Shearings is to start taking delivery of 38 new coaches in the new year in a deal worth £10.5 million.
The order, which follows the delivery of 30 new Setra vehicles and a major lease financing agreement secured earlier this year, will take its fleet to 240 coaches, of which 200 are less than four years old.
The group, which also operates 50 hotels under the Bay and Coast & Country brands, plans to accelerate investment in room and facilities’ upgrades across the chain to £5 million in 2014.
This follows £3.6 million of investment this year, in which time occupancy levels have reached over 90% – the highest since 2008.
Shearings expects its volume of holidaymakers to rise by 2-3% this year following a record one million in 2012. Bookings for 2014 are currently more than 10% ahead of this time last year.
Sales of UK and European Grand Tourer breaks from its Shearings Holidays brand have played a major part in the growth, while the strong British summer drove positive sales for its UK-focused value brand, National Holidays.
New plans for 2014 include additions to its premium Grand Tourer programme, such as escorted tours of the Spanish gardens, Ireland’s country houses and the history of southeast Italy, while new river cruises include trips along the Danube and to Europe’s battlefields. Trips to Highclere Castle – the setting of Downton Abbey – are proving popular.
Group chief executive Denis Wormwell said: “Our continuing focus on providing great value and exciting new holiday product across our programmes has kept our customers loyal and attracted thousands of new people to our portfolio of brands.
“Similarly our multi-brand strategy, and ability to serve the UK and overseas markets with short and long breaks with such a wide range of product, gives us an even bigger market to address across a demographic that continues to expand.
“While conditions remain challenging, this has given us the confidence to continue our investment through 2013 and accelerate our commitment further next year, making sure we deliver ever greater quality to our growing customer base.”