£11.4m to fund 110 jobs and new fleet for bus firm
Expanding Valleys-based coach business Edwards Coaches is creating 110 jobs and investing in a fleet of new coaches.
The family-run firm, which is the largest independent coach operator in Wales and one of the biggest in the UK, has secured a £11.4m funding package from Santander Corporate & Commercial to support its expansion plans.
The finance will support the recent purchase of its Avonmouth depot and adding 40 coaches to its existing fleet.
It will also fund the recruitment of 110 new employees across the business, which has its head office in Llantwit Fardre.
Established in 1925, Edwards Coaches operates a fleet of more than 250 buses and coaches from bases in South Wales and Bristol.
It is also a successful holiday operator.
And the business, which in its last financial year to the end of March this year generated revenues of £36.7m, recently won the National Express Bristol and Bath contract – covering routes to London through the West Country and airport transfers.
The business currently has a total workforce of just under 600. Its fleet of coaches cover 11 million miles a year and handles 80,000 coach holiday passengers
Jason Edwards, managing director at Edwards Coaches, said: “We have been working with Santander for four years now and their support and investment has gone a long way in developing our fleet and ensuring we provide our customers with first class travel.
“The new National Express routes will expand our services and enable us to continue our growth drive throughout the south west and across the UK.”
Janette Bennett, relationship director at Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: “We are delighted to assist with the new Avonmouth Depot which will be of vital importance to the business as they take on their new Bristol and Bath route.
“Currently in its 92nd year, Edward’s Coaches has grown into a leading coach operator in the UK and the relationship and asset Finance teams at Santander look forward to working with them through their continued growth as they expand their fleet.”
Last year Edwards Coaches took the blue ribbon Best Coach Operator title at the industry leading Route One Awards 2016 held in Birmingham.
The company is also the coach provider to some of the biggest names in Welsh sport, including the Welsh rugby and football teams, Cardiff City, ice hockey’s Cardiff Devils and the professional rugby regions of the Blues, Scarlets and Dragons.