Premium in pink

04/11/2020 WebSupport Coaches, Features, Test Drive

Jonathan Welch looks at the latest offering from MOBIpeople, its new MAN-based Premium high-specification touring coach, the first of which has been delivered to Anthony’s Travel

Anthony’s Travel of Runcorn is no stranger to uncommon coaches, having operated a number of Barbi Galileos since 2016, and has always worked closely with the manufacturer and with importer BASE Coach Sales to improve and develop the product. When manufacturer Barbi Bus and Coach decided to concentrate its production on smaller vehicles, BASE set about looking for an alternative supplier for its larger vehicles, and existing relationships naturally led it to Portuguese manufacturer MOBIpeople, whose Explorer and Midi Explorer it has offered in the UK market since 2014.

Once it had been established that production would transfer to Portugal, BASE brought together a group of operators who had taken the Galileo and flew them out to meet the designers to explain what they wanted in a coach, what they liked about the Barbi and what they thought could be made better. Richard Bamber of Anthony’s Travel said that the firm jumped at the chance to be the first to operate the new vehicle, specifying it as a 12.5m 32-seat team coach with tables, rear servery and centre sunken toilet. It is this first vehicle that CBW was invited to drive shortly after delivery to the operator.

Nick Dodgson of BASE Coach Sales explained that the MOBIpeople Premium is a bespoke product designed around the needs of operators who want something less mainstream but still with a great level of support and back-up.

Instead of trying to compete with the other makes, Nick said that with MOBIpeople they were able to offer a much more tailor-made coach to each operator’s specification. BASE’s attitude, he explained as we chatted before making our way outside to the coach, is that if a customer has a request, the answer is yes, and BASE then just has to work out how to make it happen.