Wigton-based Reays expands into vehicle hire with £1m investment

Reays, the Cumbrian bus and coach firm, has invested £1m to unlock growth and expand into the vehicle hire sector.

The Wigton-based company has created four jobs with the launch of Vehicle Hire @ Reays at its depot in Egremont, where it has made a fleet of 50 vehicles ranging from crew vans and mini buses to 7.5-ton trucks available for hire.

Over the next 12 months, Reays plans to increase the fleet size to 200.

First launched at the beginning of March, Reays’ vehicle hire arm has already secured a two-year agreement with what the firm has called “a major engineering business” located in west Cumbria.

Reays’ managing director, Chris Reay, said of the expansion: ““his is a very exciting new venture for our business.

“Through Vehicle Hire @ Reays, we will offer contracts drawn up specifically for engineering, construction or other businesses based in the nuclear industry to ensure we provide them with exactly what they want on-site at Sellafield.”

He continued: “If someone wants a specific vehicle for a specific job, we will obtain it for them, deliver it to the door to minimise any downtime and offer a full backup service, including having the company’s own livery on it to promote their business, not ours.”

In addition to its existing private coach hire business, Reays also runs the City Hopper public bus network in Carlisle and several other public bus routes across Cumbria.