Organisers of major events have safe and smooth travel as key priorities while also ensuring that customers enjoy themselves. In events, quick and safe arrivals and departures are important for ensuring everything runs as efficiently as possible. At First Travel Solutions, we believe in providing expert festival travel services for all our clients.

We’ll take festival and event visitors directly where they wish to go, providing festival bus hire to large groups. Make your event pain-free with expert event travel management that offers your event visitors reliable transportation.

<h2>Reliable Festival Travel for any Occasion</h2>

Over the years, we have created bespoke and seamless transport services for music events such as Parklife, Boomtown and Leeds Festival. These events draw thousands of visitors each year from across the country, so it can certainly be a challenge to ensure they are transported safely and without delay. However, it’s a challenge that we’re more than capable of handling. <a href="https://firsttravelsolutions.com/case-studies/leeds-festival-2016">Here’s how we handled Leeds Festival in 2016</a>.

How do we do this? We draw on our extensive network of trusted operators to provide both drivers and vehicles. To help organise the whole operation, our trained coordinators are on the ground to ensure efficient ticket sales, seamless vehicle loading and transfers, and to respond quickly should delays start to arise.

This is all overseen by our round-the-clock control centre, which is able to respond swiftly to any problems and provide precise vehicle tracking. Organisers can focus on their line-up, while festival goers can relax and enjoy the show, knowing they can get home safety when the music stops.

<h2>Professional Event Travel Management</h2>

Our team is highly experienced in event travel management, delivering solutions and reliable services. Safety is one of our top priorities, which is why we ensure that we provide only the best festival travel. We understand how big event organisers need to rely on high-quality solutions and we’re here to deliver.

Do you want to know more about our festival coach hire service? For further details, please call 0345 528 0270 or email <a href="mailto:travel.solutions@firstgroup.com">travel.solutions@</a><a href="mailto:travel.solutions@firstbus.co.uk">firstbus.co.uk</a>. Our team is here to help you find the event travel management solution that fits your company’s individual needs.&nbsp;

Make comfortable and safe festival travel a priority of your event organisation. We offer seamless event transport management to major festivals in the UK.

Festival Travel & Event Travel Management | First Travel Solutions

Festival & Event Transport Solutions

The Glastonbury Festival attracts thousands of&nbsp;attendees each year, necessitating effective&nbsp;transportation solutions. For this year’s festival,&nbsp;we were contracted by Ziggu Camp &amp; Tanyard&nbsp;Orchards to provide shuttle service, ensuring&nbsp;easy access for festival-goers and VIP guests.

Planning and Coordination

<ul>
	<li>Client Collaboration: Coordination with client&nbsp;was essential to determine specific&nbsp;requirements for the shuttle services,&nbsp;including schedules, routes, and staffing&nbsp;needs.</li>
	<li>Route Planning: We developed efficient&nbsp;routes from Ziggu Camp to Bronze Gate,&nbsp;optimising for travel time and traffic&nbsp;conditions typical of the festival.</li>
</ul>

Implementation

Ziggu Camp Shuttle Service:

<ul>
	<li>Fleet: Deployed 6 buses to operate a 24/7 shuttle service.</li>
	<li>Staffing: Staff members were stationed at Ziggu Camp to assist with loading and unloading.</li>
</ul>

Tanyard Orchards VIP Shuttle Service:

<ul>
	<li>Fleet: Utilised 2 minibuses dedicated to transporting VIP guests to and from the festival.</li>
	<li>Operation: This service was also available 24/7, ensuring VIPs received timely and comfortable transport.</li>
</ul>

Operational Details

<ul>
	<li>Shuttle Frequency: Buses operated on a frequent schedule, with designated pick-up and drop-off points clearly marked at both Ziggu Camp and Bronze Gate</li>
</ul>

Outcomes

<ul>
	<li>Attendance: Successfully transported thousands of festival-goers from Ziggu Camp to Bronze Gate and ensured VIP guests at Tanyard Orchards received premium service.</li>
	<li>Operational Success: There were no reported incidents or delays during the transportation process, demonstrating effective planning and execution.</li>
</ul>

Conclusion

The 24/7 shuttle services provided for Ziggu Camp and Tanyard Orchards during the Glastonbury Festival were highly successful. Our commitment to efficient operations, safety, and customer satisfaction contributed to a positive experience for all attendees and the client.

&nbsp;

ftsmanager

Ziggu Camp and Tanyard Orchards at Glastonbury 2024

Case Study

Millions of people from all over the world tune in to watch finely-tuned athletes compete for glory and medals, but what goes on behind the scenes to make these events run smoothly? First Travel Solutions provides sport event travel services for some of the most prestigious and complex tournaments around the globe.

Reliable sport event travel is vital, and we take punctuality very seriously. We want everyone to have the best possible experience and stress-free travelling to sport events. This is why we invest heavily in high-quality solutions that work.

<h2>Sport Event Travel Services You Can Rely On</h2>

We are incredibly proud to have played an important part in the success of famous events such as the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and the 2015 England Rugby World Cup.

We accomplish this by working extremely closely with organisers of these events to meticulously plan every single detail of the operation. Not only do we think of all the things that we know will likely happen, but we also have contingency plans in place that allow us to respond swiftly to unforeseeable changes. This helps us ensure that competitors, spectators, VIPs and the media are transported to and from events safely and efficiently.

Sport event travel in famous and major events can seem hectic, which is why our team is trained and experienced when providing the best travel solutions that you can rely on.

<h2>Get in Touch for Expert Sport Event Travel Solutions</h2>

We take pride in safe travel and excellent customer service for every event, from start to finish. Thanks to the expertise of our team, who have worked on countless sporting events, we are able to deliver seamless sport event travel for all of our clients.&nbsp;

To find out more about how these events unfolded - and the part we played in their success - take a look at our <a href="https://www.firsttravelsolutions.com/case-studies">case studies</a> and see how we did it. Make sure to <a href="https://www.firsttravelsolutions.com/contact-us">get in touch</a> with us to enquire about our sport event travel solutions. 
&nbsp;

Ensure your operation gets off without a hitch and has smooth transport thanks to our sport event travel service. Get in touch to learn how we can help.

Sport Event Travel & Transport for Games | First Travel Solutions

Sport & Games Transport Solutions

The Leeds Marathon is a major event that&nbsp;attracts thousands of participants and&nbsp;spectators. To facilitate access to Headingley&nbsp;Stadium, we were contracted to provide shuttle 
services from three park and ride locations&nbsp;throughout Leeds, ensuring smooth&nbsp;transportation for everyone involved.

Planning and Coordination

<ul>
	<li>Client Collaboration: Worked closely with the&nbsp;event organisers to establish key&nbsp;requirements, including shuttle schedules,&nbsp;pick-up and drop-off points, and operational hours.</li>
	<li>Route Planning: Developed effective routes&nbsp;from the designated park and ride sites to&nbsp;Headingley Stadium, considering expected&nbsp;traffic patterns on marathon day.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Staff Training: Provided training for shuttle&nbsp;staff on safety protocols, customer service,&nbsp;and logistical coordination to enhance the&nbsp;attendee experience.</li>
</ul>

Implementation

Shuttle Service from Park and Ride Locations:

<ul>
	<li>Fleet Deployment: A total of approx. 35double deck buses were deployed from various park and ride sites, ensuring ample capacity for all attendees.</li>
	<li>Operation Hours: Shuttle services ran from06:00 to 18:00 accommodating both early arrivals and late spectators.</li>
	<li>Communication: Attendees received clear information about shuttle schedules and locations through signage and pre-event communications.</li>
</ul>

Spectator Service from Headingley Stadium:

<ul>
	<li>Service for Spectators: A secondary shuttle service was established to transport spectators from Headingley Stadium to a designated midway point along the marathon route, allowing them to support their loved ones during the race.</li>
	<li>Coordination: Staff at Headingley ensured smooth loading and unloading, assisting spectators in navigating to their designated viewing spots.</li>
</ul>

Operational Details

<ul>
	<li>Shuttle Frequency: Buses operated on a frequent schedule, with designated pick-up and drop-off points at both park and ride locations and Headingley Stadium.</li>
</ul>

Outcomes

<ul>
	<li>Attendance: Successfully transported approximately 3500 spectators and participants to and from Headingley Stadium, as well as to the midway viewing point.</li>
	<li>Client Feedback: The event organisers expressed high satisfaction with our services, particularly noting the punctuality and professionalism of our staff.</li>
	<li>Operational Success: No reported incidents or significant delays occurred during the shuttle operations, demonstrating effective planning and execution.</li>
</ul>

Conclusion

The shuttle services provided for the Leeds Marathon were a resounding success. Our commitment to efficient operations, safety, and customer satisfaction greatly contributed to a positive experience for all attendees and the event organisers.

Leeds Marathon 2024

Team Work

We love a festival - but we don’t go for the music - we go to move people safely and efficiently - adding to their great weekend of fun without them even realising.&nbsp;

We are proud of our ongoing work with Love Supreme, Leeds Festival, and Boardmasters, all of these festivals we have been supporting for over 6 years now!&nbsp;

We highlighted just three of our festivals here!

&nbsp;

The Solutions

Love Supreme 
One of the country’s premier jazz festivals takes place at Glynde Place near Brighton in early July and is attended by around 5,000 fans. FirstTravel Solutions (FTS) has provided transport solutions for six years, comprising shuttle and timetabled bus services between Brighton and Glynde rail stations and the festival site.

Many of the festival goers camp at the site and attend the full weekend festivities, meaning that the transport provision also had to accommodate the movement of tents, bags, and equipment alongside people.

FTS, planned routes, procured vehicles, set up city centre locations to support those arriving in Brighton by rail, coordinated queuing and boarding, provided pop-up sales points, and managed the onsite temporary bus station.

Customers could book onto time-specific shuttles from Brighton rail station to the site, which helped manage crowds, but FTS employed sufficient flexibility in the operation to account for late arrivals and peak time surges.

&nbsp;

Leeds Festival 
FTS have supported this massive event for several years and used their experience and expertise to deliver a comprehensive travel solution that was much more than the standard shuttle service.

Recognising the complexities of moving tens of thousands of festival-goers, planning for the event starts months in advance and involves the entire FTS team.

As many attendees initially travel by rail into Leeds city centre, the team identified suitable pick-up and drop-off points within the station's easy reach.

On the ground, coordinators are in constant radio contact with the buses' staging site and can call in the fleet as and when needed. Over the course of six days, FTS successfully transferred more than 20,000 music fans via 500 bus journeys.

&nbsp;

Boardmasters 
Boardmasters is one of Cornwall’s biggest festivals, mixing top-end music entertainment, beach and surfing activities and sports. It attracts around 50,000 festival-goers over a five-day early August period to the usually much quieterWatergate Bay and Fistral Beach near Newquay.

Parking on-site is extremely limited, and FTS were asked to develop and operate bus shuttles that would transport 45,000 fans to and from Newquay town centre and the festival sites.

FTS developed a plan that provided bus connections between Newquay’s bus and rail stations and the Watergate and Fistral beaches.&nbsp;

The shuttles were in operation each day between 0700-0400 and carried festival goers and tonnes of camping equipment and personal belongings.

Cash handling was managed safely and securely, but FTS introduced advance ticketing and m-tickets via the FirstGroup app to ease queuing and transaction times.

25 staff were rostered across the various sites and were on hand to manage queues, bus loadings, ticketing operations and temporary bus stations at festival sites.

Vehicles were tracked, and onsite management control was able to flex the services as needed and respond to additional requirements, such as staff buses to assist with beach cleaning.

The operation was a tremendous success and delivered against several key indicators. Nearly 1,500 bus journeys were completed, and 56,000 attendees used the shuttle services.

This reduced car movement in and around Newquay and the festival by over a third and meant residents and event goers all got to where they needed to be when needed.

&nbsp;

The Result

Another successful FTS operation carried thousands of festival goers, their equipment and supplies and a fair few saxophones and guitars.

These successful services are supporting organisers in demonstrating to local authorities their commitment to staging a transport-considered event.

All buses provided were fully accessible and tracked by FTS in Event Control.

Festival Travel Support

We understand how business owners or senior managers have more important responsibilities but, if you’re a large business, then corporate transport is going to be a huge part of your agenda. So why not let the experts take care of it all for you?

Our team has a specialised network of professionals with years of experience in providing corporate transportation solutions. Whether you need reliable corporate transport for meetings, conferences, or for incidents and disasters, we are here for you in a timely and expert manner.

<h2>Reliable Corporate Transport for Your Business</h2>

Safe and reliable corporate transport services are vital, but especially so when emergencies happen. Knowing how to create the necessary support for recovery in case of threats such as floods, fire, terrorist attacks, supplier failure, or other incidents is critical for your safety and business continuity.

In addition to our round the clock emergency travel services, we also have a control and management centre operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week to guarantee your event goes as smoothly as possible. We liaise with the relevant local authorities, police, Highways Agency, and organisers to make sure that your needs are met and exceeded.

Whether you have a small or a big company, First Travel Solutions provides corporate event travel for all sectors and requirements. Simply let us know about your individual needs and we tailor our services to your business.

<h2>Contact Us About Our Corporate Transport Services</h2>

Here at First Travel Solutions, we take pride in organising a whole variety of corporate transport solutions for business of all shapes and sizes and sectors across the UK. We personalise each one to you and your requirements; every company is different, so your transport should be too.

Get in touch with our friendly team to know more about our corporate travel solutions or find out more about each of the corporate transport services we offer below:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.firsttravelsolutions.com/business-transport-solutions">Business Continuity</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.firsttravelsolutions.com/meetings-events-transport-solutions">Conferences &amp; Meetings</a> 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Our corporate transport services make travelling to executive events easy. We are safe, timely and second to none. Depend on First Travel Solutions today.

Corporate Transport & Event Travel | First Travel Solutions

Corporate Transport Services

The challenge

Internet-based retailers and large retail and grocery warehouse facilities have found it challenging to support employees with their travel to work.

Public transport services are often not operating near enough to sites or at times that suit the shift work of many organisations.

There is a need to provide bespoke journeys for employees of many of these businesses.

&nbsp;

The solution

First Travel Solutions have a network of vehicles across the UK, that are quality checked and established.&nbsp; Our geographical coverage with our own bus fleet and our compliance regime for sub-contractors gives access to all sizes and types of vehicles.

This allows the team to create bespoke travel arrangements for the different employers' needs.

Connecting local towns and communities to numerous regional logistics centres with inbound and outbound journeys to feed into and out of local shift patterns.

This offers maximum flexibility on service timing and new routes.

Each solution is delivered bespoke to the employers using our expert team at FTS and the software systems we have developed in-house.

We can and do operate staff services across most cities and counties of the UK.

&nbsp;

The result

A bespoke transport solution providing access to employment for non-car users in areas traditionally unserved by public transport.

They are delivered on both free-to-user (fully employer subsidised) and passenger contribution (employer subsidised) models.

We have worked with household names such as Lidl, Waitrose, Royal Mail, Pertemps, and Tesco, to name a few.

Bespoke Employee Shuttle Buses

The challenge

The NBA and the NFL have previously hosted games in the UK, but in the summer of 2019, the London Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth II Olympic Park pitched up to be the first venue in Europe to stage Major League Baseball (MLB).

First Travel Solutions were contracted to provide team, VIP and spectator transport for the London Series.&nbsp;

This was more than just providing coaches and park and ride solutions and involved the procurement and management of all sorts of vehicles from minibuses, to MPVs to executive cars. The operation was not just for event days but encompassed the proceeding build and after event takedown periods.

The games (June 29 and 30th) themselves were extremely high profile as it was between two of the biggest rivals in American baseball and two of the most iconic teams in world sport in the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

The eyes of the world were on London and the UK to see if it could successfully host such a famous American sporting tradition.

The organisers had very specific and high-end vehicle specifications and FTS had to fulfil these requirements in the peak holiday season in the UK.

The solution

Recognising the high-profile nature of the operation and the worldwide eyes on the event, and indeed the organisers want to prove the viability of future MLB matches, FTS deployed senior management teams who worked intensely with the client for months in advance of the games and throughout the series.

Over the 8 days of event operation, FTS successfully delivered nearly 400 different ‘transport’ journeys. This involved procuring and managing 87 different vehicles from team coaches, to MPVs to executive coaches and saloon cars.

FTS onsite control team monitored and tracked every vehicle, trained 22 drivers and staff to the highest standard, deployed co-ordinators at the main venue and auxiliary locations and adapted the operation in terms of time management as one of the games turned out to be the second longest in MLB history.

The result

FTS smashed the baseball contract out of the park. Every specified journey requirement was met with 100% of journeys being completed to programme. There was not a single late journey and organisers reported their satisfaction both with the service provisions and the standard of vehicles procured.

A second London Series will take place in 2020.

Major League Baseball

Love Supreme is one of the premier jazz music festivals in Europe and every year it attracts 40,000 concert goers to the three-day event at Glynde Place near Brighton.

The challenge

First Travel Solutions (FTS) have previously supported concert organisers with an ingress / egress shuttle service between Brighton city centre and the festival site, and due to previous successful operations, FTS were again approached to act as the main transport partner.

As in 2018, the festival site is fairly remote, and parking is very limited and to avoid local congestion on smaller B roads, the council only grant permission for the festival if event organisers can demonstrate a sophisticated and managed transport plan.

The solution

As with previous year’s festivals FTS, planned routes, procured vehicles, set up city centre locations to support those arriving into Brighton by rail, co-ordinated queuing and boarding, provided pop up sales points and managed the onsite temporary bus station.

Customers were able to book onto time specific shuttles from Brighton rail station to the site, which helped manage crowds but FTS employed sufficient flexibility in the operation to account for late arrivals and peak time surges.

On the ground staff were deployed to manage operations both at the rail station and at the festival site, where there was a requirement to clear the venue of bus passengers no later than 2 hours after the main stage closed down.

At both the rail station and the festival site FTS were able to manage un-booked walk up sales and transport all customers to where they wanted to be.

As an enhancement from previous years the organisers also contracted FTS to provide shuttle services from both Lewes and Glynde stations, providing more public transport solutions and further reducing private vehicle traffic to and from the site. FTS co-ordinators were onsite at all locations.

The result

Another successful FTS operation carried thousands of festival goers, their equipment and supplies and a fair few saxophones and guitars.

The main shuttle service is well known and extremely well used with Love Supreme’ers and its popularity is supporting organisers to demonstrate to local authorities their commitment to staging a transport considered event.

The additional shuttles from Lewes and Glynde were also popular and well received.

All buses provided were fully accessible and tracked by FTS in Event Control.

Love Supreme

Love Supreme 2019

The challenge

Massive Attack, one of Bristol’s most famed bands, played two huge homecoming gigs at the purpose-built Steel Yard at Filton Airfield in early spring 2019.

Each concert attracted an audience of 14,000 fans and working in partnership with the Big Green Coach Company (BGC), First Travel Solutions (FTS) were appointed by TravelWest to support the local transport provision between Bristol city centre and the venue.

Bristol City Council were keen to test the feasibility of the airfield as a venue and one of the main considerations was how transport could be delivered for thousands of attendees in a quick and efficient manner and in a way that didn’t cause significant local disruption.

The solution

FTS worked with BCG, the council and the concert organisers to develop a park and ride solution to connect the venue and concert attendees to the city centre.

FTS operated 70 plus buses, provided by colleagues from First West of England, a mobile ticket shop, in the form of a bus and on the ground co-ordinators.

Queuing systems were set up in the Broad Quay area of the city and buses called in as needed to avoid&nbsp; &nbsp; city centre congestion.

FTS also provided pre event consultancy and demand management assessment and were able to deploy their expertise in traffic management along the 6.5 mile route.

The result

The park ride operation was a massive success transporting thousands of concert goers to and from the venue and reducing the congestion impact on the local road network.

The feedback after the event provided enough evidence to prove that concerts could successfully be held there with specific praise given to the transport arrangements that were in place.&nbsp;

The main driver of public opinion as to the success of any outdoor event is the speed at which venues are safely cleared and FTS were able to meet and exceed council on such.

Local media also praised the efficiency of the bus operation.

Massive Attack

The challenge

In the summer of 2018, Glasgow proudly hosted the inaugural European Championships, bringing together over 4,500 athletes competing in 12 sports from swimming through to golf and fantastic BMX racing.

First Travel Solutions (FTS) were appointed as the official transport partner by the organising committee to provide seamless and effective journeys for all athletes, officials, media and VIPs.

Venues were dispersed throughout the city, into the wider Glasgow city region and further afield to Gleneagles for the Golf and Edinburgh for the diving competition.

Given that the contract included travel provision for athletes and officials it was imperative that transport between training bases, accommodation and venues was timely, stress free and well communicated.

The solution

FTS deployed their experienced major event transport managers five months in advance of the opening ceremony and the team set about working with organisers, venues and the local authorities to understand all the various requirements of the 85 different ‘games’ routes.

Working with First Bus in Glasgow, drivers and vehicles were identified and an intensive route learning programme was initiated so that when the games went live the transport operation was well rehearsed and perfectly timed.

Additionally, a 24/7 Control Room was established and VIP chauffeur provision was set up for officials and games guests from around the world.

The result

This was a huge operation and one that was extremely high profile and extensive and expert planning was the key to a gold standard transport performance.

Between 25th July and 12th August, FTS operated more than 70 services a day, carrying close to 10,000 athletes, championship officials and journalists.

The daily bus operation was supported by an additional 60 co-ordinators and supervisors who ensured that everyone got to their starting blocks on time.

The team were also able to provide staff and event stewards in support of the cycling road races.

The European Championship organising committee were delighted with the service provided by FTS and commented on the efficiency of the plan and its delivery against a number of challenging parameters.

&nbsp;

Glasgow 2018

The challenge

The Slam Dunk North Festival is a one-day music event featuring some of the biggest names in modern Pop-punk, metal and alternative sound.

The annual event takes place in May and is hosted at the magnificent Temple Newsam Park in Leeds.

First Travel Solutions (FTS) were appointed in 2019 to provide shuttle bus services between the city centre and the countryside venue. An all-day operation with enough capacity to transport thousands of punkers and rockers was requested by the event organisers.

The solution

Temple Newsam is around half an hour from Leeds Railway station and FTS planned the operation of hundreds of bus journeys to and from the venue.

Shuttle services ran from 0830 in the morning to 1500 in the early afternoon. Due to the nature of a one-day event, increased capacity was needed at key points in the day when crowd numbers were expected to peak in line with the most popular bands taking to the various stages. 

This meant working extremely closely with event organisers to understand how many thousands of fans were expected on site at various points after the first bands started performing at 1130. 

Return shuttles began operating at 2030. 

The bus operation was supported by FTS’s parent company First Group, who provided over 40 double decker buses and drivers from their West and South Yorkshire depots. FTS contracted additional buses from 3rd parties and installed and managed a pop-up ticket buying facility in the city centre and at site.

A video detailing where and how to board the bus shuttles was also produced and hosted on the festival website providing step by step guidance for attendees.

Ground support staff were also deployed to help manage queuing and sell tickets for travel.

The result

Throughout the day FTS provided transport for 12,000 spectators providing nearly 150 bus journeys between the venue and the city centre.

Exceeding client expectations the festival site was fully cleared by 2330, only an hour and half after headliners All Time Low, NOFX and Bullet for My Valentine had completed their sets.

&nbsp;

Case Studies