Johnsons Coaches will be our match sponsors for the visit of Rochdale.
We spoke to Martin Gregory ahead of the Tuesday night fixture and he provided us with an inwards view of the local coach operators, as well as his path into the industry.
He said: “I passed my PCV test when I was 18-years-old. After spending three years with a local coach operator, I moved into the haulage sector where I worked for 11 years.”
Martin's link to the Iron would begin in 2007 when he re-joined the industry with Barnards Coaches.
He added: “I joined Barnards Coaches as operations manager. I stayed there until the summer of 2012. During my time at Barnards, I drove the team coach on both trips to Wembley in 2009, when we faced Luton and Millwall while Nigel Adkins was manager.”
After leaving Barnards in August 2012, Martin had six months out of the industry before being lured back by the prospect of taking on Goxhill based, NL Johnson Coaches.
“Although no business was actually purchased, I agreed to continue the Johnson name and purchased my first coach before purchasing the final two coaches from the NL Johnson fleet in 2013," he stated.
“Having realised there was not the workload in the Goxhill area, I decided to move to Caistor where I live and also set a depot up in Kirton Lindsey after customers old and new approached me to work with them again, with Scunthorpe United being one of the customers.
“From my original coach in 2013, I now have 15 to choose from. Coach sizes range from 20-to-65 seats.
"With many of the coaches being executive standard, we are able to work for various clients touring the United Kingdom and Europe. The success isn't just down to myself. It takes a hard loyal workforce to help achieve where we are and the future looks bright.”
We hope Martin and his guests have a fantastic evening dining in the Glanford Park restaurant and thank them for their valued sponsorship.