Tring coach company joins Honk for Hope demonstration

A coach company in Tring joined hundreds of coach companies in Westminster in a bid to get government support for the coach industry.

Masons Minibus and Coach Hire joined many other companies from across the UK in a Honk for Hope demonstration in London, on Monday, July 20, after ministers rejected support proposals from the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) earlier this month.

The coach industry is not eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.

Masons was founded by Andy and Gill Mason in 1988, his sons James and Matt and James' wife Candice are all involved in the running of the company.

Candice said: "I think the demonstration had the desired effect, we wanted to raise awareness and we definitely did that in London.

"There was about 500 coaches and we were very loud, at around midday we were told to stop the honking.

"We wanted a collection of voices to show we are all together.

"We have significantly struggled during Covid-19 and have been unable to access many of the grants and financial support that has been made available by the government. We are going to lose many, many operators."