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Cookstown, County Tyrone, JMB Coaches has, since its genesis in 2005, forged a stellar reputation for itself by providing an unrivalled service, with comfort and reliability very much to the fore. With a fleet of 18 coaches / minibuses, JMB is still growing and has a presence throughout Ireland as well as in the UK and Europe. Official transport provider for Graham Tours, Enniskillen and Huttons Special Interest Tours, Armagh, JMB Coaches also provides an exceptional coach hire service across mid-Ulster and Northern Ireland, catering for corporate hire, private hire, educational tours, sporting events and festivals. They specialise in educational trips and can accommodate a tour to any attraction anywhere in Ireland, the UK or Europe, including theatres, museums, football grounds, galleries, historic sites, theme parks, zoos etc. Clients can choose from an extensive fleet of vehicles, including wheelchair accessible, executive and platinum coaches. All vehicles are maintained to an exceptional standard and undergo regular maintenance and inspections, while the team of highly-skilled, friendly, enthusiastic and motivated drivers undertake regular driver training courses to meet the highest possible
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Edwin Henry, Adrain McKibbin and David Millar
David Millar
Adrain McKibbin at the wheel
standards. Whether it be for airport trips, group outings, shopping excursions, educational or business trips, JMB Coaches have a vehicle to suit every requirement, catering for every need and budget from 16-seater minibuses right up to 70-seater coaches, all of which are modern, comfortable and boast the latest safety features to make travelling as safe as possible. Comfort is a given. For example, the company’s 48 / 53-seater executive coaches feature reclining seats and arm rests, reading lights, seat belts, tinted windows, air conditioning, public address, courier seat, curtains and carpet, air suspension, radio / CD player, TV / DVD player and toilet. Reflecting on how he came to establish JMB Coaches, Edwin notes: “I worked previously for JMB Tours for three years, first as a driver
and then managing the company before they were sold to Chambers Coach Hire. As I had worked for Chambers before, I didn’t want to take a step backwards. As the coach name that worked with JMB Tours had always been mine, – I had a coach and held the licence but we operated under the JMB Tours umbrella – I was able to call my company JMB Coaches Ltd. “The choice I was faced with at the time was to either sell the coach or continue down the road I had started. I decided to keep going on my own and brought the coach to my own yard in Cookstown, where we already rented commercial premises. I’ve been in business all my life and already had everything in place. The unit was easily adapted into what we needed to run a coach hire company.” Edwin rented coaches for a
The fleet is expanding yearly
couple of years until he was generating a substantial enough turnover to justify investing in a coach of his own. In 2007, he purchased his first coach, second-hand; today, he oversees a large and versatile fleet of 18 buses / coaches, including two fantastic 49-seater Scanias which were purchased brand new in 2011 and 2012. Two more are on the way in 2014! All the ingredients are in place to ensure that JMB Coaches continues to go from strength to strength: equity, a great fleet, ideal premises and exceptional personnel. “We have a top management team with expertise in all the key areas of running a business and we work hard on our public image. Our drivers, who are in the frontline, dress and behave impeccably and each bus is washed every time it comes in off the road. This is the sort of painstaking attention to detail you have to persevere with; you can’t allow your standards to drop.” Since setting JMB Coaches up eight years ago, Edwin has managed to hold onto all of his original customers while picking up a lot more along the way. He is still the principle driver and his work with Graham Tours and Huttons Tours regularly takes him as far afield as Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium and France. In terms of personnel, JMB Coaches holds a winning
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