MINIBUS OPERATOR PROFILE › AIRLYNX EXPRESS
Airlynx: Flying high
Airlynx’s bread and butter: EVM minibuses and Yutong coaches. JAMES DAY
T
ucked away in a picturesque area on
the edge of Southampton, adjacent to
the M3 motorway, Airlynx Express,
part of a wider holding company
Airlynx Holdings Ltd, is a minibus,
minicoach and executive private hire company
which is performing particularly well in the
business and VIP transport market.
I met with owner Steve Brookwell in the
company’s smart air-conditioned boardroom.
The walls are adorned with personalised
sporting memorabilia reflecting Steve’s passion
for sport, which he both participates in and
provides services for.
Steve first became involved in the minibus
industry through contact with Gary Gregory,
who at the time was the owner of Airlynx. He
subcontracted some of the minibus work to Steve
and another partner, Mark Pearce.
“Effectively it was the coming together of three
companies,” Steve explained. “Runways, an
executive car company; Airlynx, predominantly
a minibus and minicoach company; and
Limosworld, which was built around limousines
and executive VIP car travel. This was back in
2009.
“Quite quickly we decided that we would form
a new company called Airlynx Express Ltd. We
launched that on April 1, 2010.”
58 | COACH & BUS WEEK MINIBUS | April 14, 2015
Airlynx Express is a rapidly expanding and varied
operation with a number of impressive, high-specification
minibuses and coaches. James Day speaks to Steve
Brookwell at the helm of the company to find out more
At this time, Steve was a shareholder in
Eastleigh Football Club, which proved to be
a great help in accelerating the business’
development.
“It was strategic to relocate the business from
its old home in Shirley to Ten Acres at Eastleigh
(the club’s football ground),” Steve said. “This
gave us the ability to grow and expand, which is
where we wanted to take the company.
“During the first year of trading, we were
successful in winning a number of prestigious
blue chip contracts which gave us the foundation
stone from which to launch the company into the
executive commercial market.”
Around this time, the company also saw the
opportunity to make some acquisitions. JJ Sussex
of Winchester, primarily a courier and executive
VIP car travel company, became available for
purchase and was bought in the summer of 2010.
In the winter of 2010, Abbey Vehicle Rentals was
also added to the Airlynx portfolio, though later
sold to Mark Pearce when he left the business
in 2014. In the first year of trading the company
turned over about £300,000.
In 2011, for personal reasons, Gary Gregory
sold his shareholding in Airlynx, though he
continued to be employed by the company.
Airlynx continued to grow organically during
2011 and 2012.
In 2013, Steve sold his shares and freehold in
Eastleigh FC, and the company relocated to a
purpose-built site where it is still based at Wren
Farm, which had been developed during the
summer of 2012 ready for occupancy in January
2013. The head office is also located there.
“The turnover during that period, year-onyear, grew by about 50%, and the contract base
organically grew through recommendation
and reputation,” Steve continued. “We became
specialists in the VIP field, with a number of
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A fleet shot. Since this picture was taken, an additional Neoplan Starliner (far left) and 9m Yutong (fourth from left) have been added to the fleet
Stylish leather seating onboard one of the 16-seater EVM Avantgardes. JAMES DAY
professional and semi-professional football
clubs along with a number of private schools,
supported by our commercial and private
operation.”
In the winter of 2014, Mark Pearce left the
business and sold the remaining shareholding to
Steve and his wife Paula. The pair continue to run
the business.
“We continue to run it as a traditional family
business with high professionalism,” Steve
stated. “Paula is the Finance Director. I stood in
as Managing Director, though I also held the post
of CEO of the holding company Airlynx Holdings
and Chairman of Airlynx Express.”
The company continued to turn in good
results. In 2014, the business grew to have
around £800,000 turnover. Steve decided to
appoint a new director in September 2014, Keith
Trenchard, who had entered the industry in 1988
as a driver and had subsequently held a number
of management roles after completing his CPC.
Steve said: “We made a strategic decision to
invest in quality of management. We wanted
more experience, more knowledge and a
diversity of capabilities. We took on Keith
as Operations Director while Gary focussed
predominantly on sales.
“Then we decided we would recruit our own
transport manager. We recruited Tracey Ralph
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in January 2015, who came from a succession
of previous roles and responsibilities. She was
the owner of Summerfield Coaches for 10 years,
before joining Avensis Travel as the Transport
Manager for around four years.”
Growth has continued to accelerate. In its
latest accounts which have just been completed,
the company broke through the £1m barrier in
turnover. It has also added a new string to its
bow – Airlynx Parking Ltd which operates cruise
parking and vehicle storage in Southampton
Airport, Wren Farm and Tottom – parking
capacity for in excess of 1,000 vehicles. Airlynx
also operates a corporate Park & Ride service for
a major insurance company from Wren Farm.
“We recently appointed Mike Bailey as director
of Airlynx Parking,” Steve added.
The company has an optimistic outlook for
turnover in the 2015/16 financial year, expecting
it to double year-on-year. Airlynx Express’ has
already secured orders to the value of £1.5m,
showing a 50% uplift on previous figures, while
Airlynx Parking is expected to bring in £750,000
in its first year of operation.
EVM – The choice for minibuses
In 2014, the decision was made for Airlynx to
replace its entire minibus fleet with brand new
vehicles, and EVM was a company which Steve
very much had in mind.
“I had known Danny McGee from many years
of him banging on the door trying to sell us
various minibuses,” Steve enthused. “Buying EVM
vehicles was something I always wanted to do,
but I wanted to make sure the business had a
strong contract foundation first.
“Danny kindly invited me over to Ireland to see
the variation of Avantgarde vehicles he could
offer, from the 16-seater exec through to the
22-seater exec. I got to see them all in production.
“I was very impressed with the factory
operation over in Ireland. It was not a huge
factory but it was very productive and very
professionally put together. Danny knew the
product inside out.
“We agreed we would replace our existing
VW Crafter minibus fleet with a programme of
brand new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Avantgarde
minibuses. We took four 16-seaters, one
19-seater and one 22-seater.
“We went through the specification with him –
panoramic roofs, USB charging points, reversing
cameras, power doors, full leather seats, Icomera
WiFi… we really went for the full haul. The
vehicles were delivered one per week from
September 2014, with the last one delivered in
November.
“We retained two Crafters, which took us from
six minibuses up to eight. We also increased our
O-licences from 11 to 20.”
Steve is looking to expand the company’s EVM
fleet further, though he is looking towards the
upcoming EVM Grand Tourer.
“As a result of the company’s success we had an
open credit line with Mercedes-Benz finance and
continue to have an open credit line for the next
batch of vehicles for expansion in 2016, which
will be for two EVM Tourers.
“The Tourers will be used in connection with
our cruise passenger contracts, and have luggage
space under the seating as well as the rear
luggage capacity you get from the Avantgarde.
We’ve got a market for those which we’re
currently embarking on with a couple of cruise
companies.
“We’re keen to use them for touring the likes
of Stonehenge and Windsor – UK destinations
which are local enough to Southampton Port to
get there and back in a day tour.”
April 14, 2015 | COACH & BUS WEEK MINIBUS | 59
MINIBUS OPERATOR PROFILE › AIRLYNX EXPRESS
Yutong – Unmatched value
The coach fleet of Airlynx was also recently
updated, with some of the UK’s first Yutong
coaches.
“I was invited by Phil Hodgson of Yutong and
Richard Crump, Managing Director of Pelican
Engineering, to visit the Yutong factory in China,”
Steve explained. “I witnessed the production and
manufacture of the 9m and 12m coaches Yutong
has launched in the UK.
“I was absolutely blown away by the quality
and the magnificent setting of a factory which
in their eyes they were in the process of closing
down. Production had increased to such a level
that they had to move to a new facility.
“We viewed the new facility which was turning
out 350 vehicles a day, with a workforce of about
50,000.
“As a result of that visit, we took delivery in
late September of a 51-seater 12m coach, which
came with all the executive refinements – toilet,
leather seating, WiFi, air-conditioning, Sky TV,
USB charging ports… it was state of the art as far
as executive coaches are concerned.
“Shortly afterwards we took delivery of a
31-seater executive 9m Yutong. This was also
high-spec throughout, and was exhibited at Euro
Bus Expo 2014 where it got rave reviews.
“I also think both the 9m and 12m are pitched
at the right price within the industry.”
Since the delivery of the coaches, Steve has
been impressed with Yutong’s aftersales service.
“You can only speak as you find. Like everybody,
we’ve had the odd broken windscreen, but it
has been replaced within 24-48 hours. We had
a couple incidents with a third party damaging
the coaches within the first six or eight weeks
of taking delivery. The replacement parts were
with us within 48 hours and Yutong’s local
maintenance garage, Sparks, had repaired and
fitted the parts within a week.
“Their ability to keep the vehicles on the road,
no matter how big or small the part, has been
exceptional up to now. Their service has been
impeccable.”
Since acquiring the first two coaches, Airlynx
has taken delivery of a second 12m 53-seater
and a 9m 35-seater just prior to Christmas. The
company has ordered 10 Yutongs in total so far,
and Steve is returning to the factory later this
spring to look at the development of the 12m
Yutong to see if it has potential in the VIP market
to transport Premiership football teams.
The company has also taken delivery of a
second 32-seater Neoplan Starliner, which is
predominantly used by Hampshire Cricket Club
in the summer and Portsmouth Football Club in
the winter.
The company now has a mixture of vehicles
ranging from 53-seater coaches down to four
passenger seat chauffeur-driven high-spec
Mercedes-Benz vehicles. It operates 30 vehicles
overall.
Steve said a key factor for taking on both Yutong
60 | COACH & BUS WEEK MINIBUS | April 14, 2015
Steve Brookwell and Keith Trenchard join Hampshire Cricket Club to launch Airlynx’s new contract
coaches and EVM minibuses was their record
with various green issues.
“Both perform well on air pollution levels,
fuel consumption and productivity output of
the vehicles. The times between services and
maintenance is also excellent.”
Bus market potential
One area which Airlynx has yet to get involved
with is the bus market, though this could be set
to change.
“We have been asked to tender for 16 bus
routes,” Steve explained. “We are currently
embracing an opportunity for Yutong to
introduce its buses into the UK market for the
first time, should that tender be successful. If it is,
they will be launched in September this year.
“That would be a major step-change for the
company, as we have not been in the bus industry
before. The pressure from one of our existing
clients has made us consider taking up the joint
venture with them in procuring the contract and
supplying vehicles.”
Key to success
Steve said the key driver of Airlynx’s growth has
been an astute examination of the coach and
minibus markets and finding something which
was missing.
'I was very impressed with
EVM’s factory operation
over in Ireland. It was not
a huge factory but it was
very productive and very
professionally put together'
“I’ve found from my experience with the
industry that there was a major gap between
bog standard school contracts and VIP travel,”
he stated. “There was a hole in the market at the
executive end. The days of everybody having to
travel by coach or by minibus are long gone, so it
is all about customer experience.
“Even the vehicles we had before were airconditioned, leather seated and had portable
WiFi. We found the business end of market
demanded this.
“That’s the niche of market we’ve gone for and
been successful at.”
The Airlynx name is clearly one which its clients
trust, as it has benefitted from many substantial
terms of contract.
“We’ve signed contracts for as long as 10 years
with some partners who operate in the top three
within the insurance industry, along with threefive year contracts with government departments
who require an executive vehicle.
“We’ve heavily embraced local charities. We just
recently partnered with the Royal British Legion
to supply them with transport and we’re the
transport partner for the Hampshire FA, a recent
three year deal. We also have a new three year
contract with Hampshire Cricket Club and a five
year contract with Portsmouth FC.
“In regards to cruise parking, we’ve
collaborated with Southampton airport, where
we’ve also signed a substantial term of contract.
“We generally do operate with the major bluechip organisations in the country. We operate
with BT Sport, Sky and ITV, and in excess of 12
local football clubs. The cricket market is a new
market to us which we’ve just opened up, not
only supplying their first team but also the Park
& Ride and one day bus transfers to the Ageas
Bowl.
“This all cements the future for both the
company and its employees for years to come.” n
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