GHA Coaches

GHA Coaches

Irizar Century bodied Scania K94IB in September 2009
Slogan A Service Second To None or Gwasanaeth heb ei ail
Parent Eifion Lloyd Davies
Founded 1990
Headquarters Wrexham
Service area Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Gwynedd, Merseyside
Service type Bus & coach services
Hubs Corwen, Macclesfield, Middlewich, Ruthin, Tarvin, Wrexham
Fleet 257 (October 2013)
Website www.ghacoaches.co.uk
Marshall bodied Mercedes-Benz 709D in Wrexham in March 2009
Vale Travel Wright Handybus bodied Dennis Dart in Wrexham in March 2009

GHA Coaches[1] is one of the largest independently owned bus & coach operators in Great Britain and is still wholly owned by the Lloyd-Davies family. The company operates around 250 vehicles from 6 depots across North Wales & Cheshire.

History

GHA Coaches was founded by Eifion Lloyd Davies in 1990 and originally based in Corwen before moving to Ruabon in the mid-1990s and since then has expanded with the purchase of a number of other local companies, including:[2]

Despite being founded in north east Wales, with rapid expansion only about half the services currently run by GHA are in this area. The company operates the DeeBee services on behalf of Cheshire West and Chester Council, as well as a number of commercial routes in the Cheshire area. Most of the acquired firms have been absorbed into the main GHA business, though Bryn Melyn[3] and Vale Travel[4] have remained as semi-autonomous companies. Bryn Melyn mainly operates the Shropshire routes, and Vale Travel mainly operates the routes in eastern Cheshire and Staffordshire.

Coach operations

Many coaches were inherited with the purchase of Hanmers Coaches, though as with the bus operations, the coach fleet has expanded rapidly. Most coaches carry a livery of silver with red and burgundy stripes and the GHA Coaches name; some are in a similar livery with a white base and the Vale Travel name; some carry a plain yellow livery for school work.

The most common use for the coach fleet is school transport, and GHA has a number of high-capacity coaches dedicated to this work. Coaches are also used for private hire, and occasional day trip and holiday work.

Depots

GHA's headquarters are at Ruabon. Other depots are at Tarvin, Ruthin and Winsford. Vehicles also operate from outstations at Betws Gwerfil Goch and Macclesfield.

Fleet

As at March 2015 the fleet consisted of 289 buses and coaches.[5]

GHA Gold

In October 2014 GHA launched a 'GHA Gold' brand on the 88 Knutsford to Wilmslow to Altrincham route. GHA acquired four 64 reg Alexander Dennis Enviro200s which have WIFI, leather seats, wood effect flooring, a passenger information system and one table per bus. These buses are route branded for the 88 route and run most services on that route.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Companies House extract company no 4214061 GHA Coaches Limited
  2. ↑ About Us GHA Coaches
  3. ↑ Companies House extract company no 4030222 Bryn Melyn Limited
  4. ↑ Companies House extract company no 3014391 The Vale of Llangollen Travel Limited
  5. ↑ Fleet List GHA Coaches
  6. ↑ Wilson, James (27 October 2014). "Bus firm launches new 'gold service' at Tatton Park". Knutsford Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Chapman, Jess Amy (29 October 2014). "GHA Coaches launches first premium bus service". Route One. Retrieved 23 March 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to GHA Coaches.