12% growth in custom ‘shows the pulling power of Nottingham’

Improvements to the Chesterfield-Mansfield-Nottingham pronto brand have been rewarded by extra customers, despite one of the toughest years for a long time.

Departures from Mansfield to Nottingham were stepped up from 3 an hour to every 15 minutes, whilst trent barton and Stagecoach, partners in the joint pronto venture, modernised their fleet at the same time.

And from that moment on, business has been on the up and up – with 12% more customers making the journey.

Brand Manager Glen Pearson said he was ‘highly encouraged’ by the uplift in trade:

“First and foremost it goes to show that what bus companies really sell is the destination”, said Glen, “and in Nottingham we have a City with real pulling power.

“I’m sure that goes a long way to explaining our success.  Between us, we and Stagecoach spotted a chance to invest in pronto and improve the brand.  At four buses an hour straight along the main A60 to the Victoria Centre it is as good as ‘turn up and go’ – and twice as frequent as the train.

“It didn’t take long for the word to get around, and I don’t think we’ve reached anything like the peak of extra custom by any stretch.”