The Canary Islands company frequently relies on the confidence that the Navarrese coachbuilder provides: “What I value most is their after-sales service”, the manager assures.
Óscar Díaz (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1990) is able to recognise a ‘guagua’ based on the sound of the engine, a skill that is the result of the hours spent during his childhood playing games in the garages of the family business. Today, together with his cousin Mónica, he leads Grupo 1844, a company present on five islands of the Canary Islands with more than 1,500 employees and 1,000 vehicles.
- In 1932, your great-grandfather bought a milk delivery vehicle with registration number 1844, the number that today is the name of your group of companies. How is the project in 2024?
Each of the four generations of my family has contributed something to the group of companies, and right now we are making a strong commitment to a more service-oriented approach. In addition, as a business strategy we have subdivided the company into different specialised service units, so that we not only support our business group but also the professionalisation of the entire industry. For example, we have set up a brokerage specialising in company insurance programmes in the transport sector, Segurbus. We also have Legal Transport, a law firm specialising in passenger transport, and, a very special part for me, Innobus, with which we also offer IT services linked to the sector.
- Which of these parts of the business strategy connects with you the most?
The most innovative, everything to do with IT. I really enjoy everything that digitalisation of the sector entails. Despite the fact that I studied Business Administration, we have an ambitious project in the company within Innobus, which is focused on digitalisation, especially in the transport of tourist passengers, which is our main line of business due to the location of our company in the Canary Islands. We want to see the traceability of the customer from the moment they arrive at the airport until they are dropped off at their hotel or on any of the routes they take around the islands.
- Technology is important nowadays, but you move people, what distinguishes a good driver?
Perseverance. I believe that this is a fundamental value of people, not only of bus drivers. A good driver can be defined not only by not registering any accidents on the road, but also by knowing how to drive and transporting passengers. They are responsible for welcoming and seeing off, on many occasions, people visiting the island. Therefore, their human quality is not only important for the group, but also for the image of the islands.
- About 35% of your drivers today are women, which is unusual.
How have you managed to get them behind the wheel professionally?
There are more and more of them, and the outlook is that this percentage will grow in the coming years. It is a growing trend that our company is trying to attract. We want this talent within the company. In fact, in the ‘On Wheels’ programme of the ‘Nos movemos’ Foundation, we have created a project focused above all on women who want to venture or start in this sector. Many are victims of gender-based violence, so we aim not only to give them a job with which they can financially support their family, we want to empower them and give them a new life.
- How did the foundation come about?
My father always said that he had dedicated his whole life to business, but he had never had the opportunity to contribute through his work to strengthening Canarian society. My grandparents had brought him up with very service-oriented values and he felt that he had not been able to pass them on. We started the project last year, and today my father presides over the foundation, which in 2023 trained 72 drivers thanks to the ‘On Wheels’ programme. This year we estimate that we will have almost 180 people trained. We want to have drivers of excellence, which today translates into people who know how to drive these vehicles, but who also have a knowledge of languages and a good level of digitalisation.
- Values are very important to you, how do they influence your choice of suppliers?
They are a very important part, as is the case with Integralia. They have come to me as an inheritance from my father, who started working with them in 2003. Today, the vehicles that have left Pamplona make up 15-20% of the total fleet of Grupo 1844. An important percentage that we maintain because, like us, they are a family business with which we share the same values. They treat their customers as if they were their family. Moreover, they treat us as if we were not in the Canary Islands. If there is someone from the outside who doesn’t see you from so far away, they undoubtedly transmit you a very important confidence on a daily basis.
- How does this treatment translate into day-to-day life?
Apart from the vehicle itself, which in the case of Integralia is a differentiator in the minibus market. I believe that everything breaks or can be damaged by wear and tear. So, what I value most is the after-sales service. If I need a spare part, I want an after-sales service that can solve it. As happened to us a short time ago, when we had a problem with the vehicle’s windows. In the end, what was behind it was the lack of supplies. That lack of components affects everything, but it depends a lot on how you treat the supplier when something is missing. When you see that the other person puts himself in your place and is giving everything to get it. He’s with you and you can’t hold anything against him.
- Human Resources, Digitalisation and Sustainability are the fundamental pillars of the group. We cannot finish without talking about sustainability and, therefore, about the future of the sector.
The reality is that today we still do not know what the alternative energy to the previous energy sources we have today is going to be. We have been working
to modernise our fleet, but we cannot predict what will happen.
Yes, the reality of the sector today at national level is a significant ageing of the sector. There is a lack of generational replacement, as a result of the fact that it is not considered an attractive sector. Thirty years ago, a person leaving the rural world to take passengers on a bus almost resembled the profile of an airline pilot; nowadays, the driver has been denigrated to such an extent that he or she seems to be the last in the chain.
A MINIBUS TRIP WITH ÓSCAR DÍAZ
The bus depots were the scene of your childhood games, what has that setting given you today?
I grew up in the bus depots, since then I know which bus it is by the noise it makes, even the driver of the car. I used to run around there. The drivers would throw me into the oil can. My mother would get really pissed off. There are difficult times in a family company, but I have a lot of passion for the sector, that’s what drives me to continue with such enthusiasm.
You will often need a good dose of calm and tranquillity in your day-to-day life. How do you acquire that patience?
Patience is one of the virtues that I often miss, but time and experience bring it to you. Maturity gives you that peace of mind that you don’t have when you are younger and your nerve guides you in many of your decisions. Then you realise that many problems are solved with time. Patience is time.
Did the mistakes help you?
Very much so. When you learn the most is when you fall and you realise that you have made a bad decision.
What is luxury in passenger transport?
The service with a good customer service, a very good treatment on a human level.
In our case, our journeys are very short, so we value customer service in a short space of time. Comfort in terms of air conditioning, seats… that is taken for granted, but a smile is more difficult to achieve. They help you with your luggage, they explain to you on the way… that human side is what is most valued.
When the car engine stops, what do you do with your time?
I do sport every day to get away from it all and reset my mind. I like football, but above all I am quite family-oriented and enjoy being with friends.
What would you like to invent?
An autonomous passenger transport company where things that do not add value do not have to be done by a human.
Shall we put on a series?
Breaking Bad.
Which seat do you choose?
One in front to be close to the driver, to see how he drives the vehicle and to talk during the journey.
And what would you eat during the journey?
Nothing, you shouldn’t eat in cars.
What song accompanies you?
Valió la pena’ by Marc Anthony. Any Latin music.
Any pending destinations?
Australia.