Prospect Coaches of Stourbridge has underlined its preference for Irizar coaches by placing an order for nine vehicles to be delivered through 2025. Such is the strength of the relationship between Prospect and Irizar UK, this initial batch of 9 represents the first stage of a long-term commitment over 5 years which will see up to 15 units per annum being delivered into the West Midlands operator.
First to be delivered will be an Irizar i8 Integral at 14.07m and 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 (Ultrafabrics). 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 12.2m to 14.07m the vehicles will be used within the Prospect private hire and contract fleet, as well as on the recently announced Flixbus contract.
The long-term commitment with Irizar will facilitate a significant growth phase by Prospect, with a key element being the recently announced contract with Flixbus. 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 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 5 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 5 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 long-established customer has recently taken delivery of 2 Irizar Integrals in 2024 – an i4 12.9 metre and an i6S Efficient at 14 metre, which increased the Irizar Integral fleet size at Prospect to fourteen coaches. In addition, these have been joined by an i6 Integral provided via Mistral Bus and Coach, and a further two i6 Integral due for delivery soon via Dawsongroup.
The origins of Prospect Coaches can be traced back to 1956 when founder Geoff Watts and his wife, Ruby, bought Prospect House on Cemetery Road, 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.