Newsletter - Winter plans 2024

Hello everyone!

It’s now been 18 months since I set up this company and It's been a great adventure, full of lessons, long days and hard work. I've met some incredible people, worked with incredible clients and achieved things I genuinely never believed possible for a working class lad like me.

The company is growing, but I have decided it is time for a change of brand to accurately reflect what the company is.

The second I branched out on my own, I had a surprising amount of companies and people contacting me wanting to work with me personally. I turned down lots of opportunities because they weren't eco, and although my company could have many branches, I discovered they couldn't all come from the same tree as they didn't reflect the company brand.

I took some opportunities and tried to make them eco, things like working with companies for vehicle hire that have green credentials. But this gets tricky and enters grey areas that I don't feel comfortable selling under the eco tour brand.

I am committed to a responsible future in Liverpool tourism. This doesn't only mean environmental, it's things like tour guide etiquette and how businesses in our industry work together and treat each other as the industry grows rapidly and gets bigger. I also don't want to let customers down and turn away business.

So I am changing the company and wish to update you all.

Dale Liverpool Tours ltd

I remember the conversations when I wanted to go into business, the thought that I couldn't set up a company in my own name. But after starting this journey I want to make it clear that every tour has my stamp on it. Dale Liverpool as a brand name is essentially letting people know that the tour, service or product is with me.#

Liverpool Eco Tours

Liverpool Eco Tours is the environmentally friendly branch of the Dale Liverpool Tours brand. Any tour booked under Liverpool Eco Tours will be 100% committed to being environmentally friendly and meet all valid criteria. This enables me to grow this branch, not muddying the waters and letting people know that what they see is what they get and what they are getting and choosing is good for the environment.

Tours available for all

Something I have taken pride in over the past 18 months is my ability to provide a tour for any person, be that young, old, with certain access needs or specific needs.

Over the years I have been on open top bus tours, coach tours, excursion tours, bike tours, walking tours, pub crawl tours, VIP tours and specific venue tours. Aside from by boat or helicopter, I have it covered (but if anyone has a boat or helicopter let me know!)

The beauty of not limiting the brand and having all tours delivered by me falling under the Dale Liverpool brand, is that I can always deliver a tour for you however you want it, be it Beatles, City, Football or other

New Tours For The Winter

Coming very soon I will be announcing on social media and on here about our winter walking tours that can be booked directly. I'll also have Christmas gift vouchers and tours specifically for locals to come on and enjoy.

Moving out of The Baltic

We have vacated our premises at the Baltic Triangle. While it was a nice environment full of lovely tenants, but overall it was a mistake and a learning curve. The lack of communication from the beginning with The Baltic Creative CIC delayed us getting set up. Only when we moved in were we told we couldn't use electricity to charge our E-Bikes unless we paid an extortionate amount, unable to do this and faced with more delays, it really stopped us running scheduled daily tours and operating as initially hoped.

We requested early release which they would grant on the terms that there was another tenant in the unit but now we are engaged in a battle over the deposit that they are trying to keep. This is a real shame, considering how much I promote the baltic, but lessons have been learnt and we move on.

“How Are The Bike Tours?”

I am always asked how bike tours are getting on, even though bike tours are a small part of what Dale Liverpool Tours and Liverpool Eco Tours is about. I’ve enjoyed success growing this company and have worked with incredible clients but unless people see my bikes out every day they wonder what's happened, and I understand that given the origins of how it started.

Bike tours are great, Liverpool is a beautiful city to explore by bike, but bike tours will not be the primary focus of the company moving forward. Scheduled bike tours (tours run on a set day to be booked onto individually) are something that I am moving away from completely. I will still do bike tours, but on a private bespoke basis. Over the past few weeks I have sold nearly the entire fleet of bikes and I've been left with only my best (which I still intend to sell and feel free to contact if interested!)

Truth be told, it's been a forced but sensible change. This decision to stop doing scheduled bike tours has been made in part due to the abuse and harassment that I have received this summer from the owner of Liverpool Cycle Tours. When slander and abuse was aimed at me it was manageable, but it crossed a line to being towards my guests in August I had to get the police involved and seek legal advice.

I won’t compete in such a limited market for scheduled bike tours and that was something I decided a while ago, I will only operate on a private basis, pre-booked and bespoke to the clients needs.

Liverpool Stories

I'm pleased to announce a venture that has been a long time coming!

I am a storyteller by trade, so I am setting up a podcast where I will interview liverpool people or those connected to our city and hear their stories. I will use it as a platform for promoting Liverpool too and sharing stories from the city, starting with a series on the Beatles marketing slogan of “The Place Where It All Began” where I will cover the history of all the places that lay a claim to that title.

I plan to have the first episode out before the end of the year and I'm interested in hearing suggestions for guests!

An exciting future

I have more plans that are still in the embryo stage, they are ambitious and exciting, but all will be announced in good time and on my social media channels. I have just created a new Facebook Page for Dale Liverpool Tours and a new Tripadvisor page too, feel free to follow, keep in touch and leave reviews, it really does mean a lot. In the meantime Liverpool Eco Tours is going nowhere, our socials will still be active and that branch will continue to grow alongside the rest of this company.

Thanks for reading and your continued support and interest,