Youth travel specialist Topdeck has celebrated turning 40, with a gala ball in London attended by 275 guests including founders Graham “Skroo” Turner, Mike Carroll and Bill James who was among the company’s first passengers.
Topdeck was born in 1973 when Skroo, then a young Aussie vet living in the UK, came across an unwanted old double-decker bus and decided to drive it to Morocco with some friends.
They advertised it in an Earls Court pub with the company originally named Argus Persicus Travel after an Australian cattle tick.
Demand grew and soon the business that became known as Topdeck was operating a fleet of 25 buses and coaches on European tours, running itineraries as far-fetched as overland tours from London to Kathmandu by double-decker bus.
Now under different ownership, it has more than 100 vehicles and has carried over a million passengers.
Other guests at the gala ball included passengers on that very first Moroccan journey in 1973, along with current and former staff from all over the world, board members and suppliers from the UK and Europe.
They were transported to the event at London’s The Tower Hotel by one of Topdeck’s very first buses, a 1958 Bristol Lodekka called “Tadpoles”, which was taken out of its retirement at the Bus and Coach Museum in the Isle of Whyte especially for the event.
“The night captured the true spirit of Topdeck. After 40 years our family culture is as strong as ever with the first Topdeck passengers flying from far and wide including Australia and Mexico to help celebrate,” managing director James Nathan said.
“The night was about celebrating all things Topdeck and to have four generations of Topdeckers join in the celebrations was also a highlight. Although our passengers and operating environment have changed, the DNA of Topdeck hasn’t – we’re still a family company delivering life-changing holiday experiences to young people.”
