360DigitalInfluence

Two years ago I moved to London to work at Ogilvy PR and since then like many people I often go back home to visit my family. For me this means heading back to the quiet rural village of North Petherton, deep in the heart of Somerset, which is a good three hours away. Now this trip made once or twice a month can accumulate into a costly activity, however, since moving to London I have come across a bus company called the Berry Bus, a small enterprise that runs a service from London to North Petherton. This trip sets me back just £20 return, plus a very reasonable sandwich served by the Berry Bus attendee Joan for £1.50.

During the recession more and more people are of course looking to save money any way they can, but in terms of travelling within the UK often people simply turn to the train system, which increasingly has become a very expensive mode of transport, costing me double what the bus does.

Small independent bus companies have a great opportunity to deliver UK transport as an affordable alternative in the face of an increasingly growing money saving culture. However, many people when asked to name bus companies they would use as an alternative to the train the answer is so often just National Express, which indeed in 2008 saw their revenue up by 5.6% to almost 2.8 billion.

The advice I would give to these small independent bus companies, much like the Berry Bus which has become a life line to me in terms of saving money when travelling back to see my folks, is that with a little bit of marketing they could really see a rise in demand for their services. UK consumers just do not know what they are missing out on; there is a clear market that these bus companies can own for cheap affordable UK travel.