Buying a top-of-the-range, VIP-specification coach can be a decision that while largely driven by business needs, may also be made with slight influence from the heart. So it was for Whites Coaches of St Albans earlier in 2023 when it received what is undoubtedly its flagship. That vehicle is a custom-built, two-axle 12.4m Irizar i8 integral with 36 seats that has been specified precisely to the requirements of Director Greg White.
The coach is one of only a pair of two-axle i8 integrals in the UK. Both are connected to Whites; the first to arrive here was ordered by, built for, and almost delivered to, the Hertfordshire business, but the realities of 2020 led to the difficult but unavoidable decision by Greg and his wife Danielle to cancel it at a late stage.
The vehicle subsequently found a permanent home elsewhere, but a desire to count an example of Irizar’s i8 range-topper in the Whites fleet was parked only temporarily.
Irizar i8 integral represents expansion of chauffeur-driven approach
Under Greg’s leadership, Whites had become firmly a minicoach operator by the late 2010s, with a much smaller number of mid-sized coaches on hand. Those small vehicles remain the dominant type in its fleet. He is hesitant when asked whether he still sees the company as a minicoach business. Whites has taken six new Mercedes-Benz Sprinters with EVM coachbuilt bodywork over the past year and it has a larger but still compact AOS Grand Toro on order.
In return, Greg turns the question around, responding that vehicles are not how Whites defines itself. Rather, work is; he regards the business as a chauffeur company with larger equipment than the norm in that segment.
That aside, the events of 2020 and 2021 saw a necessary expansion of focus. Large vehicles became more prominent. The new i8 integral represents what Greg believes is the pinnacle of operating coaches in the heavyweight class. It sits alongside an earlier 12.2m i6S integral and a handful of Mercedes-Benz Tourismos in that general size range with Whites.
‘Never underestimate the importance of seats’
Whites is focused on corporate work and the carriage of small and affluent groups, although it also undertakes sports team transport (either directly for the club concerned or in partnership with an operator in the North of England) and a number of contracts serving private schools.
That mix had worked well with smaller coaches, but as the business grew under Greg’s leadership and with an eye on luggage capacity required for well-heeled parties, an eye had turned to larger vehicles even before 2020.
The first Irizar integral purchases by Whites were two at a sub-11m length. Both have now been sold, but they allowed a suitable capacity for smaller parties while retaining the personal feel that Greg values.
The first Irizar i8 integral was ordered after that as a 12.4m 44-seater, and while it was not delivered, full-sized coaches came into the fray with Tourismos that have a higher capacity, suiting them to school work among other duties. The 12.2m i6S also arrived during that period.
Greg rates the Tourismo highly, particularly its Luxline seating. In an indication of how important the choice of seats is, he describes his all-time favourite vehicle as a long-sold Mercedes-Benz Atego with UNVI Riada bodywork.
It had captain’s chairs that were reupholstered in black leather with white diamond stitching. “Customers notice the seats in vehicles,” he explains. “I once carried a group of aircrew in the Riada and they commented positively on its seats. It taught me a valuable lesson: Do not compromise when specifying them.”
The i8 delivered recently comes with the eponymous Irizar seat in dark leather. Four full-sized tables form part of the specification. Unusually, all are at the very rear, capturing the four-abreast back row.
While clearly not of the U-shaped approach there seen on some team coaches, Greg views the i8 arrangement as acting as a de facto lounge. Ahead of those facing positions, all are arranged in the conventional manner, albeit with a large servery on the offside ahead of the continental door.
New i8 integral sees further diversification of business
The decision to take the subsequent i8 integral to VIP specification, rather than the straight seated arrangement planned for the first example, also reflects some of the changes to Whites’ business and fleet since 2020. “The first i8 would have had six more seats than any other coach in the fleet at that time, but with the second it made sense to take it as a VIP coach,” Greg explains.
“Business had really started to pick up after the two pandemic years and I still wanted to add an i8 to our fleet,” he continues. “We ordered the coach from Irizar UK and then began speaking about the specification.”
Besides seats, one reason for going with an i8 over an i6S Efficient relates to interior space. The latter is a high coach, but the i8 is even taller, and that is reflected in the expanse of its cabin. The additional cost of an i8 over an i6S is seen by Greg as worthwhile for the application it sits in.
He reflects that incoming tour groups, corporate clients and other higher-end private hire work have all come back very strongly in 2022 and into 2023. Rates match that, and while regrettable, the reduction of overall coaching capacity through the closure of a small number of operators during the pandemic continues to influence what can be charged. Drivers’ wages have followed a similar trajectory; Whites’ staff recently all saw a further rise, but that is reflected in the high standards expected of them.
One of the nonleague football clubs that Whites works for direct will use the i8 integral as its team transport during the current season. Greg expects the coach to attract new customers as it becomes more visible, although it is finished in the fleet’s usual discreet dark metallic grey.
The i8’s curb appeal and presence is relevant to that. Conventional rear-view mirrors, and not the recently introduced camera system, have been specified as part of aesthetic considerations.
What of the next steps for the operator?
Greg says that purchase of the i8 represents a further step on the Whites Coaches development map, but he also offers that it could represent the last one for now.
“With what we have, I don’t know how we’d go further,” he says, although potential for larger than what is already in the fleet is not entirely ruled out. The first Irizar integrals came against a background of Greg having previously said he would never enter the heavyweight field as an indicator of how things can change.
Any suggestion of the i8 representing the conclusion of fleet development is tempered by the zero-emission conundrum. The coming of the Yutong GTe14 tri-axle battery-electric coach has not gone unnoticed at Whites. Greg believes that a higher-end such model would suit its customer base.
While the current lack of support in England for the purchase of zero-emission coaches is not a blocker for the St Albans business, a leased operating centre in London Colney poses more of a challenge; provision of the necessary charging point would require negotiation with the landlord.
“Electric has to be in our thoughts, but it would be a major difference from running diesels,” Greg explains. “I am no ecowarrior. But we all have a responsibility to do something. Central London is 20 miles from our depot, and we could already carry out a lot of our work with a zero-emission coach.
“In the long-term it is clearly where our industry is heading, and I want us to be among the operators that pilot the shift.” As with the i8 purchase, any transition to zero-emission will be done with business needs first and foremost – but possibly with a little influence of the heart on top.
