Staycations are on the rise

Staycations-on-the-rise

Ross Francis

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Research Shows Staycations are on the Rise

http://www.travelbulletin.co.uk/news-mainmenu/the-rise-of-staycations-expected-to-continue-over-summer-2019

11 April 2019

More British holidaymakers are choosing to stay close to home this summer instead of travelling abroad as the trend for staycations continues to grow, according to data gleaned from booking details and online travel searches by British consumers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8451001/The-return-Great-British-staycation-Holidaymakers-book-breaks-hotspots-July-4.html

Brits will be able to take holidays in beauty spots in places like Devon and Cornwall – as the Prime Minister officially announced staycations from July 4.

Boris Johnson made the announcement in the House of Commons, paving the way for families languishing in lockdown to finally get away from a break. 

Hotels were given the green light to throw open their doors as long as they were kept clean and safe.

Holidaymakers will expect to see some big changes when they do finally start their staycation. They include:

  • Contactless check-in at hotels, bed and breakfast and camp sites
  • Campers will have to stay in their car until they are directed to their pitch
  • In all settings they will be expected to stay over a metre apart from someone else
  • Breakfast buffets and mini bars are all out for the time being
  • Visitors could be asked to bring their own toilets with them
  • Guests will also be asked to bring their own hand sanitiser and soap
  • All paperwork and phones will be removed from hotel rooms
  • Camp sites will clean their toilets six times a day

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/blogs/e-year-of-the-staycation-utilising-holiday-let-opportunities-in-2020.html

After the Government confirmed that it is revising the 14-day quarantine measures for a number of popular overseas destinations, this leads to the question: how many people will be comfortable travelling abroad for their holidays and how many will opt to stay within the UK borders?

At the moment, it appears that staycations are tipping the balance. After another Government announcement around the reopening of the hospitality sector in England from 4 July, holiday bookings across the UK are reported to have risen significantly with coastal counties and holiday destinations, such as Devon and Cornwall, seeing notable surges. Although when you see the recent photos taken at some coastal resorts, the back garden, a tent, a BBQ and ready access to fridge with an array of cold beverages also remains attractive! Hoseasons and Cottages.com, two of the largest self-catered holiday accommodation providers in the UK, were said to have recently seen their best online sales days, with the former seeing a booking every 11 seconds, and the latter seeing a 455% surge. Sykes Holiday Cottages saw similar growth, with a 417% booking growth over the past month, and a 221% growth compared to the previous June. These figures demonstrate the demand for a post-lockdown break and how many people either can’t afford an overseas holiday or are choosing to holiday in the UK.

Rentals increase as lockdown eases

Lockdown-Rentals

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Rentals increase as lockdown eases

Car and van rentals are increasing as people gradually return to work and some restrictions on lockdown are lifted.

As some recycling centres have been opened and house move restrictions have lifted demand for vans has surged, also increased by contractors returning to work.

Although we have introduced safety restrictions to help customers and staff stay safe from the pandemic, we believe we are the only vehicle rental company in the area to have managed to stay open throughout the lockdown.

We are currently looking at re-opening on Saturdays for customers to collect vehicles for weekend rental.

While nothing is set in stone as no-one really knows what will happen as restrictions continue to be gradually eased, we are advising customers to think ahead if they wish to rent a vehicle, whether car or van given the steady growth in rentals we have experienced recently.

Please call to book well ahead of when you will need a vehicle to enable us to complete as much of the paperwork as possible.

Hygiene and social distancing measures at our offices will remain in place for the foreseeable future, however, so we ask to be patient when they come to pick up a vehicle.

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Business as usual – well almost!

Business-as-usual

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Business as usual – well almost!

We believe we are one of the few remaining vehicle rental businesses continuing to rent to private customers.

So, it is business as usual, but, of course, because of the Coronavirus pandemic, with modifications.

Mindful of both staff and customer safety, we are allowing only one customer into the office when they come to complete the paperwork and pick up their vehicles.

We provide hand sanitising equipment and there are lines on the floor to show people the accepted social distances. Card machines and door handles are sanitised between each customer.

All vehicles are spray cleaned with anti-bacterial cleaner and wiped before each customer goes out with a vehicle.

Office hours have been reduced very slightly and we are asking all customers to make sure they ring us before 4pm if they need to speak to us.

Anyone who wants a vehicle during a weekend is getting a little extra for their money!  We are asking all weekend renters to collect their vehicles on Fridays, which means they get some extra hours for free.

These are the arrangements for the foreseeable future and please be assured we are doing everything we can to ensure your safety.

Take care and stay safe.

Business exhibition season

Business-exhibition-season

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Business exhibition season

It’s the start of the annual business exhibition season and that means transport for delegates and equipment.

Many businesses have their own portable stands, from roller banners to more elaborate self-assembly enclosures all featuring their company’s branding and details.

It may be that your company needs to rent a van for a few days to transport the equipment to the location and we can help. If your company also has magnetic signs you can attach them to the outside without any problem.

Or you may need a car to transport your representatives to and from the venue.

Generally, when businesses rent fleet vehicles from us for longer periods, they want to put their own branding decals on them.

If we cannot provide you with a vehicle that is free of our branding we are happy for you to remove ours for the duration of the rental period and replace it with your own.  We would then remove your decals when you return the vehicles to us.

Demand for vehicles for business exhibitions tends to increase at this time of year, so if you can give us a week’s notice it helps us to make sure you can have the right vehicle for your needs.

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Planning a trip on Valentines Day

Road-trip-for-Valentines-day

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How about a trip in a stylish car for Valentine’s or Mothers’ day?

Are you planning a special treat for your beloved on Valentine’s or for your mother on Mothers’ Day?

Among the most extravagant Valentine’s gifts ever have been a €7 million Bulgari diamond necklace (David Beckham for Victoria), a holiday trip to Thailand (Ronan Keating) and a €64,000 white gold panther motif Cartier cuff (Kanye West to Kim Kardashian).

There is a long tradition of extravagant Valentine’s gifts among celebrities.

In 1966, German multimillionaire Gunter Sachs arranged for a helicopter to fly over Brigitte Bardot’s home La Madrague in the Cote d’Azur, to air-drop hundreds of red roses over her house. 

But you don’t have to be a millionaire to give your loved one a day to remember and you don’t need to only treat them on Valentine’s or Mothers’ Day.

If you are planning a treat for a loved one that involves more than the traditional cards and flower, how about a meal in a very special restaurant or a day or weekend trip somewhere special.

Why not add the finishing touch by renting a comfortable new saloon car to transport them in style and comfort.

We have a Hyundai i40 as a suggestion.

It is a very hi-spec model complete with Satnav, heated seats, reversing sensors and much more.

If you want to hire a car for Valentine’s there’s not much time left, so contact us soon if you want to be sure of a special car to transport your Valentine in style.

Vehicle contract hire – a flexible option

Vehicle-Contract-Hire

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Vehicle contract hire – a flexible option

Many people do not realise how flexible vehicle rental is when compared to lease hire.

With lease hire, there is usually a fixed term contract and a mileage limit on each vehicle, which can cause problems if circumstances change. Lease hire is not a service we offer.

Rental periods, however, can be as flexible as our customers want and can be changed at any time. Typically, our customers rent for periods of between a month and a year but some can go for longer.

Among our regular customers are local authorities around Essex and with two elections, local and national now expected in the next two months, we expect to be busy.

They will need vans to transport the many temporary polling stations that are needed, not to mention the ballot papers and other equipment.  It may be that people who will supervise at the polling stations will also need transport to get to and from them, especially if they are in out-of-the way places.

But there are all sorts of other tasks local authorities carry out that people are less aware of. In areas that use refuse bags rather than bins for household rubbish, who delivers the supplies of bags? 

Then, there are the meetings outside of their authority areas that officers may need to attend.  It can often be more cost effective, efficient and convenient to hire a car for a one-off event than to use public transport.

Why vehicle hire works for businesses

Among the other advantages of using a hire system for vehicles, even for a fleet of vehicles, is that they are all fully maintained with MOTs and servicing organised by the hiring company.

If a vehicle out on hire needs repairs for any reason it is straightforward to return it to us for attention and to be supplied with a replacement even at short notice.

If it should happen that a vehicle is not needed for as long as the original hire period, that’s no problem.  The vehicle can be returned earlier.

Altogether, renting vehicles for however short or long they are needed and knowing there will be no maintenance or repair costs is a more flexible option than fixed term leasing.

Leave plenty of time to rent a minibus

Minibus-Hire

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Leave plenty of time if you need to rent a minibus

If you need to rent a minibus, particularly if you need a 17-seater, please be aware that they are in very short supply.

Since the DVLA changed the rules in 1997, when the 17-seater category DI was removed from the standard driver’s licence, drivers have been required to take a minibus test, so anyone whose licence was issued after that year will no longer automatically be able to drive one.

If, however, you have an older licence that is still valid it will still include the DI category and you can still hire and drive one.

Since 1997 almost all of the larger rental companies have ceased to hold these larger minibuses, but some local independents, like Robertsons, still offer them.

However, demand for all sizes of minibus is always high, not only for private groups but for organisations like schools, colleges, the police and businesses needing to transport groups of people for a variety of purposes. Drivers of school or college parties have to have done the minibus test and have DI category on their licences.

We always do a pre-rental DVLA check, so we will need the licence numbers of any proposed minibus driver to do this.

If you belong to a club, group or other organisation that has a trip planned, please give us as much notice as possible.

We never like to let people down, but the lack of availability of minibuses is becoming a serious issue.

Young people and car rental

Your-people-and-car-rental

Ross Francis

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Young people and car rental

The end of college and university terms is coming up and that means we will have increased demand for rentals, particularly vans, as parents prepare to collect their student young people together with their life support systems!

Peak period is July so if you will be wanting to rent a vehicle for a day for this purpose our advice is to let us know as soon as you can.

While we are on the subject of young people and vehicle renting we thought we’d let you know what restrictions there are on renting to young people.

If they are students, we cannot rent a vehicle until they are aged 25, otherwise young people can rent a vehicle if they are 21-plus years of age.

For the under-25s we charge an additional Young Persons Fee of £10 per day.  If they have a non-UK driver’s licence, they must have a minimum of a year’s experience of driving in the UK.

There are no restrictions on the types of vehicle younger people can hire as long as their driver’s licence covers the category of vehicle.

We cannot do one-way only vehicle hire as all vehicles must be returned to our depot.

Heading out of the country on a touring holiday?

Touring-Holiday

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Heading out of the country on a touring holiday?

Last year a combination of glorious summer weather and uncertainty over the travel consequences of Britain leaving the EU meant that many of us chose to “staycation”.

But this year, given the endless delays to Brexit and uncertainty about the summer weather, it is possible that we will return to holidaying abroad and many of us will choose the self-drive option.

So, if you’re thinking of renting a car for your holidays what can you expect from Robertsons?

Firstly, you will have a vehicle that is still under warranty, therefore generally less than three years old.

Secondly, all our rental vehicles for overseas driving are put into the workshop for a proper and thorough check to ensure they are in top condition.

Thirdly, all paperwork will be in order for travelling abroad. This includes a VE 103 E form which is a permission to take the vehicle out of the country plus we ensure there is a complete overseas breakdown kit as required in other countries and you will also have some basic spares, such as light bulbs.

All our rentals are covered for driving overseas. It helps to know roughly where you intend to go so that we can calculate your likely mileage per day.

At the moment you can still drive in Europe using a standard UK driver’s licence although it is possible that will change once the Brexit arrangements are in force.

For all this we charge a 25% surcharge to cover all the additional work we have to do.

For those people coming into the UK by air who rent a vehicle from us to use during their stay, we try to be as accommodating as possible.

We understand that flights do get delayed, so we will rearrange your rental to fit with any new times for no additional charge.

We do not deliver vehicles to airports, however, so anyone renting from us will normally arrange their own transport to get to the depot from which they are picking up their rental.

If you are planning to rent a vehicle for a holiday abroad, please allow us at least a week’s notice to make sure all the extra paperwork and arrangements are in place for you.

We hope you enjoy your holidays.