Proximity Coach Travel has reported strong progress since formation of the Lancashire-based coach and minibus agency, which works with operators throughout the UK and Ireland.
It was formed by husband-and-wife team Matt Hanson and Kathryn Cordey-Hanson earlier in 2025. Mr Hanson brought strong experience in coach hire having spent time with CMAC Group and Arriva Road Transport Services, while Mrs Cordey-Hanson left a teaching career. She says that the move has proved a wise one, albeit not something that was expected.
“The last thing on my mind was setting up a business. It stemmed from an argument about the amount of time Matt was working in the evening at and weekends. He is a workaholic, but I challenged him that if he was working all these hours, why couldn’t he do it for himself. His answer was ‘why not do it together?’”
Mr Hanson works with Proximity Coach Travel customers and suppliers while Mrs Cordey-Hanson looks after the process and compliance side of the business.
After leaving her career in education, she enrolled on a Business Boost programme run by Lancashire County Council under its Scale to Thrive course, which identifies new local businesses that have the scope to turn over £1 million plus.
Proximity has now secured a variety of work, particularly relating to tours and corporate events, and it sees a major opportunity for growth in the educational coach travel field.
“We joined the British Educational Travel Association, as there is a massive emphasis on networking and people. It really is about the people with us, and the Association gives us that platform,” notes Mrs Cordey-Hanson.
“Incoming tourism plays a pivotal role in the economy, and we want to play our part wherever [groups] have come from. We are also working with the School Travel Forum and have a unique offering for its tour operator members.”
Work is provided to many well-respected coach and minicoach operators, with those parties “enjoying the experience of working with a company that can marry customer requirements and expectations with the right fulfilment offering,” she adds.
Roberts Travel Group of Leicestershire is among those operators. Business Development Director Sally Walder describes working with Proximity Coach Travel as “a breath of fresh air” and pays tribute to an approach that she says “is built on trust, transparency, and speed.”
A commitment from Proximity to pay suppliers in advance contributes to a “seamless and easy” process, Ms Walder adds. She believes that the agency shares values with Roberts by putting customers first and providing quality, reliable and safe solutions. “It is also great to have another female leader in our industry.”
