The first UK Coach Rally since the pandemic has been held, with Parrys International taking the top prize for coach of the year. ANDREW JAROSZ reports
After a two-year absence, the UK Coach Rally returned to Blackpool for its 66th weekend event on April 9/10, with regular entrants snapping up the awards for both beauty and skills. The mood of coach operators was noticeably buoyant, as the industry lifts itself out of pandemic lockdowns, which forced the closure of some of the oldest names in the industry – most recently that of Maynes Coaches, originally of Manchester but now in Warrington.
The ‘Coach of the Year’ award went for the third successive year to Van Hool with a magnificently-presented TX17 Astron owned by Parrys International Tours of Cheslyn Hay. Equally magnificent was Dave Parry’s team achievement of the 11th top spot of the century, as well as picking up five additional awards including one for ‘Top Luxury Coach’, and one for ‘Top Van Hool’. The DAF-powered coach is one of two delivered to the company during the 2020 pandemic and kept in storage before being registered this year.
The ‘Coach Driver of the Year’ award was retained by Russell Cooper, after a Saturday morning timed road ra…
