Dualway Group reaps the benefits of change
21/07/2025
The decision to reset business strategy post-Covid has paid off handsomely for the Dublin-based Dualway Group, according to chief executive Trish McConn.
Sometimes, a change can be for the best and that has clearly been the case for Dualway which has benefitted from downsizing. Back in 2019 when it celebrated 40 years in business, Dualway was one of the largest privately-owned companies in the Irish transportation and tourism sector. Then comprising Dualway Transport, Airport Hopper, Dublin Visitor Centre and Gray Line, Dualway operated private coach hire, scheduled services and a wide range of day tours in Ireland.
The previous year, Dualway sold City Sightseeing, which consisted of 25 open top vehicles, to British tour operator Big Bus Tours. But it was nothing compared to the changes which followed the Covid-19 pandemic. Dualway is now a more streamlined and profitable organisation consisting of Dualway Coaches and Need a Bus, which is the maintenance and repairs side of the business.
“When I joined the business 30 years ago, my father (Tony McConn) had a small fleet of 10 school buses,” Trish recalls.
“Over the next few decades, we evolved and diversified into Open Top City Tours, Day Tours, Tourism Centres and Scheduled Services. Such growth in a business requires more personnel, a strong management team and continuous capital investment, but it also entails high risk, growing costs and, as a business owner, a serious commitment of personal time.
“Following the sale of the City Sightseeing business in 2018 and the onset of Covid in early 2020, the period of lockdown afforded me the time to pause and reflect on our business success in the previous decades, but also to strategize as to what we wanted for the business in the future.
“During those first few months, I had the privilege of experiencing for the first time ever the meaning of being time-wealthy and made a personal commitment that this was to be my new goal post-Covid. Our offices closed in March 2020 and to this day, I and my now small team continue to work from home. Being time-wealthy allowed me the opportunity to pause, adapt and reset our business for a post-Covid future.”
Trish continues: “I made a decision to downsize the whole business to the manageable operation we have today by selling all our route licences for our Day Tours and Scheduled Services along with 50% of our fleet. We closed all our tourism centres in the city centre and reduced our headcount to meet our new requirements. We rented out our head office and spaces within our depot, allowing for passive income.”
Trish now manages the Dualway Group along with Beata Kostkowska and Marty Grattan. Beata oversees the Dualway Coaches operation, looking after the customers, fleet and, most importantly, an excellent team of drivers and cleaners.
Marty, meanwhile, manages Need a Bus which has grown exponentially over the last six years. He ensures the highest standard of safety for not only the Dualway Coaches fleet, but for the fleets of Big Bus Tours, Nolan Coaches and PTS Transport to name but a few.
“We’re basically a commercial garage catering mostly for coaches,” the maintenance manager explains.
“We have five working bays and a fully-equipped state-of-the-art workshop with all the latest diagnostic technology. We have a fantastic team of six mechanics who are professional, courteous and reliable. We also have an extensive customer-base which sees us manage over 100 other vehicles outside of Dualway Coaches. We excelled during Covid times as an essential service and have built on that. Overall, the new business model has worked out very well.”
Trish is full of praise for Beata and Marty, adding: “They act as business owners which is key and an integral part of our business’ continued success. I appreciate the loyalty and commitment from both Beata and Marty during these last few years of change and how they have adapted to our new post-Covid business.
“Their support has not gone unnoticed and is reflected in their own teams’ performance. We have an amazing team working for us. Freda Burke in accounts supports Beata, Marty and I. She has been part of the business for 22 years, while one of our longest-serving drivers, Tommy, has been with us for over 20 years. In total, there are 32 people employed.”
Dualway Coaches has halved its fleet from 50 to 25, with 20 of these dedicated to Bus Éireann school contracts in the greater Naas area and the other five AEC Routemaster vintage double-decker buses being reserved for special occasions such as weddings. The school buses are a mix of Volvo, Mercedes, Iveco, MAN and Scania, and range from mini buses to large coaches and deckers.
“We had five Bus Éireann school contracts pre-Covid which doubled to 10 and now stands at 17. They account for 90% of Dualway Coaches’ business,” Trish says.
“Since restructuring the business, we’re more profitable and time-wealthy. It took the pandemic for me to realise that you don’t have to be a busy fool! The school contracts offer our drivers and team a better work / life balance. It’s far less stressful and everyone is healthier and feeling much better about themselves. We’re essentially a 9-5 operation now. It’s a happy camp which is committed to keeping Dualway on an upward trajectory after 47 years in business.”
The affable chief executive would like to take this opportunity to thank her clients and suppliers for their continued support as well as the Dualway Coaches and Need a Bus teams for their hard work, dedication and expertise.
Dualway Group
Keatings Park,
Rathcoole,
Co. Dublin,
D24 DP90.
Telephone: 01 531 1411
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.dualway.com
Web: www.vintagebushireireland.com
First published in Irish Trucker magazine May/June 2025, Vol 28-3
