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Brand new for 2008, here is our new look website. All the information you need is here on one page, keeping it simple and straight forward. Just scroll down and it's all here. No buttons to click and no waiting for other pages to load. Hassle free.
Please take your time to read through and find out all about us and if you think there's anything that we have missed then let us know and we'll see if we can sort it out. Meanwhile, if you need to get in touch just phone or e.mail. using the blue link above.

It all started in 1929 when Harry Phillips bought his first coach, a new 20 seat Dennis. The first Empress garage was built the following year in Harry's back garden in Edmund Road in Hastings and it remained in use until 1990. Harry even kept the coach operational through the war by ferrying the Home Guard up to Rocklands in Barley Lane, Hastings and by continuing regular trips to Hellingly Hospital.
Harry's son, also called Harry, passed his PSV test in 1946 and began driving with Harry Snr. acting as conductor on some of the trips. Harry Snr. died in 1970 and Harry Jnr. carried on the business but sold it in 1971 to Tony Patten. We moved to our current premises in St. Margarets Road in 1978.

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The picture on the left shows Harry Phillips Jnr. in the middle, sadly no longer with us, on the right is Tony Patten and on the left is the current owner of Empress Coaches, Stephen Dine, who bought the company in 1999 having worked here for 15 years.

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We are proud of our heritage here at Empress and we are renowned for our quality, reliability and safe, friendly service. We currently run a fleet of vehicles of between 16 and 26 seat capacities and we have wheelchair access available should you require it.
All our vehicles are maintained to the highest standards by our dedicated team of qualified fitters. All of our vehicles are inspected on a daily basis and are always cleaned and checked prior to hire to ensure your comfort and safety. All our vehicles have seat belts.
Our drivers are CRB checked in line with current regulations for some of the work that we do and we also have drivers that are first aid and disability awareness trained so you know you will be in safe hands.
As shown below, we have wheelchair access available for some vehicles and our drivers are fully trained in the use of the powered ramps so you will be completely safe.

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On the left here, is an example of one of our wheelchair accessible vehicles, available in a variety of seating plans and wheelchair capacities. Please contact us if you need further information on this and to find out what is available to suit your needs.

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Here are some pictures of our fleet. I will be adding loads more very soon of our latest additions so watch this space for details. Meanwhile, click on a thumbnail photo for a bigger version.

We hope you have enjoyed the changes made so far and here's the extra bits that really need mentioning and no website would ever be complete without them.....well this one wouldn't be anyway.

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions.

Q. Are we there yet driver ? A. No.

Q. How much is it to hire a coach ? A. Good question. Here's what you need to do. Before phoning or e.mailing, try to get as much info. as you can about your needs...ie. journey times, destination, pick up points, how many people and how long you'll be, that sort of thing. It all helps save time and means we will be able to give you a much more accurate quote.

Q. Have you got a coach for this weekend ? A. Please try to give us as much notice as possible to avoid dissapointment, the earlier the better.

Q. Are we there yet driver ? A. NO !!!

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As you can see in the photo on the left, we have luggage trailer facilities. This is ideal for airport transfers, golf days and such like.
Please let us know if you are going to have a lot of luggage so we can arrange to include this in your hire.

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No lookalikes here, it's the real thing.
Empress supplied the transport during the filming of the Grey Owl in Hastings.
Lord Attenborough himself came to thank us for our services and was kind enough to pose for this photo with Stephen Dine, Empress Coaches proprietor.

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Here is some recent feedback that we got for this site.

" This website is great like you would not believe. Other sites are no good " ......from Jez, website designer.

" Really great website, amazing and brilliant as usual etc "..... from S.Dine. Empress Coaches.

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If you are coming to Hastings for your holidays or just for a few hours then it might be worth checking out the 1066 country website at www1066country.com or click on the link below.