Page 5 - Route One Article 2024

LEFT:
This 18-plate coach in
Van Hool demonstra-
tor livery was the first
EX16M to be taken by
a UK operator
BELOW:
It’s a family affair (l-r)
James, Joy, Trevor,
Neil and Russell
// As the two lockdowns
came and went, we found
ourselves re-prioritising our
lives. We changed how we
worked. We evolved //
of Nottingham in a similar role, he set up a Nottingham branch
of Yorkshire-based Eddie Brown Tours using two coaches belonging
to that operator.
Over the next few years, with Trevor, his wife Joy, and their sons,
Neil, Russell and James starting to take an active interest at various
times, the business grew.
But it was one fateful day in 2004, when Trevor, Russell, Neil and
James were all out driving one evening, that the moment of realisation
occurred.
“I forget now what the conversation was about,” says Neil. “But
I remember turning to the lads and saying what are we playing at?
Why are we working for someone else when we could be doing the
same thing for ourselves? Sharpes of Nottingham basically started
from that conversation. In those early days we ran everything from
mum and dad’s dining room table. We put our money into a pot and
bought three ex-Shearings Volvo B10M Van Hool Alizees. The current
relationship with the Van Hool marque had begun!”
Vehicle contrasts
The new company saw the family all working together, with Trevor
as Managing Director and James as Operations Manager. In fairly short
order the family negotiated the purchase of Eddie Brown’s Nottingham
depot assets. That brought the fleet strength to 13. Trevor’s knowledge
and business contacts helped generate new work.
Fast forward to today and the family are all still working together.
Russell is Engineering Director, James is Operations Director, and
Neil’s wife Claire looks after the office and the financial administration.
The fleet has increased though and is now up to 58. A fleet of 21
double-deckers made up of 17 ADL ALX400s and four Wright Gemini
IIs, all on Volvo chassis, provide the vehicles for the network of school
and other related contracts. The coach fleet stands at 18 and reads
like a who’s who, or what’s what, of the Van Hool range. There are
five TX21 Altanos, five EX-series, four TX Alicrons and two TX21
Astromegas, along with a TX17 Astronef and a TX17 Astron. The oldest
coach dates from 2013 with the newest, an EX, delivered in 2022.
Adding in a 17-seat Ford Transit minibus brings the total to 40. The
OCTOBER 2024 ROUTE-ONE.NET / 117