Mike Beagrie is a well known face in the bus and coach industry, from his 12 years at Evobus UK. He was responsible for the coach business up to 2013, before running both the coach and bus divisions until later that same year, when he assumed responsibility for the business as MD and Interim CEO. […]
For a relatively small coachbuilder by modern day standards, producing around 300 bodies annually, the Spanish Beulas concern offers an amazing variety of products ranging from the diminutive Gianino midicoach up to the double deck Jewel. The company first came to the UK in the 1990s in conjunction with Iveco and Coach Europe, offering the […]
Since taking over the UK franchise to sell the luxury minicoaches produced by Spanish builder Ferqui, Steve Peach of Connaught PSV has re-established the brand as one of the most popular in 16-36 seat sector. Ferqui had previously been marketed by Optare and in recent years the best known products have been the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter […]
We covered the Open Day event at Quality Line’s premises a few week’s ago which tied in with the 95th anniversary of Epsom Coaches, and last weekend saw the spotlight move to the third largest Metroline garage at Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, the most northerly of Metroline’s 14 London garage facilities and the only located […]
The need to handle insurance claims is a regular inconvenience in this high risk industry. Big vehicles on the roads all day, every day simply run the risk of being involved in more accidents than most. This is something which can only be compounded by the ‘where there’s blame there’s a claim’ culture currently prevalent. […]
Early last year we put the Plaxton Leopard bodied Volvo B8R demonstrator through its paces (B&CB issue 1266, 7 March 2014) and with the exception of a few body issues that appear to have been overcome on subsequent vehicles were impressed with what we found, particularly the smoothness and quietness compared with the B9R. With […]
Volvo is completely convinced that Electromobility is the future for bus operation and has been keeping members of the press fully informed of developments with the latest stage of its moves in this direction. Last week these took a major step forward with the entry into service of three fully electric buses alongside seven plug-in […]
Despite the extra cleaning their presence entails, Gary Ridler, MD of Ridler’s Coaches, rather likes the swallows that dart in and out of his two depots at this time every year, though he is slightly concerned that the cat will one day catch up with a pair of doves nesting in the eaves of the […]