Pelican is to increase the amount of UK-sourced and UK-installed content in its Yutong buses and coaches
With an ever increasing demand for UK parts and labour content in its Yutong zero-emission buses, Pelican Bus & Coach has reached a co-operation agreement with Yutong to be officially recognised as a KD plant operating on behalf of Yutong in the UK.
Basic vehicles will be delivered to Pelican Engineering in Castleford for final completion. Items such as driver seats, passenger seats, fire suppression, stanchions, bell pushes, USB chargers, destination equipment, WiFi, radios, CCTV, passenger information systems and any other customer-specific items will now be fitted by Pelican in West Yorkshire. In addition, vehicle and battery systems are commissioned locally together with an exhaustive pre-delivery inspection. Pelican also conducts driver and engineer training, either at the customer’s premises or at its own facility, resulting in local labour being upskilled with the latest technology.
To accommodate the new KD operation, Pelican has purchased the former Ryder Trucks depot in Castleford and plans to refurbish and extend it to suit. Pelican will also increase its workforce from the current 170 to reflect the ongoing business growth.
Ian Downie, Head of Yutong Bus UK, commented: “The continued success of the Pelican brand in the UK with Yutong has been reflected in this agreement. Increased UK content, with local employment based not only in Castleford but also around the UK, reflects both the demands of our customers and our growing success in zero-emission buses and coaches. It also benefits our coach customers who have been the bedrock of our business, and we currently carrying out PSVAR conversions at Castleford. Our vehicles now have a much greater level of UK sourced equipment being fitted in the UK. As more and more zero-emission vehicles enter service, this provides more local employment to our suppliers and also to civil and electrical contractors as the supporting infrastructure is build and commissioned.”
Richard Crump, Managing Director of Pelican, added: “Pelican is a UK company with a 102-year history of customer support. Our shareholding is 100% contained in the UK and we are proud to be supplying state of the art vehicles that allow local communities to benefit from zero emission transport on their streets. The £2m investment in new premises, staff and parts demonstrates our continued commitment to the UK economy and our local area.”
