Country service

Press, 20 February 1980, Page 16

Country service

Darfield is an unusual place to find one of the province’s largest fleets of motor coaches, but Mr Ivan Early, the proprietor of Leopard Coach Lines, Ltd, is an unusual man. Mr Early has been oper-

ating the business since 1970 when health reasons dictated a change from farming. At that time he took over four elderly school buses on a Department of Education contract to deliver local children to and from school.

Ten years later, his fleet numbers 25 and the old school buses have been replaced with' >’.nfortable late-model vehicles which may be seen •' rm one end of the country to the other.

These days Leopard Coach Lines carry more than a thousand children to school every day in the Malvern County as well as .being responsible for two city school bus runs. During 'the ski season the familiar blue and gold Leopard line can be seen taking the hordes of city skiers to Mount Hutt — sometimes as many as ten buses a day leave the terminus in Cathedral

Square bound ,• for ■ the snow fields. The contract with Mount Hutt is a subject of some pride for Mr Early. In spite of tricky road surfaces and weather conditions which are sometimes atrocious, not one of the Leopard coaches has ever had an accident..

Mr Early is a man with a social conscience, aware of the needs of. his community and willing to help in any way he can. For the past seven years his company has provided a commuter link for Malvern people who work in the city. The “workers’ bus” has become so popular that now two coaches every day leave Darfield at 7 a.m. and deliver passengers to different locations in the city by 7.45.

The success of the business is due, Mr Early says, to his own attitude to work. Costs are kept to a minimum by a policy of

hard work and high productivity, and while luxury is strictly reserved for passengers, there is a waiting list of drivers who are keen to join the company’s team.