Falcon Coaches Ltd was formed in June 2012, when the original business of Falcon Travel was changed to Falcon Coaches Ltd this was part of the process for the sale of the business to the Telling family.
The original business of Falcon Travel which was started by Mr Tony Risby and can trace its origins back some 38 years. In 2012 Tony decided that it was time for him to retire, Richard our MD was looking for a new challenge. So a deal was struck, part of the deal was to incorporate the business as a Limited Company and this process was carried out and the business changed hands on the 1st June 2012.
Not happy with just the 4 vehicles that Tony operated, a further deal was done with Mr Gerry Cooke Willing for the remaining business and vehicles of Hounslow Minicoaches, again a long established company based in Feltham. This deal was completed on the 7th June 2012.
So Falcon Coaches Ltd was started with 8 vehicles all running from our yard in Nutty Lane, Shepperton. During the next few months the business was rebranded, the vehicles were all painted in our new livery. New IT systems were put in place for quotations, bookings, accounts and all vehicle telematics. This was all carried out during July and August 2012 and the new company was launched on the 1st September 2012.
Then the next big step came in April 2013 when we took the decision to purchase our first additional coach, a 2006 Volvo B12B Berkhof Axial 50 (RE06JAK). This allowed the business to start to branch out into additional private hire and contract work and really helped the performance of the business through 2013. The vehicle was also entered into the 2013 UK Coach Rally at Alton Towers where the vehicle and the team were awarded the top award of the rally ‘The Best in All Classes Cup’
Having the additional vehicle allowed us to secure an additional contract for a local independent school in September 2013. Easter 2014 was upon us when discussions with the owners of Sunbury Coaches finalised and a further 2 School contracts and drivers joined the fleet, a further 2 coaches were also added to the fleet being 2006 Scania K340 Berkhof Axial 50 coaches (TUI4762 and TUI4763)
By the August of 2014 discussions had been completed with a large independent school for their entire home to school transport solution (some 7 contracts) this saw an additional 5 vehicles added to the fleet and also saw the start of the business venturing out into the Tourist and Touring markets.
The spring of 2015 saw the company hit a major milestone when the decision was taken to purchase the businesses first brand new coaches since 2003 (when Tony brought our 29 seater). After looking around at the market place the order was placed with Scania for 2 Scania K360 Irizar I6 luxury touring coaches and these went on the road on the 20th May 2015. An additional new coach was also added win September 2015 due to additional contract wins.
November 2015 also saw the business move from our small yard at Nutty Lane to a larger site at Littleton Lane, Shepperton where we are able to park all the coaches in one yard, have an under cover workshop and also a large office facility.
Spring 2016 saw the business take a further 3 Brand new Scania Irizar I6 coaches as we now continue with our fleet replacement program to ensure that our fleet will exceed the requirements of the UKs clean air zones and also that our business reduces the effects of its vehicles on the environment.
The another major milestone happened in September 2016 when we were awarded a contact by Surrey County Council to operate our first bus bus service the 514 / 515 which served Hersham, Esher, Molesey, Thames Ditton, Surbiton and Kingston.
I would not say that its been an easy first 5 years in the business we've had our ups and downs, but we are set with firm foundations. the next 3 years will remain to be a challenge but if we continue to build on what we have done over done over the past 5 years we are set to do well.