General News
30 November, 2022
Cole’s Coaches celebrates five decades
COLE’S Coaches celebrated five decades transporting the south west last month.
COLE’S Coaches celebrated five decades transporting the south west last month.
A 50th anniversary event was held in Mortlake, with 145 past and present employees in attendance to celebrate the accomplishments which have kept the business onthe road.
Cole’s Coaches was started by Jeff and Dorothy Cole with four busesin 1972.
The business now operates with 54 buses across Western Victoria, adapting with the times to ensure the business can continue to thrive.
Cole’s Coaches director Jamie Cole, the son of Jeff and Dorothy, said it was a “wonderful” evening spent with the people who had built the company from the ground up.
“It was a really positive night where everyone mixed, from current to past staff,” he said.
“It was a really good vibe throughout the whole evening.
“People mentioned on the night how proud they were to be part of the journey, looking back on what we’ve achieved and where weare now.
“It was good to discuss the funnier moments and the not-so-funny moments which we endured and enjoyed together.”
Mr Cole said it was great to see so many past staff in attendance, some of whom he had not seen in more than 30 years but who were “an integral part of the business back in its hay day”.
“My mother and father started the business and we would spend time on the weekends cleaning the buses, just hanging out at the depot,”he said.
“The business grew once the coaches came along and began running interstate camping and accommodation tours.
“That was an exciting time for my father and the staff who were there at the time, everything was all new.
“We really grew with snow tours – taking people up to the Victorian Alps – and taking people who had worked hard on the farms interstate to areas they had never seen before; from Australia to Africa.”
Mr Cole said while times had changed, so too had the company.
He and his brother Paul both serve as second generation directors and have helped to ensure the company maintains a bright future.
“There was a time where it was really exciting, and the company has changed direction to stay exciting now,” he said.
“Tours interstate have come off, we’re doing the odd school tour but things changed with grey nomads travelling and flight costscoming down.
“But we’re a strong enough company to have not been bought out, as some smaller companies in the industry have.
“We’re big enough to stave off the bigger operators.”