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Coach Awards - Woods are Number 1 in the UK!

There was much to celebrate as individuals, companies and organisations across the UK coach and coach tourism industry were recognised and rewarded at the UK Coach Awards 2013, which took place on Saturday 20th April at Alton Towers Resort.

Woods Travel of Bognor Regis were named as Top Small Fleet Operator. The company went on to win the coveted UK Coach Operator of the Year award, judged on customer nominations, performance data and a mystery shopper exercise to test the company’s customer friendliness.

Roger Elsmere, Managing Director of Woods Travel Group said," The directors and staff of Woods are delighted to have received these awards from our peers. Thanks must also go to the customers who were kind enough to nominate us, enabling us to take part. We are all thrilled with this recognition of our hard work and hope it will inspire other small businesses. After all, being smaller does not mean you cannot be the best!"

Success for Woods at National Tourism Awards

Woods Travel has beaten off competition from coach operators from across the UK to win a national tourism award at the Coach Tourism Awards 2013, held on 9th May in Liverpool.
The awards, organised by trade magazine Coach Monthly, recognises excellence and innovation across coach tour operators, tourist destinations and attractions, and industry suppliers.
Woods won the award for Coach Holiday Programme of the Year. This recognises the programme that demonstrates innovation and creativity together with a good mix of destinations.
In giving Woods Travel the award, the judges said that they recognised the Woods Travel team’s commitment to delivering a first class holiday programme. The judges commented on the fact that 50 new tours had been added into the current programme, including a good mix of destinations linked to the forthcoming anniversary of WWI. The clear focus on the different products, including two-centre tours and a singles programme also caught the judges eye.
Kristy Elsmere director of Woods Travel, collected the award in front of more than 450 tourism industry professionals.
The company was also celebrating being a finalist in the categories for Day Excursion Programme of the Year.
Commenting on the company’s success, Kristy Elsmere said,”These awards recognise our commitment to customer service, improved value and improved quality. Winning the award for holiday programme and being a finalist for excursion programme is down to the hard work of all our staff”.

Finalists & Highly Commended!

Woods were confirmed as finalists for the Customer Service Award at the ceremony on the 19th April at Avisford Park Hotel.

As if this were not enough of an accolade, Woods also received Highly Commended in the Readers Choice category.

The directors and staff of Woods would like to thank all the customers who took the time to vote for us, we value your support.

Tina Shaw-Morton, Director said,"These categories are very close to our hearts as they are all about customer service and satisfaction which is the foundation of our continued business success."

Woods Coach With Fred.Olsen Livery

Woods have another new addition to the fleet!

* The coach is a high-liner with an extensive luggage area.

* The graphics on the exterior were designed by Fred.Olsen and manufactured by Delta Signs of Angmering, West Sussex. It took 2 men 3½ days to adhere the vinyls to the vehicle.





Facilities on board include:-

* 53 luxury reclining seats with adjustable arm rests
* Double glazed tinted windows with curtains
* Full air conditioning
* Fully carpeted throughout
* Central sunken toilet/washroom
* Hot & cold drinks dispenser
* Off-side Continental exit door
* Refrigerator
* Individual reading lights
* Individual air vents

The coach will be used on Fred.Olsen transfers to and from the docks and also on Woods/Fred.Olsen coach holidays such as the Woods Cruise to Constable Country on the 4th May. This is a joint departure where the Black Watch sails from Southampton to Harwich having first enjoyed St Peter’s Port, Guernsey and Boulogne, France as ports of call. Once in Harwich the Woods coach will transfer clients to the Crown Plaza Resort Five Lakes Hotel for a 2 night stay. The hotel nestles in the unspoilt Essex countryside. Day excursions will be operated from there. The return journey home is by coach to the South Coast where clients will be met by taxis to return them to their homes.

Woods Travel Group - Most Loved Business!

Woods have been awarded the "most loved" Travel Agency and Holiday Company in the South East. The business also came second in this category for the whole of the UK!
Woods were fourth most loved business in the local area and came in at number sixty-six overall of the thirty thousand businesses registered in the UK.

Michelle Downey, head of the (Best of) franchise said, "The scale of the campaign was, by quite some margin, the biggest ever, with an average of almost 10 reviews a minute being added across the country during the 14 days of the campaign, so for you to emerge triumphant amongst such fierce competition is testimony to the fantastic job that you are doing and the tremendous relationships that you are building with your customers."

BUSK Simply Safe Benchmark Scheme

Woods are proud to announce our membership of BUSK’s simply safe and benchmark schemes. We have been awarded the highest safety rating possible – six stars!



To all of you who currently use our services, we thank you for your support and look forward to continuing our successful partnership.

If you have not previously used Woods for your coach transportation, we invite you to contact us for a competitive, no obligation quotation for future journeys.

For more information on the Woods fleet or BUSK, please go to www.woodstravel.co.uk/private-coach-hire or www.busk-uk.com.

Arun Business Partnership - Business of the Year Awards

Woods Travel are proud to announce that they were the winners of three separate categories at the annual Arun Business Partnership Awards held at Butlins in Bognor Regis on Thursday 8th November 2012.

The awards won were;

Customer Care

Business of the Year (over 10 employees)

Overall Business of the Year

George Rackham of AJS Labels with Tina, Kristy & Alison

Director Kristy Elsmere said, "We are delighted to have won these awards. They are a testament to the continued commitment of our staff to be the best at what they do. The Overall Business of the Year Award was the icing on the cake, as the winner is chosen from all of the nominees, not just the category winners."

Arun District Council’s Business Development Manager Miriam Nicholls said, "The Arun Business Partnership Business of the Year Awards is always a great opportunity to celebrate all that is amazing about Arun’s businesses, and this year was no exception. Nineteen award winners were chosen by a judging panel made up of other local businesses, and being judged to be the best by your peers has to be worth its weight in gold!"

Woods Sponsor Cub Scouts Supreme Box Kart Championships

Here is Woods coach 348 FYY and its mini me (Monkey Madness) at the 2012 Supreme box Kart Championships on Sunday 2nd September at Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit.

Woods were proud to sponsor the event which is in its 6th year and which saw the highest number of entries so far, 20 teams!

Tina Shaw-Morton, Director of Woods and Chris (the driver of the larger version vehicle), would like to thank everyone for taking part so enthusiastically.

It is hoped that the event will be held at the circuit again next year and will be even bigger!

Woods will be there again as main sponsor, working closely with the race organiser, Stephen Bell, to ensure that even more fun is had by all.

(Woods Kart - Monkey Madness, came third overall. Well done 5th Chichester Cubs!)

Woods Have a Coach that Tweets!

You have heard of the boat that rocks, now follow the coach that tweets!

Bova Magiq (Woodsy), new to the Woods fleet, is excited to announce that he has his own Twitter account and can be followed.

If you wish to follow Woodsy on his adventures around the UK and Europe go to;

www.twitter.com/woods_coach or search Twitter for @Woods_Coach.

You can also "Like" Woods Travel on Facebook by going to;
www.facebook.com/WoodsTravelLtd

Success at the National Tourism Awards Again!

Woods Travel were recognised as a finalist at the Coach Tourism Awards, held in Stratford-upon-Avon on 10th May 2012.

The awards, organised by trade magazine Coach Monthly, recognise excellence across coach tour operators, tourist destinations and attractions, and industry suppliers.

Woods Travel were a finalist in the category for Coach Holiday Programme of the Year and Day Excursion Programme of the Year. These recognise the programmes that demonstrate innovation and creativity together with a good mix of destinations.

Commenting on the company’s success, Tina Shaw-Morton says, "This is our second year as a finalist for the Day Excursion Programme of the Year and we are delighted to have added to this this year by being declared a finalist in Coach Holiday Programme of the Year. Being a finalist recognises our commitment to customer service and the continually improving quality of our products. Being a finalist is down to the hard work of all our staff. We are very proud of what they do."

The awards presentation was hosted by the editor of Coach Monthly magazine, Stuart Render, and television presenter and travel and tourism expert Judith Chalmers.
“These are the only national awards that focus specifically on the coach tourism community,” says Stuart Render. “Woods Travel were up against the best of the best coach operators in the country so this is therefore a well-deserved and a significant achievement. Our winners and finalists are at the forefront in delivering excellence across all sectors of the industry, helping to raise the quality of customer service and quality across coach operators, destinations, visitor attractions and tourism industry suppliers.”

For details of all the winners and finalists go to www.coachtourism-awards.com

UK Coach Awards - Finalist

Hot on the heels of the Companys success at the Observer Business Awards, Woods would like to announce being confirmed as a finalist at the National UK Coach Awards.

Woods were nominated in the category of Top Small Fleet Operator and came second at the ceremony held in Manchester on the 19th April.

There were 150 entries for the award so Woods are delighted with this result.

Observer & Gazette Business Award Winners!

Woods are very proud to announce that they were the winner of two award categories at the Observer & Gazette Business Awards last Friday (30th March 2012).

Woods were the winner of the Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Award and their Sales Manager, Alison Jones won the Employee of the year.

Woods thank their customers for their continued support.

WHAT A LOVELY PAIR!

These two coaches have just joined the Woods fleet which brings the fleet size to 15 vehicles of various sizes. These fully automatic vehicles have air suspension, auxiliary electronic braking, cruise control, satellite navigation, air-conditioning, tinted double glazing with curtains, toilet/washroom, fridge, hot drinks dispenser and front kneeling suspension for easy access.

Both vehicles have long wheel bases and are fitted with 49 fully adjustable luxury seats. They will predominantly be used for touring but will also be available for private hire. These vehicles were imported from Holland and represent capital investment of over £500,000.

To view and inspect, or to hire, please contact Paul Dobson (Transport Manager) on 01243 871656.

For Sale £15+P&P

Own your own Woods Bova Futura Coach!

Limited edition Corgi Model available in Woods Livery. Model comes with authentication certificate and a display case.

For further information or to buy your Woods Coach, please call 01243 868080.

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