Pelican Bus and Coach has appointed Steve O’Neill as Area Sales Manager for the South of England.
The surprise announcement represents a return to the coach industry for Mr O’Neill, who joined it over 30 years ago. His CV includes leadership of Gillingham operator The Kings Ferry, during which time he oversaw the sale of that family business to National Express.
From there, Mr O’Neill was involved in establishment of the Irizar UK dealership and contributed to its success with DAF-engined integral coaches until leaving in 2019. Most recently, he worked with EVM on the AOS brand of midicoaches.
With Pelican, Mr O’Neill succeeds Phil Hodgson, who retired from the South of England territory in September after an over-60-year career in transport.
Mr Hodgson had seen great success with both diesel and zero-emission vehicles to retail customers, including the sale of both the first battery-electric coach to a UK customer in 2019, and more recently the debut deal with a private owner of a battery-electric double-decker. Westway Coaches was the operator in both of those deals.
Mr O’Neill has left semi-retirement to take up the role with Pelican. Speaking about the appointment, UK Coach Sales Manager Simon Collins says: “Steve brings a lot of experience to the company and he has already given fantastic input. He is super-keen to join us and already knows many of our customers.”
Mr O’Neill will be on the Pelican stand at Euro Bus Expo. His arrival comes as Pelican has an order bank of almost 160 coaches with Yutong to August 2025. Most are already accounted for but Mr Collins adds that some are still available.
Appointment of Mr Hodgson’s successor also comes as Pelican looks toward adding the Yutong GT14 diesel tri-axle model in H2 2025. It will complement the TC9 and GT12 diesel coaches, and the TCe12 and GTe14 battery-electrics.
