A luxuriously specified Optare Soroco Plus minicoach is helping Blake Travel of St Albans to grow its high-quality corporate hire business.

The Soroco has 19 fully reclining Esteban Irati leather seats each with a three-point seat belt, a flip-down aircraft-style table with drinks holder, foot rest, magazine rack and gangway arm rests. Air conditioning and a powerful heating system enable a pleasant temperature to be maintained whatever the outside conditions. And extensive use of soft trim to roof and side panels, heavy duty carpeting throughout, and tinted and double-glazed windows with full draw curtains, all contribute to a quiet and luxurious ambience within the saloon.

For entertainment on the move there’s a comprehensive system that includes a radio with CD player and a DVD player with 15 inch drop-down monitor. A refrigerator is also fitted to allow passengers to enjoy cold drinks during the summer months. When luggage needs to be carried the three cubic metre boot provides ample space – even with a full complement of 19 passengers – and it has a large swing-type door that makes it easy to load and unload.

“This is our third Soroco,” says Director and Operations Manager Graham Blake, “and we’ve been very impressed by the model, with the other two continuing to perform well. It’s a solidly built vehicle finished to a high standard and its weight of around six tonnes makes it very stable on the road.

“When we drew up the specification it was our aim to raise the level of luxury even further for our growing number of regular blue-chip corporate and prestige customers. Optare’s coach sales team could not have been more helpful to us in achieving the high standard set by this vehicle.

“The Soroco Plus is ideal for the sort of corporate hospitality work we do for major companies who want to impress the customers they’re entertaining,” he adds. “We also use it on other upmarket work, such as providing transportation for a local private school whose staff and students travel in it to special social events as well as using it for daily school transport. And it makes regular forays into London on theatre and concert trips and on sightseeing tours.

“This is the first vehicle we’ve had with an automatic gearbox and everybody who drives it is very impressed, finding it a very smooth transmission. Two pedal operation really comes into its own in the congested traffic conditions we encounter in and around London. Drivers also like the excellent all-round visibility through the deep, wide windscreen and driver’s side windows. And the compact size and powerful engine make it very nippy and traffic compatible.”

The Soroco Plus is fully coachbuilt on the well-proven Mercedes-Benz 616CDA chassis/cowl by Optare’s Spanish partner, Ferqui. It is 7.7 metres in length and just 2.35 metres wide. The body meets R66 rollover requirements and other safety features include ABS and ASR brakes and in integral electric retarder.

For further information please contact:
Martin Hayes, Communications Advisor, +44 (0) 207 494 8050