About Pelican

PELICAN BUS & COACH

Pelican Bus & Coach is the UK and Ireland importer and distributor for YUTONG Buses and Coaches. Based near Leeds, it is wholly owned by Pelican Engineering Co. Ltd which was established in 1919 and has traded continuously since that date. Pelican is a family business currently managed by the grandson of the founder.

Pelican Bus & Coach was established as part of the Pelican Engineering Group in 2012 when it took over the importership of BMC vehicles into the UK. We still provide parts and service support to BMC operators throughout the UK despite the subsequent closure of BMC in Turkey. With the demise of BMC, Pelican approached Yutong to see if they would enter the UK market and was delighted to be offered the role of importer in summer 2013.

The first vehicles arrived in 2014 and 21 were sold that year. By the end of 2018 there will be over 430 Yutong vehicles working in the UK and Ireland meaning that the Yutong brand is now firmly established as a main stream choice.

The growth of the brand in the UK has been partly achieved by offering operators reliable long term aftermarket support delivered locally by the Pelican team of some of the most experienced and respected people in the industry. Our reputation for combining technical ability with an absolute focus on our customer’s needs has been earned over the 99 years we have supported bus and truck operators throughout the UK. Currently out of 160 staff employed, 29 have been with the company more than 25 years. The business has a very sound financial base.

In 2018 a new bespoke Yutong showroom and vehicle workshop facility was opened next to our Castleford head office. This represents a £1.5m investment in our ongoing commitment to the success of Yutong in the UK and Ireland.

2019 marks the 100th anniversary of Pelican. We are a family firm that puts customer care at the core of our proposition to you.

Pelican Engineering Group also holds franchises for DAF and MAN trucks, LDV vans and Kubota, Yanmar, Kohler and Deutz engines and is an ISO 9001 accredited company.

“Nobody else understands a coach operator’s problems like Pelican. They are prepared to go the extra mile!”

John Cropley, Cropley Coaches

  • Completed in the UK by Pelican

OUR HISTORY

1919

The Pelican Engineering Company was originally formed in 1919 by Mr. Ernest Crump when the army no longer required his services as a dispatch rider at the end of the First World War. Considering that he joined the army on the very first day war was declared, fought in the trenches and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery, the fact that he actually survived to be discharged at the end of the war was probably the most remarkable thing of all.

At the time of his discharge his entire worldly possessions could be carried in one suitcase but undeterred, he decided to employ skills he had learned from the army in civilian life. Searching for an original name, he remembered his regimental mascot, the Pelican, and transferred the name to his new business hoping it would bring him good fortune there too.

He used his army discharge pay to place a deposit on a small shed at Scout Hill, Dewsbury and within 12 months he was employing four men busily engaged in converting surplus military vehicles into a road worthy specification. By 1928, the company was doing so much business that it needed to move to larger premises in Leeds.

1931

In 1931 Pelican was made an official agent for Gardner oil engines confirming a partnership that would last for over 60 years. Between 1931 and 1940 the company carried out over 800 conversions, removing petrol engines from buses and trucks and replacing them with Gardner diesel engines. Also during the thirties, Pelican became involved with Foden Trucks of Sandbach, Cheshire whose vehicles were becoming an increasingly common sight on the roads.

1934

Like Pelican, Foden at the time was a family run business with a history dating back to the steam engines of the previous century. In 1934 Pelican became the official Yorkshire selling agent for Foden Trucks. Throughout the Second World War, Pelican worked almost exclusively for the Ministry of Defence, involved in the preparation and refurbishment of army trucks which meant the firm was able to grow further during these most difficult of times.

1952

Ernest Crump's only son, Bob joined the company after completing his national service in 1952. At the age of 22 he was set on as the company's first salesman with a view to increasing the number of Fodens on the roads of West Yorkshire. Ernest Crump died in 1968 leaving the business to his son Bob. By 1980 the Bell Hill site had trebled in size and employed more than 50 people. The Gardner engine reconditioning business was in decline and the company had moved into the manufacture of specialist marine generating sets for trawlers and small ships.

1980

In 1980 Foden went into receivership and was subsequently bought by the American multinational PACCAR. PACCAR owned Kenworth and Peterbilt in America and wanted to expand into the European market. After the initial uncertainty surrounding the takeover confidence was restored as PACCAR began to invest in the future of Foden. The company was steadily able to increase its Foden business in the eighties culminating in the sale of a record 350 Fodens in 1989.

1991

Meanwhile in 1991, Pelican became a Seddon Atkinson agent, a move that would ultimately prove both successful in its own right and crucial in the progression to Yutong nearly quarter of a century later.

1996

In 1996 Bob Crump decided to settle for an easier life as group chairman (a role he is still active in) and handed over control to his son Richard who presently manages the company.

2000

By 2000, the company's long association with Rothwell in South Leeds was over and the business relocated to brand new purpose built facilities on Wakefield Europort. In 2003, Pelican purchased the property and assets of Linpac DAF at Sherbern-in-Elmet and moved that business into the Castleford site, creating one of the largest single site truck businesses in Yorkshire.

2005

In 2005 PACCAR ceased production of Foden vehicles, exactly 150 years after Foden was first started and in 2008 the company opened a new MAN Truck & Bus dealership.

2006

In 2006 Seddon also closed meaning that the company had lost two of its franchises in less than a year. At the time of its closure Seddon sold only municipal vehicles but had a good name in that field. The only replacement municipal opportunity available at the time was to new low entry BMC truck. Pelican was set on later in 2006 to handle sales of this vehicle. The product itself was not successful however it was clear to see that the bus and coach range was a great deal more credible and interesting.

2012

In 2012, with the demise of the former BMC importer, Pelican was offered the opportunity to handle the UK importation and distribution of the BMC buses and coach range as well. The name Pelican Bus and Coach was established to do this but the venture was short lived as BMC ceased vehicle production in late 2012.

However the short experience with BMC showed that the bus and coach sector was a good compliment to a retail truck business and the directors decided to look for a new stronger partner to work with in the UK and Ireland. China was the obvious place to look and an approach was made to Yutong as it was the stand out Chinese manufacturer.

2013

In summer 2013 Pelican was offered the opportunity to import and distribute Yutong vehicles throughout the UK and Ireland. The opportunity was gratefully received without hesitation, the business has grown year on year and is now at the forefront of Pelican Group’s commercial activities.