Mellor Coachcraft,Companies House extract company no 02691794
Mellor Coachcraft Limited formerly Woodall Nicholson Limited formerly Deckglade Limited known simply as Mellor or Mellor Bus, is a British bus manufacturer based in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, Greater Manchester. Founded in the 1960s, Mellor has primarily produced bodywork for various different

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...

chassis throughout its history. Mellor is owned by parent company, Woodall Nicholson Group, alongside Treka Bus.

History

Chesterfield Community Transport DK10DXZ NZ86

Mellor was founded in the 1960s by Tom Mellor with a factory in

, Greater Manchester. Initially, Mellor specialised in providing bodywork for commercial vehicles including ambulances, before later moving into minibus manufacturing. Following a period of growth spurred on by the move into the minibus market, Mellor moved into a new purpose-built factory in Miall Street, Rochdale which they still occupy today.Our history
Mellor Coachcraft Throughout the 'minibus revolution' of the 1980s in the United Kingdom, Mellor provided bodies for a number of different chassis, with a large number of deliveries going to Transit Holdings and their various subsidiaries. In 1989, the company was sold by

Henlys Group Henlys Group PLC was a major London motor distributor and dealer founded in 1917 in London's Great Portland Street. In the 1980s it was taken over by a company associated with Michael Ashcroft then some years later sold to Yorkshire bus manufa ...

Plaxton Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manu ...

. In February 1992, the company's assets were transferred to a new entity, Deckglade Limited, in preparation for a management buyout by the Woodall Nicholson Group that was completed in May 1992, with the company name reverting to Mellor Coachcraft in July 2003. Success was found in the late 1990s and early 2000s with a bodywork for the low-floor Iveco Daily chassis, with a capacity of between 16 and 25 passengers; fitted with an optional rear lift, the body was popular with the early access bus market. Later, bodywork was launched for the Fiat Ducato, Ford Transit and

Mercedes-Benz T2 The Mercedes-Benz T2 was a semi-bonneted light commercial vehicle manufactured by Daimler-Benz. The T2 is also known as the "Düsseldorf Transporter", since it was built in Düsseldorf from 1967 to 1986. The third generation, built from 1996 a ...

, Vario and Sprinter chassis, with many minibuses being sold to local authorities in the access bus market. Mellor purchased rival minibus manufacturer Bluebird Vehicles in July 2014, after the latter company had entered administration, taking over manufacture of their successful Fiat Ducato-based Orion and

Volkswagen Transporter The Volkswagen Transporter, based on the Volkswagen Group's T platform, now in its seventh generation, refers to a series of vans produced for over 70 years and marketed worldwide. The T series is now considered an official Volkswagen Group aut ...

-based

Tucana Tucana (The Toucan) is a constellation of stars in the southern sky, named after the toucan, a South American bird. It is one of twelve constellations conceived in the late sixteenth century by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter D ...

minibuses. Mellor later launched the updated Tucana II and an updated version of the Orion, sharing features with a number of Mellor's own products.Product range
Mellor Coachcraft In 2016, Mellor launched the

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light commercial vehicle (van) built by Mercedes-Benz Group AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a large van, chassis cab, minibus, and pickup truck. In the past, the Sprinter had been sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dod ...

-based Strata minibus, with a capacity of up to 22 seated passengers. The Strata has sold well in the market of the United Kingdom's 'second minibus revolution' of the mid to late 2010s, winning orders from a number of operators including

Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

and

Bus Vannin Bus Vannin ( gv, Barroose Vannin) - styled as ''bus'' vannin - is the government-owned and operated bus service on the Isle of Man. The name was adopted in June 2009 to replace Isle of Man Transport. The company was founded on 1 October 1976,< ...

. The Strata was followed by the Maxima on high-floor Iveco Daily chassis, aimed at local authorities for the access bus and community transport markets, with a capacity of up to eight wheelchairs or 30 seated passengers. In August 2017, Mellor signed a distributorship arrangement deal in Germany and Austria with E-Vade as part of plans to expand into the mainland European market. On 1 November 2017, Mellor's owner Woodall Nicholson Holdings completed the purchase of the Villmount Group, which owns rival UK-based minibus manufacturer Treka Bus. Mellor and Treka Bus will continue to trade separately as Woodall Nicholson subsidiaries.

Products

Current

* Maxima – high-floor, high-capacity minibus based on the Iveco Daily chassis * Orion – low-floor minibus based on the Fiat Ducato chassis **Orion E – all-electric version of the Orion **Orion Lite – fitted with lighter CT Ultra Lite seating option **Orion Stage Carriage – aimed at the service bus market **Pico – eight-seater

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

version of the Orion * Strata – low-floor minibus based on the

chassis and aimed at the service bus market **Strata HF 16 – high-floor variant * Tucana 2 – updated version of the Tucana low-floor minibus based on the Volkswagen Transporter T6 chassis * Sigma – low-floor battery-electric bus range engineered in-house and available as a 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12-metre vehicle. Additionally, Mellor also provide various custom-built access bus and community transport minibus bodies for mid-floor Fiat Ducato and high-floor Iveco Daily 50C17, 65C17 and 70C17 chassis, as well as van conversions for a variety of chassis including the Volkswagen Transporter.

Former

– minibus based on the Volkswagen Transporter T5 chassis, acquired from the Bluebird Vehicles takeover In the past, Mellor have also produced bodywork for Ford Transit, Iveco Daily,

LDV Convoy The LDV Convoy is a light commercial van that was manufactured by LDV Limited between 1996 and 2006. The Convoy was a development of the Leyland DAF 400 Series, which in turn was based on the Freight Rover 300 Series. The Convoy and its prede ...

Mercedes-Benz Vario The Mercedes-Benz Vario (model designation BM667/668/670) is a full-size commercial heavy van manufactured by Mercedes-Benz between 1996 and 2013. History The Vario was launched in 1996 as a facelifted version of the Mercedes-Benz T2. The bod ...

and Renault 50 chassis; however, early bodies were not given names.Home
Mellor Coachcraft 2001

References

{{Bus manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Mellor Coachcraft British brands Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom Companies based in Bolton Companies based in Rochdale