Skills Motor Coaches (Nottingham)

[JJM22]

Thought it may be good to start a thread on Skills Motor Coaches of Nottingham.

They have recently announced that have been awarded the contract to operate the Medilink service from September (Queens Drive Park & Ride, QMC, and City Hospital).

Below is their announcement from Facebook:

Medilink Announcement

We’re proud to share that Skills Motor Coaches has been awarded the contract to operate the Medilink bus service on behalf of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, starting in September 2025.

The Medilink service connects key healthcare sites across Nottingham, including:
Queens Drive Park & Ride
Queen’s Medical Centre
Wilkinson Street Park & Ride
City Hospital

This service provides vital, accessible transport for NHS staff, patients, and visitors, helping people get to where they’re needed across the city’s healthcare network.

It comes alongside our operation of the Phoenix Park NHS Staff Shuttle – a dedicated, staff-only service already up and running, providing direct, reliable connections to City Hospital.

To support these contracts, we’ve invested in six brand-new ADL Enviro400 double-decker buses and two ADL Enviro200 single-deckers, ensuring a modern, high-quality fleet for both services.

We’re proud to support a service that so many people rely on every week. Together with our partners at NUH, we’re committed to ensuring a smooth transition — and we’re looking forward to getting Medilink on the road and doing what we do best.

There's lots of work happening behind the scenes, and we'll be sharing more updates as we get closer to launch. ️

#skillscoaches #skillsmotorcoaches #nottingham

 

[YX73OUB]

And I'm sure they'll do a brilliant job on it too, it's great to see Skills venturing out into more work.

 

[JJM22]

Two new ADL Enviro 200 MMCs have arrived. YW25 DDO and YW25 DDU

 

[MEC]

Do we know if the vehicles will be wrapped for the medilink or just stay in skills livery

 

[MCR247]

Stay in Skills I reckon

 

[swinny1990]

Two new ADL Enviro 200 MMCs have arrived. YW25 DDO and YW25 DDU

Any pics

 

[MEC]

Stay in Skills I reckon

That's a shame to be honest,the old medilink livery was really nice

 

[MCR247]

That's a shame to be honest,the old medilink livery was really nice

To be honest I don’t know myself but that’s just my guess

 

[JJM22]

Do we know if the vehicles will be wrapped for the medilink or just stay in skills livery

I would guess they’ll stay in standard Skills livery, like the Enviro 400MMCs, allows for private hire use etc.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

The contract required all vehicles to be wrapped and not to be used elsewhere...

 

[MEC]

The contract required all vehicles to be wrapped and not to be used elsewhere...

Do you have a link to the contract?

 

[High Dyke]

Trouble already brewing between Skills and the RMT. Employer is non-unionised, and refusing to recognise the staff transferred under recognised TUPE arrangements as trade union members.

TUPE stands for Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations. It's a piece of UK employment law that protects employees when the business they work for is taken over by a new employer.

What it protects:
TUPE safeguards employees' rights during a business transfer, ensuring their employment contracts and associated rights are preserved.

 

[JJM22]

Two new #Enviro200 are the first Alexander Dennis single deckers bought by East Midlands operator Skills Motor Coaches. Each 10.8m long bus seats up to 40 passengers. They join six #Enviro400 double deckers delivered earlier this year.

Skills will use its new single and double deck Alexander Dennis buses when it takes over operation of #Medilink in September, having been awarded the contract by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. The new Medilink service will run every 15 minutes on a loop between Queens Drive Park and Ride, Queen’s Medical Centre, Wilkinson Street and City Hospital. The Enviro400 will provide additional capacity during peak hours, while the Enviro200 enable the company to match vehicle size to demand at quieter times.

Pete Hallam, Managing Director at Skills Motor Coaches, said: “We’ve been very pleased with the Alexander Dennis double deckers we received earlier this year. We’re thrilled to be able to further boost our fleet now with this versatile pair of Enviro200 single deckers, which I’m sure will deliver the same great value for us through their fuel economy, ease of maintenance and the opportunity to use them flexibly on different contracts and vehicle hires.”

Our Regional Sales Manager Simon Wood added: “It’s an honour have been able to support Skills Motor Coaches with as many as eight new Alexander Dennis buses this year. Passengers will love the new standards for comfort our Enviro400 and Enviro200 will set with their comfortable seats and airy interiors when they take over operation of the Medilink service next month.”

The two enviro 200MMCs have been unveiled, showcased by Alexander Dennis via their Facebook page. Quote above from the press release.

The only difference is that both vehicles are now fitted with camera mirrors.

 

[MEC]

Does anyone know what ticket machines skills will be using for the medilink?

 

[JJM22]

Does anyone know what ticket machines skills will be using for the medilink?

Transmach

Also, it appears they’re now using branded vehicles for the medilink as it looks like they're out route learning.

Skills base livery with medilink branding applied, and NHS adverts to the rear.

 

[MEC]

Transmach

Also, it appears they’re now using branded vehicles for the medilink as it looks like they're out route learning.

Skills base livery with medilink branding applied, and NHS adverts to the rear.

Ah so there not using the init ticket machines used for Nottingham contactless. I would have assumed that as medilink is supposed to be part of the Nottingham contactless scheme

 

[JJM22]

Ah so there not using the init ticket machines used for Nottingham contactless. I would have assumed that as medilink is supposed to be part of the Nottingham contactless scheme

I believe that they are contactless, but have no idea if part of the scheme

 

[MEC]

I believe that they are contactless, but have no idea if part of the scheme

I don't think it can be part of the scheme if it's not an init machine

 

[Man of Kent]

I don't think it can be part of the scheme if it's not an init machine

The Leicester scheme, which also offers multi-operator capping, applies across different ticket machines. Since all ETMs record the same information, it's a case of someone having to consolidate it from the different sources and then divvy up the income as appropriate.

 

[Dwarfer1979]

The Leicester scheme, which also offers multi-operator capping, applies across different ticket machines. Since all ETMs record the same information, it's a case of someone having to consolidate it from the different sources and then divvy up the income as appropriate.

Yes, the capping is all done in a back office banking system so as long as the ticket machine can process the transaction and the back office of the ticket machine can supply the data to the banking system it doesn't matter what machines you use (and given the banking system is entirely seperate from the ticket machine system there is no reason why any supplier would have an issue).

 

[JJM22]

Two more Enviro 400 MMCs have arrived and are in use for medilink:

YX75 KVP
YX75 KVR

Edit: changed from 25 to 75, originally written in error.

 

[Dfatcontroller]

Two more Enviro 400 MMCs have arrived and are in use for medilink:

YX25 KVP
YX25 KVR

YX75

 

[JJM22]

YX75

Thank you, I made an error when typing out the post originally. Now rectified

 

[MEC]

Anyone know if they'll put next stop displays on the medilink buses?

 

[ACBest]

Anyone know if they'll put next stop displays on the medilink buses?

By law, they should already be fitted with them, being under five years old - so presumably they will be fitted soon.

The DVSA will begin enforcement action against operators who aren’t complying with PSVAIR (the regulations surrounding next stop announcements and displays) next month. (Up until now, it’s been a ‘light touch’ policy.)

 

[Mollman]

The DVSA will begin enforcement action against operators who aren’t complying with PSVAIR (the regulations surrounding next stop announcements and displays) next month. (Up until now, it’s been a ‘light touch’ policy.)

Perhaps they should start with the suppliers, a few operators I know have the kit but are awaiting an issue to be sorted by the supplier before they can actually use it.

 

[38291018]

A new company has been set up in the name of ‘Redwing Coaches of London’ and appears to be set up by Skills, Nottingham - perhaps suggesting they’re taking over this part.

Was curious if anyone else heard about this?
Edit: Does look like skills are taking over from this new company I found companies house
New company on companies house

 

[Dfatcontroller]

Was curious if anyone else heard about this?
Edit: Does look like skills are taking over from this new company I found companies house
New company on companies house

Redwing was owned by the REL Group who specialised in companies that were on the verge of closing down, either through retirement or financial distress with the aim of turning them around.
REL Group now wants to get out of coaching and all the companies they have left are available for sale.

Presume Skill's are interested in Redwing.

 

[MEC]

By law, they should already be fitted with them, being under five years old - so presumably they will be fitted soon.

The DVSA will begin enforcement action against operators who aren’t complying with PSVAIR (the regulations surrounding next stop announcements and displays) next month. (Up until now, it’s been a ‘light touch’ policy.)

Screens seem to have been fitted to the medilink buses now,they are the thing led strip ones(I'm not sure what the actual name for them is) and they just seem to show code

 

[SSmith2009]

Screens seem to have been fitted to the medilink buses now,they are the thing led strip ones(I'm not sure what the actual name for them is) and they just seem to show code

Possibly hanover as they seem to be the popular choice for NSA screens.