Fastline Travel buys a brace of coaches

Fastline Travel, based in Wednesbury Road, provides coach and minibus services for uses ranging from school runs in the West Midlands to coach tours and holidays across Europe. The company also offers coach inspections and tyre replacement services to clients across the region.

The company has modernised its nine-strong fleet with two new coaches, which were bought using a hire purchase facility from the bank.

The new coaches will have luxurious seats to improve customer experience and quality. The bank also provided a £100,000 overdraft facility for day-to-day working capital purposes.

The new fleet is set to create new jobs including coach and minibus drivers and cleaners.

Safdar Ali, director of Fastline Travel, said: "As a business, we want to deliver luxury and high standard customer service to our clients, regardless of whether it is a long-distance journey or a school run.

"Our commitment to delivering an excellent customer experience has been aided by the funding provided by Lloyds Bank. The hire purchase facility has allowed us to improve our fleet without affecting day-to-day working capital.".

Ian Littleford, hire purchase and leasing regional manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: "Fastline Travel is a great example of a business using a hire purchase facility to drive the business forward, and we are pleased to be able to provide this product to meet their needs to upgrade the coach fleet."

Inderjeet Malhi, relationship manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: "Fastline Travel has experienced steady growth, and with the support of funding from Lloyds Bank, the business is able to win new contracts across the UK.

"As people are looking for alternative ways to holiday, the transport sector has seen a boom.

"It is fundamental that small firms like this receive the tailored funding and support needed to capitalise on growth opportunities. This is why we've pledged to grow our lending to SMEs by £1billion net each year until 2017."