines are that all passengers* will have to wear a face covering** whilst travelling on coaches. Passengers are asked to come prepared with their own face coverings however masks will be available to purchase from your driver/courier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temperature Checks

 

Your driver or courier will check your temperature before you board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enhanced Cleaning Procedures

 

We have enhanced our deep cleaning and are using anti-bacterial and anti-viral cleaning agents as well as increased wipe down of high touch areas onboard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Sanitiser Dispensers

 

Hand sanitiser dispensers will be available in every coach to be used as you enter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seat Occupancy & Spacing

 

Seating occupancy will be reduced unless more than 2 people are travelling together in a 'social bubble'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Onboard Signage

 

Onboard signage will remind everyone of their responsibility to keep each other safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Hygiene

 

Everyone needs to do their bit and simple steps can help protect yourself and the community. Practise good hygiene by:

 

•  Making sure you stay home if you are sick

•  Avoiding close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms

•  Cleaning your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds with soap and water

•  Covering you nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing with a tissue or a flexed elbow

 

 

 

*Exceptions apply.

** This can be a scarf or other textile item.

 

 

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Coronavirus Update

 

15th June 2020

 

Whilst some shops are opening today, we have decided it is too early for us to re-open our office. However we continue to monitor and respond to your emails and letters to which we aim to reply within 14 days (bear in mind that we are currently receiving 1 delivery of mail per week). Please keep checking here for further updates.

 

Make sure we have your email address.....

We are planning to contact you by email soon as we look toward a careful re-start of operations. You can provide us with your email address by subscribing at the bottom of the page.

 

New bookings.....

Should you wish to book one of our holidays for later in the year, you can do so by booking on-line (from this website) or by emailing info@kirbyscoaches.co.uk  

 

The Kirbys Coaches family wish you well and we look forward to seeing you soon.

 

11th May 2020

 

Further to the Prime Minister's message on Sunday 10th May, we remain closed.

We do not expect to re-open before the 15th June, however we advise you to check here regularly for further updates.

 

5th May 2020

 

Whilst awaiting further guidance from the Government our offices remain closed. We do not expect to re-open before the 31st May, however we advise you to check here regularly for further updates.

 

18th April 2020

 

Following the Government's recent extension to the "Lockdown" and for the safety of our customers and staff our office will remain closed until at least 6^th May 2020.

 

15th April 2020

 

For the safety of our customers and staff and in line with government guidance our office remains closed until at least 30^th April.

 

If you are due to travel with us before 14^th June, we have sent you a letter confirming that your holiday or day excursion has been postponed and your money has been held in credit for future bookings. This is protected by our travel bond being financial protection for your money until the end of 2021, more details can be found at http://www.bch-uk.org/.

 

If you are due to travel after 13^th June, and have a balance to pay, we ask you to wait to hear from us and when there is certainty that your holiday or day trip will operate, we will contact you.

 

We’d like to thank customers for their understanding and patience. By following the steps below it will help to ensure that when this crisis is over our customers will be able to book and enjoy their excursions in the same way as they have done for many years.

 

We would recommend the following steps:

   1.   If possible, postpone your trip or accept a voucher, don’t cancel – this will mean you have an excursion to look forward to in the future, and it will help your trip provider (Kirbys)    

         maintain its cash flow through the short-term challenges.

   2.   If you are awaiting a cash refund, please be patient with us as we process this: we are dealing with an exceptionally high volume of enquiries.

Nobody knows for sure how long the current coronavirus pandemic will last, but we know that we will come out of the other side and we want to do all that we can to ensure that when we do, our customers are still able to book and take their holidays and day excursions with us.

 

We completely understand that customers may feel frustrated by the process of receiving a refund, but we would ask for your patience and understanding at this incredibly challenging time. Many day trip providers are doing all they can to help their customers, but they have not yet received refunds from suppliers which makes the provision of timely refunds particularly difficult on such a large scale in such a short space of time.

 

From our family to you and yours, we hope that you remain healthy and safe during this time. If you would still like to contact us the best way is via email to info@kirbyscoaches.co.uk, we are answering emails with limited resources approximately once a week so please be patient. If you don’t have an email yourself you may have a relative or a friend who can email on your behalf to info@kirbyscoaches.co.uk.

 

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An update from Kirbys

 

We would like to thank everyone for their patience during this difficult time. We are trying to navigate our way through this increasingly tough time to take care of our staff and our customers alike. We will make mistakes in trying to maintain our family business and jobs of those who work for us whilst trying to keep our customers and staff safe, we have not experienced anything like this in our 68 years of trading.

 

We have therefore made the sensible decision to postpone all Day Excursions and Holidays until the 30th June. If you are booked on anything between now and then, a letter will be going out to you this week.

 

To those of you that felt you had to cancel day excursions and have lost money from the 1st March due to the Coronavirus, we will be able to offer you your money back as credit when business returns to normal.

 

We will be constantly reviewing everything and keeping up to date with industry and government advice. These are challenging times and we will continue to do what we can to offer the best service as possible and keep you updated.

 

We will be available for contact via email and our website throughout this 12 week period, however, as you can understand our staff will no longer be able to remain in our office and answer calls after the 27th March following government advice to remain at home.

 

On a personal note from our family to you and yours. We hope that you remain safe during this time and that you follow as much advice as possible. We will be here when this is done and hope that as a community with each other, as well as our desire to look after our customers, we will emerge more connected and more aware of your needs for a safe environment to enjoy your hoidays and days out. If anyone is isolating alone during this difficult time, please feel free to reach out to us via email for conversation.

 

As always, assuring you of our best attention and desire to be of service at all times,

 

The Kirby Team

 

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An update based on advice from our trade association, Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) 

 

As of the 17^th March, despite the suggestions given by the Prime Minister on Monday evening, there is no official Government advise which would preclude a UK tour from operating normally at this stage, and the current advice given to us is to continue to run as normal. This is our position at present, and as the situation is very dynamic, it could change, and we will be monitoring developments over the coming days. Our Sales team will be inundated with calls, so we please ask that you do not call us about your future trip and allow us the time and space to call our passengers that are travelling in the coming days and weeks. We will also not be responding to people individually on Social Media, however, we do hope to reassure people where possible.

 

We would like to thank all of our customers for your loyalty, patience and support during this very difficult time.

We are sure that with your help we will get through these challenging times, so we can continue to offer our award winning holidays and day trips.

 

These are completely unprecedented times and we will be responding to advice and working with hotels and venues as situations change, we will endeavour to update you on our Facebook page and on our Website where possible.

 

 

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Coronavirus - Latest updates for our customers

Travel Updates 

Update - 17th March 2020

 

As of yesterdays announcement by the government offering extensive advice, regarding non-essential travel. We are therefore dealing with all trips on a case by case bases.

 

Our Sales team will be inundated with calls, so we please ask that you do not call us about your future trip and allow us the time and space to call our passengers that are travelling in the coming days and weeks.

We will also not be responding to people individually on Social Media, however, we do hope to reassure people where possible.

 

To reiterate, we will call you, please do not call us!

 

You will be called in order of departure date to discuss your options and where possible re arrange your holiday and day excursion, as we have some urgency around tours that were due to depart this Friday 20th March.

We ask all customers to please be patient and we will contact you as soon as possible.

 

Latest information -  

• All coach holidays and day excursions will be dealt with case by case.

• We will contact all affected customers in departure date order, please be patient as we work to contact you as soon as possible. 

• We will be looking to transfer bookings where possible at this stage whilst we wait until our Government and Transport body advises otherwise.

 

Please note that any NEW Insurance policy sold from Tuesday 17th March 2020 will not cover you for Coronavirus related claims. Any policy purchased before this date will still cover you for Coronavirus claims. 

 

We would like to thank all of our customers for your loyalty, patience and support during this very difficult time.

We are sure that with your help we will get through these challenging times, so we can continue to offer our award winning holidays and day trips.

 

These are completely unprecedented times and we will be responding to advice and working with hotels and venues as situations change, we will endeavour to update you on our Facebook page and on our Website where possible.

 

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23rd July 2019

 

Kirbys Open Day!

 

Tuesday 20th August 2019 at 11am - 3pm

Our Head Office, 2 Princess Road, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 8HR

 

Above. Our 2018 Open Day

 

 

Preview some exciting new excursions and holidays before the release of our Winter 2019 day excursion programme and 2020 coach holiday programme. Meet the Kirbys team who will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Refreshments will be available.

 

After our open day Karen Kirby will be holding a European River Cruise Presentation, showcasing our 2020 cruises and answering any questions you may have…

 

Tuesday 20^th August 2019 at 3pm to 4pm

Our Head Office, 2 Princess Road, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 8HR

 

Limited spaces available, to reserve your seat please call us on 01268 777 777 or email info@kirbyscoaches.co.uk.

 

We look forward to seeing you then!

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7th June 2019

 

Family Business of the Year Awards 2019 - Thursday 6th June 2019

 

 

We are pleased to share our award with all of our wonderful customers. Without you, it would not have been possible.

 

It has been a privilege to be recognised and win an award against some tough competition. We are not just putting our business up against other coach companies, we are pitted against all family business' in all industries everywhere in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland and Scotland.

 

We were also the only runners up and got a special mention in arguably the toughest categories;

East & East Anglia Family Business of the Year!

and Small Family Business of the Year!

 

 

A huge congratulations to Adams Funeral Directors that won the award for Small Family Business of the Year who is also based in Rayleigh, Essex.

 

We promise we won’t let this award go to our head and as a business and as a family we will keep striving to serve you the best we can.

 

 

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8th May 2019

 

Kirbys Gift Vouchers!

 

Unfortunately we are unable to process any online Gift Vouchers for the time being. If you would like to purchase a Gift Voucher please call our office on 01268 777 777, option 1 or visit our Head Office or High Street shop (directions on our contact us page).

 

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

Give the gift of Kirbys!

Our vouchers are a great gift idea that your loved ones or friends will appreciate for any occasion.

They can be used against any of our holidays and day excursions.

 

Please Note: They expire 12 months from the purchase date.

 

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1st March 2019

 

Must visit places in the UK with Kirbys

Our destination of March 2019 is Rye, East Sussex.

 

 

Nestled between green rolling hills and the English Channel, Rye is one of England's best kept secrets. This picturesque market town is home to the enchanting cobbled Mermaid Street (as pictured above) lined with crooked half-timbered houses.

 

Places of interest to explore;

 

Ancient Inns  Whilst wandering around Rye's quaint lanes and streets, you're instantly transported back in time. For centuries Rye was an island and at high tide the old stone gate was the only land connection to the mainland. Stop for a drink in the 11th century Mermaid Inn and check out the Giant's Fireplace Bar.

 

Antique & Independent Shops  Most of the shops in Rye are independent and are ideal for finding an unusual gift for the home, loved-ones or to treat yourself! Down at Strand Quay you can delve through the antique shops, there's always a gem to be found, as well as a thriving art community of a dozen galleries full of work by local artists.

 

St. Mary's Church  The church has the oldest functioning church turret clock in the country! The tower also provides spectacular views of the rooftops and the surrounding countryside. (A small charge may apply).

 

Rye Castle Museum  Learn about Rye's history at the Ypres Tower. Discover the Tower's roles throughout the 9 centuries; defence, private home, prison, mortuary and now a museum. You can also climb the tower to see the views over the town and beyond. (The museum is only open on Sundays).

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12th February 2019

 

Travelling in Winter Months

The long, dark nights of winter are gradually getting a little brighter, but it’s at this time of year the weather becomes a little colder. After 67 years of travelling with passengers during these months, we have learnt a great deal about looking after our passengers.

 

If there is adverse weather which means you can’t travel, we may be able to transfer the money you have paid to a day trip on a future date.

 

For those travelling on Holidays, we will do our best to assist you in meeting our coach in this weather so that we can take you on your holiday.

 

Safety

Safety is crucial at Kirbys. Our coaches cope with adverse weather better than most vehicles, mainly due to the surface area a tyre has in contact with the ground and the quality of tyre we use.

 

We will never travel if we deem it unsafe and all passengers will receive a refund for their day excursion if we cancel.

 

We choose destinations and venues that are suitable for the time of year we travel. In the winter months we do not take you anywhere that requires you to be outside for a long period of time. If you are ever unsure about a destination you see in our brochure then let us know so we can offer you some advice and guidance.

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6th February 2019

 

 

What we are sure about...

Feeling a little lost about what's going on with Brexit? Following echoes of uncertainty for a number of months, we hear the media sharing their doubts and opinions on a daily basis, regularly broadcasting their predictions to the world. We understand this uncertainty means we are all a little apprehensive about what happens next.

 

Kirbys Coaches are sure about one thing, our customers and the service they receive. We put our customers at the heart of our business. All of our decisions are guided by our customers’ opinions and views. We will remain committed in our approach and will continue to operate in the same way over these next few months, as well as the years ahead. For us its business as usual; spending our time and energy on providing the best customer service in the industry coupled with the best experiences out there. We believe by doing so our customers will have the confidence that is so important at the moment, confidence that we will have their best interests at heart and confidence in a company that invests energy into them and their experience.

 

Our Drivers are already set up for the necessary license changes whilst travelling abroad. We will do our best to make sure that if there are any extra documents needed to travel, we will offer assistance in any way we can. 

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14th January 2019

 

Happy 2019!

 

 

Kirbys has exciting news to share! We have been shortlisted for the East & East Anglia Family Business of the Year Award 2019, celebrating the very best of British Family Businesses #FBOTY2019.

 

Now in its 7^th year, these Awards were introduced in 2012 to celebrate the family business sector and the contribution that family firms bring to the UK economy. Organised by Family Business United, the award-winning magazine and resource centre that champions and celebrates the family business sector, the awards recognise the diversity, strength and depth of family firms across the UK.

 

The team here at Kirbys would like to thank all our loyal customers as without you this would not be possible. The winners will be announced in June, so watch this space!