Albert Skew, co-founder with his wife Pamela of Solent Coaches, has died peacefully at the age of 91.
The couple founded Solent Coaches in 1972 with a 1970 Bedford VAL. Together they would take passengers on coach holidays across the UK and Europe, with Albert at the wheel and Pam by his side as Courier. He enjoyed trips to the Isle of Man best of all, behind the wheel of his favourite coach, a 1983 Van Hool Acron.
Sons John and Paul Skew soon joined the business, and for many years Solent continued as a family run enterprise.
Solent was sold to Lucketts Travel in November 2017. This led John and Paul to focus on building Solent Commercials, a vehicle repair and maintenance supplier, and a dealer for Mercedes Bus and Coach dealing with warranty claims, recalls and call outs.
With Solent Commercials on the site of Albert and Pam’s home, Albert took a keen interest in the business, greeting and chatting with visitors until his health deteriorated around two months ago.
Albert is survived by wife Pam, his two sons John and Paul, and daughter Sandra, as well as a son-in-law, two daughters-in-law, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
