Electric intercity coach operator Ember has expanded its business beyond scheduled services with launch of Ember Coach Hire, a new zero-emission private hire offer.
The Edinburgh-based company says the move marks the next stage of its growth after reaching sufficient scale in both fleet and infrastructure.
Co-founder Keith Bradbury (pictured, left) says Ember had planned to offer coach hire from the outset but waited until it could guarantee the same standards of reliability and technology as its scheduled routes. “Private hire had been in the back of our minds early on, but we couldn’t make steps towards it until we reached a certain scale,” he explains. “This year was when we reached that scale.”
Early bookings have come from weddings, school trips, sports events and one-off corporate journeys, with around half made by existing Ember passengers. Ember explicitly avoids charging a premium for journeys, which it says are priced at parity with or below diesel equivalents.
The firm has introduced an upfront pricing model starting with a £300 fixed fee plus £60 per driving hour and £20 per waiting hour. The service, which went live on 24 September, operates through Ember’s existing digital platform, Ember OS. It manages everything from driver allocation to live tracking. Customers can already request bookings through the website, while a fully automated, instant-booking system is in development.
Leading the project day-to-day is founders’ associate Elianna Payne, who says the emphasis on the offering is a great customer journey. “When hiring a coach, you want it to be really easy to book, easy to pay for, and you do not want to chase a company for details of the journey,” she says.
“What we want to do is make that whole part of the process slick and simple with clear communication, tracking details in advance, with friendly drivers and comfortable coaches.”
