An added extra to the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s northern region dinner weekend was a ride and drive event.

Regional Manager (North of England) at CPT, Andrew McGuinness, told B&CB the dinner event is a great opportunity to show off some of the industry’s vehicles to potential buyers, making the most of the captive audience in the city for the trade body’s evening get together.

This is the first time the CPT area has held a ride and drive event, providing a northern equivalent for the trade body’s similar gathering at North Weald Airfield in Essex. Manning the entrance, Andrew reports a ‘constant stream’ of attendees for the Newcastle showcase.

Located at the main car park of Newcastle College, a short walk from the train station, the day included an assessed driving challenge. Stagecoach provided an MAN-based Alexander ALX300 training bus for the day, which saw competitors undergo gruelling manoeuvres around an ‘incredibly tight’ course mapped out in the car park. A small prize was up for grabs for the winner and runners-up. “It’s getting very competitive,” said Andrew, as a queue of participants waited their turn on the bus.

The day gave the opportunity for operators to get behind the wheel of the PCVs on show and drive them around the car park to get a feel for their handling.

Andrew said: “The whole event is really an opportunity to showcase some vehicles. It’s important to get across the safety message, which is why we have the driving assessment. And when operators get together, it’s never just a social; they like to talk business too. This gives the opportunity to have interactions with suppliers and show the high standards of the industry.”

Test drives

Available for test drives on the day were four vehicles from Dawsongroup and EVM.

Dawsongroup brought a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter-based EVM Elegance, which was described as ‘fantastic’ by Dawsongroup’s Andrew Mclaughlin. He said: “They are ideal for executive transport, airport runs and even feeder services.”

Dawsongroup also had an Alexander Dennis Enviro200 on site, which Andrew described as a ‘good all-rounder’, attracting a number of test drives on the day.

“In general, we’re busy,” said Andrew, with the leasing specialists usual work, largely serving councils, creating the workload. He added: “As soon as we get something come on site with us, it goes out again. We have never been so busy.

“The feedback we get from operators is that they are busier than ever.”

Dawsongroup is also providing a lot of Transit-based minibuses and other accessible smaller PCVs, such as Treka’s conversions.

EVM was demonstrating its AOS range, with a Grand Toro and a Visigo ready for test drives around the car park. The convertor’s Matt Thompson said that at 8.5m long, test drivers were finding the Grand Toro easy to manoeuvre, giving a quiet and smooth on-road experience.

Two of them were due to be picked up by Ultimate Highland Experience at the event.

Matt said EVM is currently very busy too, with better delivery times now available. He said the company will soon be rolling out conversions based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Transfer 45, which will feature a sliding side-door and 16, 19 and 21 seats. This is expected to add a more entry-level vehicle into the company’s range.

An important aspect of these kind of events is the catering. A brunch and lunch option of sausage or bacon rolls were available, along with an accompanying hot beverage to help keep the March chill at bay.

An additional attraction to the ride and drive was a tour around Newcastle on a Go North East-operated open top Wrightbus Gimini.

On whether there will be another similar CPT northern region ride and drive, Andrew said: “Everyone I have spoken to today has been happy. We will look at the numbers and speak to the suppliers.”

Next year, CPT’s northern region dinner weekend is set to be held in north west England.