Every boarder needs a car on the same Friday afternoon. Then again on the Sunday.
Exeats and half terms empty a boarding house on one afternoon and refill it on another, with flights landing across both. We run those two days properly, and tell the parent when the pupil is in the car.
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What usually goes wrong
The problems particular to a school calendar
- An exeat that closes the houses for two or three nights, so every boarder moves within a few hours of each other, twice
- A half term of nine to sixteen nights, when international boarders go home and come back through Heathrow across a single Sunday
- School coach transfers that cover the main airports on the published travel days and nothing else, leaving the awkward arrivals to somebody else
- A pupil who has never met the driver, and a parent six time zones away who wants to know the car turned up
- Trunks, a cello, a cricket bag and a duvet, none of which fit in a saloon car
- A last minute change at the school office on a Friday afternoon, when the person who booked it has gone home
How we work with schools and guardians
One coordinator for the whole term
Most of this work comes through a school office, a boarding or housemaster's office, or a guardianship organisation, rather than from a parent booking a single journey. So we set it up as a term rather than as a series of jobs: the dates go in at the start, the list is confirmed a week or so before each exeat, and one coordinator holds all of it. When a flight moves on the Sunday, one person adjusts the whole afternoon rather than twelve people adjusting twelve bookings.
Wherever we can we use the same chauffeurs across a term, so a pupil sees a face they recognise rather than a stranger. The handover is to a named adult at both ends and to nobody else. We confirm the collection and the arrival by message to whoever you tell us to tell, which is usually the school office and the guardian, and often a parent abroad as well. Nothing is left to the pupil to sort out at the kerb, and nothing is paid for in the car.
Luggage decides the vehicle more often than the number of passengers does. A trunk at the start of term, an instrument, or a pupil going home for Christmas with a season's worth of kit means a V-Class rather than a saloon. Tell us what is travelling as well as who is travelling, and we will send the right car. Our own cars and chauffeurs are in London and Manchester, which covers the school belt around both, and elsewhere in the country we arrange cars through operators we know.
The rhythm of a term
The days that actually need planning
- First exeatUsually late SeptemberThe first test of the term, and the one that catches out new international boarders.
- Exeat weekendsTwo or three nights, houses closedOut on one afternoon, back on another, with the whole house moving in the same window.
- Half termsNine to sixteen nightsLong enough for a flight home, which makes it an airport problem as much as a school one.
- Travel daysSchools run their own coachesTo the main airports on published dates. Everything outside that is individual, and that is usually us.
Term dates vary by school. Send us yours at the start of the year and we will hold the pattern rather than ask each time.
What schools and guardians book
The movements a term is made of
Exeat and half term runs
School to guardian, host family or home, and back again on the Sunday.
Airport days
Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Manchester and Birmingham, with flights tracked.
Meeting a pupil
Met inside the terminal by name, at an agreed point, and handed over to nobody else.
Fixtures and away days
Teams, music tours and trips, moved together on a set timetable.
Parents visiting
Speech days, matches and concerts, often from a London hotel and back the same evening.
Families arriving in the UK
School search days for a family who has just moved, three schools in a day.
What the school office gets
The things a boarding office asks for
- One named coordinator who holds the term, not a call centre and not a booking form
- The same chauffeurs across a term wherever the rota allows it, so pupils and staff recognise them
- Collection and arrival confirmed by message to the office, the guardian and the parent, as you direct
- Handover to a named adult only, agreed before the journey rather than negotiated at the door
- Vehicles chosen for the luggage as well as the passengers, including trunks and instruments
- An assurance pack for your safeguarding lead, answered properly in writing rather than summarised on a website
The commercial side
Billed the way a bursary works
- Charged toThe school, the guardian or the parentTo an account, or direct to a family, journey by journey.
- Your referenceOn every journeyA pupil reference or a house name, carried through to the invoice so it can be recharged.
- BookersNamed by youThe school office, a housemaster or housemistress, a guardianship coordinator, or a named parent.
- CoverageLondon and Manchester, and beyondOur own cars and chauffeurs in both cities, and cars arranged through operators we know elsewhere.
For the term ahead
Send us your term dates
The school or organisation, the exeat and half term dates, roughly how many pupils move on each one and which airports are involved. We will come back with how we would set the term up.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
From schools and guardians
Will it be the same chauffeur each time?
Wherever the rota allows, yes, and that is the part pupils and boarding staff value most. We will tell you if it has to change.
Do you confirm that a pupil has been collected?
Yes, by message, to whoever you nominate: the office, the guardian, the parent, or all three.
Who is allowed to collect a pupil at the other end?
A named adult agreed in advance. If somebody else turns up, the chauffeur telephones the office and waits rather than improvising.
Can you take a trunk, a cello and a games bag?
Yes, in a V-Class. Tell us what is travelling and we will send a vehicle that takes it.
Do you work with guardianship organisations?
Yes, including those accredited by AEGIS. Most of our school work comes through organisations and school offices rather than from parents directly.
What can you tell our safeguarding lead about your chauffeurs?
We will answer that in writing, in full, as part of setting up the account. It is not something to summarise on a public page.
Can you meet a pupil flying in unaccompanied?
Tell us the airline's arrangement for the flight and we will work to it. The handover happens with airline staff, not at the kerb.
One contact, wherever you are