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Somerset say goodbye to ‘Nick The Bus’

Nick Yeo known as ‘Nick the Bus’, the owner of Signature Travel who have transported the Somerset team for the last 11 seasons, has made his last journey with the team because he has retired with so many happy memories.

For cricket lover Nick, during that time he has clocked up over 100k miles driving the team around the country and he has loved every minute of it, describing it as his dream job.

Growing up in North Devon, Nick got his first taste of Somerset CCC sitting on the grass around the boundary edge at the Cooper Associates County Ground watching the likes of Botham, Garner and Richards during the Glory Years.

“I first came to watch Somerset in the mid 1970s along with my Dad and Grandad so I was fan from a very early age. One of my fondest memories was going onto the outfield at lunch and tea with a tennis ball demonstrating my left arm spin, but sadly I didn’t get spotted! Since then cricket has always been a big part of my life.

“I moved away to college in Bristol, so my visits to watch Somerset were less frequent, but I was still very much a fan from a distance. From there, work took me into the bus and coach industry in London and the South East, but I still watched when I could.

“Somerset cricket has been part of my life for 50-odd years ,so to bring the two together at the end of my working life was an opportunity that I never ever expected.”

How did Nick end up transporting the Somerset CCC players?

“We’d moved back to the West Country to bring up the family and in 2013 I went along to a Devon and Cornwall Area Committee meeting that the then CEO Guy Lavender was hosting.

“I knew there had been a few problems with the travel arrangements that year so I went up to Guy, introduced myself and told him about my background in the coach travel business and said if I could be of any help or offer advice then Somerset should contact me. I wasn’t expecting to hear any more.

“However, the next day he phoned me and invited me to meet him. The upshot was that he and I and Sally (SCCC Operations Director) sat down and put together a list of requirements which led to the existing provider upgrading the bus, which I thought was job done.

“However, 12 months later I had a phone call from the Club asking me to go back to meet them. The upshot of which was that a different operator was appointed who asked me if I would drive, which wasn’t quite what I had in mind. I thought this was an opportunity I would never get again, so rather than watching the home matches I was going to watch all the away matches! I took the job and I have never regretted my decision. I had three years of doing that and loved every minute of it.

“One of my abiding memories from the early days was sitting down with the team for breakfast and someone came down and asked if they could sit next to me. I looked up and it was Marcus Trescothick!

“I had three wonderful years of doing that and I loved every minute of it, but we were getting to the point where the coach was starting to be beyond its peak.

“Sally then asked me what we could do, so I went home and discussed it with my wife, who had just retired from the corporate world. I asked what her thoughts were about buying a coach to provide transport for the team. She said that I probably wouldn’t ever get an opportunity like this again, and the rest, as they say is history, but without my wife I wouldn’t have done it.

“We bought the coach ahead of the 2018 season and then two years later Covid came along, but fortunately we’d stayed within the sporting world and managed to survive. We were very lucky that we had the cricket contract and a couple of others which tided us over.”

Nick also talked about the way he has been embraced by the team on their away travels.

“The way that the team treat me and treat the coach is just so special. The squad just make me feel like an integral part of the team and when you are spending that amount of time together, it’s such a huge thing.

“We rocked up at a hotel in Manchester that we hadn’t used before and the concierge came out and showed me where to park. After the boys got off he came up to me and asked me a question: ‘Do they always treat you like that? I said ‘like what?’ He said that every single one of them got off the bus and said thank you, and every one of them said hello to him when they walked past. He also said that they’d had a Premier League football team staying there recently and not one of them said thank you to the driver or spoke to him when they walked past.

“This is a huge plus and something that I don’t take for granted. I think that this attitude applies right the way through the Club and that has an affect on the performances on the field as well. We shouldn’t take this for granted and none of this happens by accident. Someone has got the overview to make this happen. Over 11 years, I have become quite involved with all sorts of people and it’s nice to hear people agree with how I see the situation.”

Nick went on: “The last few seasons have been truly remarkable. 2019 was the first trophy since I started, which was amazing as we hadn’t won anything for a long time and it was the start of an era for this group of players.

“Then, during Covid we got to the final of the Bob Willis trophy but didn’t quite get over the line but it was the start of semis and finals and third places, which has now gone on for six or seven years.”

Nick also talked about something that happened after the Vitality Blast Final at Edgbaston that highlighted what he had been talking about.

“I was just leaving the ground at the end of the game and someone ran up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder.  It turned out to be the Head Steward at Edgbaston. He said: ‘I’ve been looking for you. I just wanted to say how pleased we all are that you won. We always love having you here. Your guys are always so friendly, so respectful to us and we are chuffed that you won.’

“My already amazing day turned into something even more special and it’s down to the players and the staff. I guess we can’t all be great cricketers but we can be great people and I think that’s what makes this Club and this team so special.”

Nick added: “I’ve been so lucky to have been involved like I have. The way that I have been treated is so special. Next year I will be here watching as a spectator but   have so many fond memories from my time driving Somerset and they will last forever.”