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1 week ago | 
route-one.net | Tim Deakin
New Temsa HD13 coaches with 74 seats in a 3+2 configuration will be among high-capacity options developed by dealership Temsa Sales UK, with that ex-factory model becoming available from late this year. Such news comes at the same time that the Cleckheaton business announced it has reached agreement with Apex Buses to supply Mercedes-Benz Sprinter-based minicoaches and a low-entry minibus.
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1 week ago | 
route-one.net | Tim Deakin
Ilesbus UK will bring a coachbuilt minicoach on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter base vehicle to market over coming months. The first of those are on the Ilesbus production line in Turkey and the model will sit next to conversions including the Vegas (pictured) and the Harmony. Work on the thus far unnamed product complements a move to much larger premises for Ilesbus UK.
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1 week ago | 
businessupnorth.co.uk | Tim Deakin
A leading North East IT service provider has announced its third annual financial results. Newcastle-based Atom has reported 82% growth in revenue to pass the £2 million mark for 2024/25. The business, which provides telephony and technology solutions to a range of organisations around the UK, also reported a 150% increase in net profit to £400,000 for year three.
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1 week ago | 
businessupnorth.co.uk | Tim Deakin
South Tyneside-based utilities specialist, Consultiv Utilities has demonstrated its commitment to the highest business standards by meeting the rigorous requirements of three internationally renowned accreditations in 2025.
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1 week ago | 
route-one.net | Tim Deakin
The long-held undercurrent of concern around what the review of PSVAR could mean for accessibility in some parts of the coach industry is resurfacing. That much was clear at the UK Coach Rally on 12 and 13 April, with a data gathering exercise around coach accessibility launched by DVSA and the Traffic Commissioners in the days beforehand having generated interest in the purpose that work.
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1 week ago | 
route-one.net | Tim Deakin
Policy work is needed to tackle uncertainty around the decarbonisation pathway for minibus fleets, a prominent figure in that field has urged. Woodall Nicholson Group CEO John Randerson was speaking before debut of the second-generation Mellor Strata minibus. Mellor and fellow small bus manufacturer Treka Bus are part of the group and Mr Randerson says that use of diesel minibuses where appropriate is an important early part of decarbonisation.
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1 week ago | 
route-one.net | Tim Deakin
Phil Hodgson, who retired from a 64-year career in the transport industry during late 2024 having most recently served as South of England Area Sales Manager for Pelican Bus and Coach, died on 13 April. He was 80. Highly respected by both his customer base for the Yutong brand and colleagues within Pelican and the manufacturer, Mr Hodgson opened his career in 1960 as an apprentice with bus operator Hants and Dorset in Southampton before moving into a successful spell in the HGV engineering sector.
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1 week ago | 
route-one.net | Tim Deakin
Coach and bus industry members have been asked to further help a campaign to prevent schools and colleges from use Section 19 permits for minibus operation by writing to their MP to introduce the call for change and seek the backing of those elected representatives. Efforts continue to be led by Steve and Liz Fitzgerald. Their daughter was among 12 children and a teacher who were victims of the M40 minibus accident in 1993.
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1 week ago | 
route-one.net | Tim Deakin
Paul S Winson with a Scania Touring and Dews Coaches driver Christopher Shaw piloting a Mercedes-Benz Tourismo were the big winners at the 2025 UK Coach Rally in Blackpool on 12 and 13 April. The Loughborough operator’s Scania won Coach of the Year, and Mr Shaw returned to Cambridgeshire with the Coach Driver of the Year trophy. Those accolades were among many presented by Blackpool Transport Managing Director Jane Cole and soon-to-be-Senior Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney.
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1 week ago | 
route-one.net | Tim Deakin
Exiting ownership of a business is a point of some discussion in the coach and bus industry. Alongside sale to a third party is another option: An employee ownership trust (EOT). That has been pursued by operators including South Wales-based Creigiau Travel, which sees it as a good way to release equity while retaining an existing ethos and leveraging staff engagement. Director Sam Matthews notes that before completion of the EOT move, he and his parents each owned one-third of Creigiau Travel.
