The market for new coaches has changed significantly since 2020, with strong ongoing demand for vehicles across Europe pressuring some manufacturers’ ability to keep up. That has been leveraged by those builders that can deliver relatively quickly, which in turn has seen significant conquest business done by their representatives here.
Biddulph operator Hollinshead Coaches is not new to the Yutong brand. It took a TC9 midi in 2018, which Managing Director Stephen Haydon says has performed well; he also notes that support from dealership Pelican Bus and Coach has been good.
Another manufacturer has typically supplied its new full-size coaches, but in late 2023 a need to update the fleet’s mainline offering saw Hollinshead return to Pelican and order a Yutong GT12.
That coach was delivered in April having been painted in the Staffordshire firm’s red and cream livery in China. It is a standard 53-seat example with a centre toilet and PSVAR compliance. Such a specification makes it a solid private hire vehicle, but it will also go on tour when needed.
Investment follows fleet diversification by Hollinshead Coaches
The GT12 is a first new coach for Hollinshead in those applications since 2019. In the period before then the business had come to favour tri-axles, but it moved investment towards 70-seaters over the past couple of years. Two were delivered new, and one older fleet member was upseated. They are credited by Stephen as being big reasons for the operator’s ongoing success.
However, he adds that while 70-seaters command good rates and do not cover major mileage, they are limited in what they can do. Using them to convey fans of local sports teams is impractical, and so those with Hollinshead work entirely with schools.
That aside, Stephen believes a successful operation needs as broad a church of work as possible, hence attention now turning to the private hire and tour fleet.
A further new coach in that area is on the radar, although extended lead times are tricky. Stephen likes the GT12 and does not rule out another. But delivery time is key. “I do not like ordering very far in advance, because I want to keep an eye on where the market is going,” he explains.
The newcomer is particularly well suited to day trips. Sales for those are performing well. Hollinshead provides parking for customers at its depot, and it keeps the number of pick-up points low to minimise journey times.
Stephen believes that both of those are factors in the success of that programme, but he adds that even against a background of good demand and strong rates, minimising costs remains the key to successful coach operation.
Hollinshead’s loyalty to another manufacturer for large coaches would likely have continued in 2024 if availability had aligned with the operator’s need. The GT12 is a big change for the business, although it has performed well so far.
PSVAR compliance was specified primarily for residual value, although there is ample evidence that being able to offer it benefits an operator. In one week during mid-May Hollinshead’s 14 coaches carried out four jobs requiring accessibility. “It generates work,” says Stephen, who points to some school trips where disabled children can be carried with their friends. He also observes the wider social value aspect.
The GT12 will be maintained in-house, although Pelican’s mobile technicians and next-day parts provision is useful to the operator, particularly if warranty work comes necessary. The GT12 has a DAF MX-11 engine – the only DAF unit in Hollinshead’s fleet – and Pelican’s status as an agent of the Dutch OEM is valuable.
Market change drives procurement change for Hollinshead
Delivery of the GT12 to Hollinshead is an indicator of how the coach market has changed over the past decade. In 2014, Yutong was new to the UK. This year, Pelican expects the Chinese brand to be one of the best performers in terms of new vehicle registrations.
A GT12 is also front and centre of a national advertising campaign by FlixBus UK, illustrating its suitability for work outside the more traditional sphere of coaching; one operator in that scheduled service provision has recently ordered 18 of them.
Arrival of Hollinshead’s GT12 led to disposal of an older coach despite business being strong. Stephen observes that while vehicle design has advanced significantly since the early 2000s, the ability to cascade some coaches via through applications as they age has changed.
For that reason, the operator still has in service a pair of Volvo B12Bs and a single B12M, all with Van Hool bodywork. One is the converted 70-seater and Stephen says Hollinshead will keep them in service for as long as it can. The two that retain a 2+2 layout are still highly versatile.
Whether Hollinshead’s GT12 follows in those footsteps remains to be seen, but is largely similar dimensions-wise and is setting out in the same application that the B12s would have filled in the past. Perhaps things have not changed so much after all.
