The Kings Ferry Group Fleet at South East Bus Festival, Credit: Izaak Mann

The South East Bus Festival was a momentous occasion for the entire Group. It was the first time in which all four businesses from the Group had their fleet side-by-side, as well as being the first time most of the staff had met each other.

“It was an absolutely brilliant day and was nice to showcase such an amazing fleet. It was great to meet people with such knowledge of The Kings Ferry Group, we all took the time to talk to each other and realise our future and growth together.”, says Jaimie Florea, Coach Driver at The Kings Ferry.

The show saw 154 buses and coaches exhibit, breaking their previous record from last year. We took 9 coaches and 1 bus from the Group’s fleet, the most amount of coaches brought by any one exhibitor to the show!

The Coaches

We brought coaches from each of our Group companies; The Kings Ferry, Clarkes of London, Stewarts Coaches, Woods Coaches and even one from our parent company, National Express – a right family day out!

A last minute change was made to our fleet the day before the festival. We was originally planning on taking the OUIBUS livery but had a new VIP delivery that we couldn’t wait to show off.

The Kings Ferry

We brought 4 coaches to the event from our Head Office in Gillingham; a 2006 Scania Irizar with Driver Training Academy livery, 2019 Van Hool Altano Norwich City FC Team Coach, 2019 Yutong TC9 and 2019 Mercedes-Benz Tourismo.

2019 Yutong TC9, Credit: Brian East

2019 Van Hool Altano Norwich City FC Team Coach, Credit: Izaak Mann

2019 Mercedes-Benz Tourismo, Credit: William Harris

2006 Scania Irizar Driver Training Academy livery, Credit: Brian East

National Express

We was joined by our parent company, National Express, who brought down their 2015 Scania Caetano.

2015 Scania Caetano, Credit: Brian East

Clarkes of London

Clarkes of London joined us for another year at the South East Bus Festival with their two coaches; 2018 Irizar i8 Crawley Town FC Team Coach and 2018 Yutong TC9 VIP livery.

2018 Irizar i8 Crawley Town FC Team Coach, Credit: Brian East

2018 Yutong TC9 VIP, Credit: Brian East

Stewarts Coaches

Stewarts Coaches travelled down from Reading to join us for the first time at the show with their two vehicles; 2015 Irizar i6 and 2019 Mercedes-Benz Citaro in its Slough Bath Road Central contract livery.

2019 Mercedes-Benz Citaro Slough Bath Road Central contract livery, Credit: Brian East

2015 Irizar i6, Credit: Brian East

Woods Coaches

One of our newest acquisitions, Woods Coaches was welcomed with open arms to the event. They brought from Leicester their 2017 Irizar i6.

2017 Irizar i6, Credit: Brian East

“It was a superb day, despite the weather, and an impressive sight to see all our group lined up together. It reinforces that we are truly a people business, and our people show such pride and passion for what we do.

The presentation of the vehicles was impeccable, and were a credit to our businesses.”, exclaims Chris Burley, Group Operations Director.

Driver Training Academy

2006 Scania Irizar Driver Training Academy livery, Credit: Izaak Mann

2006 Scania Irizar Driver Training Academy livery, Credit: Brian East

We’re proud to announce that the unveiling of our Driver Training Academy was a huge success. We had people registering their interest on the day and have been receiving many phone calls with those expressing their interest in a new career.

The training coach is one of our ex-VIP coaches, a Scania Irizar i6 that has been modified. The inside is laid out as a mobile classroom with full kitchen and toilet facilities.

The Driver Training Academy is for those looking to gain their PCV licence, CPC training or refresher training. We cover all costs of the training, while recruits are rewarded with a full time job with The Kings Ferry Group at the end of it. For more information on the Driver Training Academy, visit our dedicated page here.

A Huge Thanks

On behalf of The Kings Ferry Group we would like to say a huge thanks to the following people, of whom we would not have been able to do this without…

The Kings Ferry; Simon Le Mar, Lee Miller, Leigh Marriott, Steve Pennell, Debbie Mann, Lewis Byrne, Jaimie Florea and Izaak Mann.

Kings Ferry Dover; Chris Salisbury

Clarkes of London; Gavin Ross and Ricky Fletcher

Woods Coaches; Mark Kent

Stewarts Coaches; Michael Gurr and Jonathon Furlong

Thanks also to the Marketing Team for arranging the new signage, display frames and the giveaways.

We would also like to give a special mention to Dave Mann, Senior Traffic Manager at Clarkes of London, for organising and coordinating the event. You have done a fantastic job yet again, we can’t wait to see what’s to come for next years’ South East Bus Festival.