- Fraser Eagle
Fraser Eagle is a group of companies based in the
United Kingdom specialising in passenger transport, travel and logistics. Services include pre-planned and emergency coach and taxi services nationwide, corporate travel, event transport, incident management transport and destination management services. These services are provided mainly to the corporate sector. The company also provides coach tours and independent travel agency services to the consumer sector.History
The company started out as an
Accrington -based coach company in 1919, transporting holidaymakers to the coastal resorts inEngland andScotland . The company was formed by Harold Williams and Ward Knowles, and they later expanded to include tours and excursions acrossEurope .Today
The company expanded rapidly in the 1990s when it began providing coaches to the rail industry when train services were disrupted - quickly becoming the UK's leading provider of rail replacement services, a business which exploded in the wake of the disruption following the
Hatfield rail crash and the long-running modernisation of theWest Coast Main Line . http://www.nw-enquirer.co.uk/business/profiles/profile:_kevin_dean,_fraser_eagle_200608311551.html]It also manages, plans, and provides replacement coaches in non-emergency situations (railway engineering works etc), acting as a transport
broker with a database of 5,000 coach and taxi suppliers nationwide.Among others, Fraser Eagle provide replacement transport for
Virgin Trains , winning a £12m three-year contract to provide Virgin with around 100,000 taxis a year.Recently however, increased train reliability and punctuality has led to a downturn in business, as well as increased competition from
National Express and Stagecoach.Grand Central Railway
The company was a major stakeholder of the
Grand Central Railway , an "open-access" railway company that has run trains fromSunderland andHartlepool toLondon since December 2007.Fraser Eagle sold Grand Central to a consortium headed by a former manager of
Prism Rail , backed by a private equity firm in March 2007. [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2355980.ece Former Prism bosses buy Grand Central in £10 million deal] The Independent 14/03/07]Other businesses
The group also manage Fraser Eagle Contracts and Furniture, Fraser Eagle Worldchoice Travel Agents, and Fraser Eagle Cars. They are based in
Padiham ,Lancashire , employing 180 full time staff. They also have an offices inMalta .The company sponsor Accrington Stanley FC, who have named their stadium
Fraser Eagle Stadium References
External links
* [http://www.frasereagle.com/ Fraser Eagle Group]
* [http://www.photo-transport.co.uk/buses/virgin-rail-replacement/virgin-rail-replacement.htm/ A guide to rail replacement bus transport]
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