Hulleys of Baslow

[SF07]

RE: Hulleys of Baslow
Hulleys did post something on Facebook but the post has been deleted.

This is what was said:

Quote:We’re sorry.

In mid-June we registered new services: the X1 from Ashbourne to Manchester, and the X72 from Chesterfield to Matlock via Bakewell on Monday to Saturday evenings, to provide direct links to new places. At that time, we had more than enough Drivers and more still applying for jobs.

Everything was ready to roll, the process of recruiting more Drivers continued while a small number had left. At the end of last week however, a number of Drivers expected to return to work from sickness absence indicated they wouldn’t be doing so. Other new Drivers who were expected to start this Monday informed us they no longer be joining, and another Driver fell ill.

All of this in just two days for any Operator would be challenging. For a small Operator such as Hulleys, with the best will in the world we were put in an impossible situation. We do not like letting people down and so we’re presented with two options: to try and run all services but cancel journeys at short notice as and when we were unable to cover them, or cut back our network to a level where we have sufficient staff to cover all journeys every day.

For the purposes of stability, we have decided to change our network. From this Thursday the X1 and X72 will not run. The X70 will run every 2 hours on Sundays. The X57 will terminate at Chorlton Street on Sundays and not run through to Manchester Airport. Seasonal services X71, X98 and X99 will also be withdrawn, but as we are aware of passengers having purchased period return tickets on the X98 the 1730 from Ingoldmells will run this Saturday.

We’re sorry that we’ve been forced to make these changes at such short notice and for letting people down. It is not a decision that has been taken lightly or with any pleasure. We want to continue to do our very best for the most with the resources available and we feel this is the best way to do that.

We now need to concentrate our efforts on recruiting staff and providing the best possible service we can, and for that reason we are unable to answer any queries about this here. Passengers intending to travel on the X1 should contact Staffordshire County Council on 03001118000 or email contactus@staffordshire.gov.uk