Wakefield vehicle supplier secures £60m green funding package from HSBC UK

A Wakefield based truck and bus supplier has received a £60m green funding package from HSBC UK to facilitate the supply of up to 250 new electric buses, which will collectively save over 10,000,000 tonnes of CO2 from Britain’s public bus system every year.

Pelican Bus and Coach, part of Pelican Engineering Co. Ltd, is the sole UK and Ireland importer and distributor for Zhengzhou YUTONG Bus, the world’s largest manufacturer of electric buses and coaches, based in China.

The family-owned business secured the eight-figure funding package from HSBC UK to supply electric, zero emission buses to fleet operators throughout the UK and Ireland, in partnership with YUTONG.

The vehicles will be mostly electric single deck 10 and 12 metre buses but Pelican also offer an electric coach and airside bus and in 2023 an electric double deck will join the UK model range, which Pelican expects to be operational all over the UK in the next 12 months.

Services are already confirmed in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh, Carmarthen, Leicester, Newport and Newcastle.

Richard Crump, managing director at Pelican Bus and Coach, commented: “With this deal, we not only increase the number of electric buses in operation across the UK, but also maintain our leading role in the move towards zero-emission public transport.

“We are proud of our long-term relationship with HSBC UK as well as with Zhengzhou YUTONG Bus, and are looking forward to seeing these buses on our roads.”

Rob King, head of sustainability at HSBC UK, added: “At HSBC, we are committed to helping British businesses reduce emissions and capture the advantages that the transition toward a net zero economy presents.

“Transitioning public bus networks to electric power solutions is an important step for our nation to achieve its net zero aims. This deal is particularly important in enabling Pelican Bus and Coach to support the drive toward making even greener public transport within communities across the UK become a reality.”

Pelican Engineering Co. was established in 1919 and has traded continuously since that date. Pelican is a family business, currently managed by the grandson of its founder.

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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