New national parts distribution centre for Pelican as revenue rises by 70 per cent
Pelican Bus & Coach is expanding its facilities with the opening of a new national parts distribution centre to support its growing bus and coach division. Located adjacent to J31/M62, close to Pelican’s existing facilities, the new 12,000 sq ft building has been fitted with two-level racking, enabling it to carry sufficient parts to support all types of Yutong buses and coaches in service, especially its electric bus fleet customers.
The move coincides with the appointment of Sam Williams to the role of Yutong bus and coach parts operations manager. His role at Pelican is to optimise the stock holding and distribution function in order to maximise customer satisfaction and he will be visiting customers nationwide from September.
Pelican has also reported a 70 per cent uplift in turnover to £73million for the year ending 31 March 2022 with the company benefitting from growth across all its business operations, including strong revenues at its DAF and MAN truck dealerships. It has seen fast-growing interest in its range of zero-emission electric coaches and buses from all sections of the industry.
Richard Crump, managing director, Pelican, says: “After the disruption of the last two years, we are seeing all parts of the business recovering well and will be re-investing our increased revenues in plant, resources and people to better support our customers into the future.
“Despite being possibly the oldest commercial vehicle dealership in the country, we are at the forefront of introducing the very latest electric vehicle technology to the UK market. As well as the significant investment in our new showroom, we are also investing in our warehousing and parts distribution ahead of the 1,000th Yutong vehicle sale expected early next year.”
Head of Pelican Yutong Bus Ian Downie adds: “In addition to the growth of our DAF and MAN truck dealerships, we’ve also seen sales of our zero-emission vehicle division gaining momentum as we partner with coach and bus operators and local authorities nationwide. Since 2020, when we delivered our first Yutong zero-emission vehicles, we have grown our share to over 10 per cent of the UK market for all-electric passenger vehicles and become one of the largest suppliers nationally.
“By the end of 2022, we will have increased our supply of zero emission single-deck buses further and will have a total of 240 vehicles in service, and we’re also focused on growing our range and services to the UK’s coach operators who have shown that they are keen to adopt the latest technology, adding greener and more efficient alternatives to their fleets.
“As well as receiving orders from new customers, we are already seeing repeat orders from operators in England, Scotland and Wales who have trialled zero emission vehicles and seen the benefits, and we have a strong pipeline of orders going forward.”