​With family history dating back to the 1897 in bus and coach operation it was only natural that the DRM founder, David Morris would want to form and run his own business. This came about in 1984 when 'The Little Country Lad' David set up under the operating name of DRM Coaches.
DRM HISTORY
The Beginning - Deep in Herefordshire, one of the most rural of English counties, there lies the small town of Bromyard. Nestling alongside the meadows of the River Frome and facing the Downs, it is a sleepy place. The town has a long history dating back to Norman times and beyond. The name can be traced back to the Saxon and Old English for a broom enclosure. The word broom refers to the broom tree, once commonly used for building and fencing.
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Ask most people in other parts of Britain as to where 7 Bromyard is and they will scratch their heads. It is an unpretentious place that goes about its business in a quiet but confident way. Not a great deal happens in Bromyard and yet this small town has a knack of producing and nurturing entrepreneurs whose unconventional and often eccentric ways can and do appear bewildering to the modern day businessman and banker used to the economics of the big city.
Take Mr Pettifer for instance. This enterprising local had acquired the first motor vehicle in Bromyard in 1896. By the 1920’s the firm had built up a fleet of a dozen vehicles. They ranged from small motor brakes to converted ex War Department lorries and twenty eight seat Daimler charabancs. Regular road motor services were started to both Hereford and Worcester as well as adventurous excursions to the seaside. Pioneering bus services in Bromyard and surrounds continued when in 1966 Mrs Lilian Morris, at the request of Bromyard Chamber of Commerce started a service from the villages and hamlets of Bredenbury, Thornbury and Hampton Charles into the town. Her husband, Bill Morris, who drove the bus and saw to the mechanical matters, was also the first person to introduce a combined harvester into Herefordshire when he branched into the agricultural contracting business.
But what is even more interesting is the fact that Mr and Mrs Morris were to produce two sons, one of whom was destined to continue and develop the tradition of pioneering bus services and equally importantly to stamp that individual Bromyard and 8 Herefordshire business mark on the bus industry in Britain with his company, DRMBUS.
Originally the firm had a mix of coach, local bus and contract work but in the 1990’s and in the aftermath of the Herefordshire Trial Area and bus deregulation David decided to pull out of the coach business and concentrate on the development of local bus services. This he has done with considerable success and in so doing has entered into the upper echelons of the bus industry with his distinctive, often flamboyant and nearly always outspoken style.
Through his involvement with the Confederation of Passenger Transport he is well known for his perceptive, blunt, appraisals of the state of the bus industry. He speaks often about the future of rural bus services with the growing difficulties facing small country bus operators. This is well illustrated in the matter of concessionary fares reimbursement. Here, by taking the matter straight to the Department of Transport, David was vociferous in making the very important point that the application to rural operators of a reimbursement factor based on urban operating parameters would in effect cause a serious loss of income thus threatening the very existence of country bus companies.
David - ‘My concern here is that I strongly feel that RURAL services have been entirely overlooked. Should the reductions, as evidenced, materialise, the perception is that we the small operators are being edged out by the big five who serve mostly urban areas and can cream off the new higher percentage rate for city services whose fares are lower than ours. They can fill the same seat four times or more per journey than us giving them an unfair monopoly advantage. It is clear to me that all my hard work over the last few years in generating passenger use of local bus services is rebounding on me and whilst I will still receive some income from pensioners passes I do feel seriously disadvantaged in the rebate factor bearing in mind the nature of rural operation with long journey lengths and higher operating costs’. ‘The population of Herefordshire has a noticeable skew towards an upper age bracket.
This is especially the case on DRMBUS route 476 between the market town of Ledbury and Hereford. Ledbury, in the eastern part of Herefordshire has become over the years a desirable retirement location for middle class people from both London and the Midlands. This is echoed in the DRMBUS passenger mix which indicates a revenue split of roughly 33% each for fare paying, local bus contracts with schools and concessionary passes’. In the matter of concessionary passes David was successful in 12 securing a revised formula which was welcomed by a number of small operators in their negotiations with local authorities. David continues to be instrumental in highlighting the value of concessionary passes in sustaining rural services and also maintaining vital rural accessibility, especially for the elderly and the young.
David was determined to have the voice of the small country bus operator heard. His representation to the Competition Commission for their Local Bus Services Market Investigation forcibly pointed out the fact that the large bus companies are primarily urban and interurban operators and it is the small operator that continues to be the mainstay of country bus operation. In this respect David’s definition of the small independent operator is that of around the ten vehicle size He also identified the fact that the larger bus companies benefit from considerable economies of scale in operating costs and also the advantage of profitable urban networks. This can pose a perceived threat to the small operator should he decide to expand his operating area and seek to increase his market share.
On Sunday 11th September 2022, DRM Founder and Managing Director David Morris passed away, age 78.
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While Mr Morris championed the bus sector in general, his passion was the independent area of the market, and especially those businesses serving rural areas. That commitment saw him receive the Special Award at the 2009 routeone Awards. A book written by Gareth Calan Davies about Mr Morris and DRM highlights his contribution to the Competition Commission’s local bus service market investigation of 2011.
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DRM is now managed by Directors Steve and John who have been the backbone of the company for a long time.
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Louis Dyson (The Grandson of David Morris) took ownership of DRM and has successfully created new routes and launched DRM Travel, offering coach and minibus services. Louis looks forward to growing DRM and continuing to be a recognisable brand throughout The Three Counties.
