The West Midlands operator has signed a five year deal for as many as 15 vehicles per year
Prospect Coaches of Stourbridge has placed an order for nine vehicles from Irizar, scheduled to be delivered through 2025, which it says represents the first stage of a long-term commitment over five years which will see up to 15 units per year delivered.
First to be arrive will be a 14.07m Irizar i8 Integral, destined for Championship football duties with the West Bromwich Albion team. The coach will be equipped with 38 seats which will be trimmed in Ultra Fabric, a vegan alternative to leather. AD Coach Systems will be converting the coach to football specification in the UK.
Joining the i8 Integral are eight i6S Efficient coaches, ranging from 12.2 to 14.07 metres. The vehicles will be used within the Prospect private hire and contract fleet, as well as on its recently announced Flixbus contract.
Nathan Hadley, Managing Director of Prospect Coaches commented: “Our relationship with Irizar started over a decade ago and this led to the first Irizar i6 integral joining the fleet in 2015. We now have 17 Irizar vehicles in the fleet, 15 of which were new to Prospect and 14 supplied new directly by Irizar UK. The availability of vehicle build slots forced outside of the box thinking and I pitched an idea to the team at Irizar. This has further strengthened our partnership with Irizar, initially for five vehicles per year for the Prospect fleet. Very quickly this changed with the Flixbus partnership and following some hard work the current agreement will be north of 50 vehicles over the five years, half of which will be on Flixbus.
We could not ignore the innovation and advanced model Flixbus is bringing to the coach market. We are excited to expand the business, and to help us deliver these growth plans a long-term commitment with Irizar was the natural choice. Our long history with Irizar, and excellent working relationship gives us the confidence that Irizar can deliver the right product across the breadth of our business, from corporate sports contracts to private hire, and now our new endeavours with Flixbus.”
The company’s origins can be traced back to 1956 when founder Geoff Watts and his wife Ruby bought Prospect House in Stourbridge. Together, they renovated the property and began trading as a general store, with the property lending its name to their subsequent venture into coach operation. The company is now headed up by Geoff’s grandson Nathan Hadley with his wife Claire and son Jake.
