Phil Hodgson retires from Pelican after 64-year career in transport
Pelican Bus and Coach South of England Sales Manager Phil Hodgson retired at the end of September, bringing down the curtain on a career that included introducing the Yutong brand to the UK and sealing a deal to supply the first battery-electric coach to be sold here.
Mr Hodgson began his working life in 1960 as an apprentice with bus operator Hants and Dorset in Southampton. That led to a long spell in HGV engineering with various businesses before an initial retirement, but he then quickly formed his own interests in the coach and bus field.
“I came across Turkish manufacturer BMC and set up BMC Bus and Coach for the south of England,” he recalls. That opened doors and led to a meeting with Richard Crump, now Managing Director of Pelican Bus and Coach. Such a coming together went on to have what Mr Crump says were “very significant consequences.”
Pelican initially became a BMC truck dealer before taking on the bus and coach importer position in 2012, although BMC exited the market later that year. Returning to square one, Mr Hodgson then recalled an earlier meeting with Yutong and suggested that Pelican should approach the Chinese giant to see if it would be interested in entering the UK.
After an initial visit in November 2012, a deal was struck in 2013 and Mr Hodgson joined Pelican. He has “not looked back since.”
Mr Hodgson managed a sales territory broadly covering south of the River Thames. With Pelican having delivered its first Yutong TC12 coach in 2014, five years later Mr Hodgson completed the first UK deal for the TCe12 battery-electric coach – with Westway Coach Services – and he has sold a good number more since then.
More recently he complemented core diesel coach sales along with deals for the first privately operated U11DD battery-electric double-decker buses, for Westway and Airsym.
Mr Hodgson believes that the battery-electric proposition will in time account for most coach sales, noting how experience with SME buyers has shown that operating costs are greatly reduced compared to diesel.
On his contribution to Yutong in the UK and Pelican, Mr Hodgson says he is “very proud” of how both businesses have progressed.
“In less than a decade we have introduced a new brand into the highly competitive UK market. Yutong’s development here would never have gone as well were it not for Pelican,” he notes, pointing to Pelican’s ongoing investment in aftersales support.
In thanking Mr Hodgson for his contribution to Pelican and Yutong, Mr Crump says: “Phil is unique in every way. His industry and customer knowledge is huge and he is the consummate professional. I shall never forget the day he rang me to suggest we approach Yutong – a name that I had never heard of at the time!
“Every customer views Phil as a personal friend rather than a supplier representative, and he always has theirs and Pelican’s best interests at heart. I shall miss him greatly, but I wish him well.”
Pelican expects to announce Mr Hodgson’s successor over the coming months.
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National Coach Network auto-quote function extended across UK
National Coach Network extended its lead generation platform’s new auto-quote system for coach hire across the UK from 17 October and says that the approach is “revolutionising” the way it works with clients and operators.
Auto-quote was initially launched in March. So far over 250 operator partners are signed up, with 170 already using the functionality. The supplier also has a new ‘instant price’ client-facing brand that it will debut on a region-by-region basis from November.
The approach delivers what National Coach Network says is “instant and accurate quotes with ease,” and automates the pricing process for operator partners. That will reduce their workload and deliver real-time rates to clients to give a better service and enable faster decision-making.
National Coach Network says that the auto-quote system integrates into an operator’s pricing structure to give them control “of all variables such as vehicle-specific costs, seasonal price changes, job type surcharges, or discounts and profit margins.”
Because of that, it uses neither predictive pricing and historical data to forecast future rates, nor fixed prices. Managing Director Matthew Atkinson (pictured, left) says that National Coach Network initially explored the predictive pricing model but decided against using it.
“Historical data cannot be used in times of economic instability or when accessing new markets,” he explains. “And it is just not possible to accurately meet individualised or specialist requirements using predictive pricing models.”
The alternative approach deployed “empowers operators to maintain control over their pricing and quotes,” the supplier continues.
Notes Mr Atkinson: “Auto-quoting takes an operator’s actual pricing structure, which can differ from vehicle to vehicle and with all parameters set and controlled by it, to auto-calculate its quote.
“We calculate the intricate operator variables such as operator-specific mileage and driving hours, including what time the driver needs to arrive at the yard, how many breaks will be required, and whether they would return to base between movements.” The system also adds any Clean Air Zone, Low Emission Zone or parking charges, along with airport fees.
National Coach Network has been working on the auto-quote product for over two years, it adds. Mr Atkinson says that came with “endless” challenges and that the supplier has rebuilt its systems to provide the data needed.
Auto-quote generates prices for all suitable vehicles from over 30 operators within a second to give up to 100 quote options.
Steady rollout of the auto-quote platform since March has allowed a controlled deployment before moving to mass market, Mr Atkinson continues. “We are currently seeing an increase in booking conversion of up to 8% when utilising auto-quote response to get back to our clients quicker,” he says.
“Year-to-date, we are up 28% on bookings and this could mean approximately 10,000 additional bookings per year for our operators once we have rolled out nationwide.”
Stotts Coaches takes delivery of a pair of Yutong GT12s
Stotts Coaches of Milnsbridge has added its first Yutong coaches in the form of a pair of PSVAR compliant GT12s, supplied by Pelican Bus and Coach.
Each is to the standard GT12 specification with 53 seats in half-leather and a centre sunken toilet. USB and 240-volt charging points are fitted. Power is from the DAF MX-11 engine developing 449bhp coupled to a ZF EcoLife automatic gearbox.
The deal was completed for Pelican by Area Sales Manager Amelia Crump. UK Coach Sales Manager Simon Collins notes that the dealership was able to quickly service the West Yorkshire operator’s demand when it presented itself.
“We know that situations have changed substantially in the coach industry, and this has opened the door for us to be ready to supply. We were delighted with this order," says Mr Collins.
“The GT12 has proved that it can deliver for any operator. It is a mature vehicle with a very high specification and proven components that is fast becoming a first choice for most.”
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