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We hope you enjoy our new look website for 2009 which is a very special year for us.
We are celebrating 80 years serving Hastings, 1066 Country and the South East.
Scroll down this page to learn more about us. For some pictures and info. on our fleet click on the Vehicles button and new for 2009 is our Latest News page keeping you up to date on whats going on at Empress Coaches and any special stuff we think you'd like to know about.
If you need any further information that isn't included here, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone or E.mail

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.

** Coming soon in 2009, everything you need to know about Empress Coaches in book form. To celebrate our 80 years, we will be publishing a complete history of Empress and a limited number will be available to buy. Register your interest by e.mail and we will contact you as soon as it's abvailable or keep an eye on our Latest News page for more details.**

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 11 vehicles of between 16 and 29 seat capacities and have vehicles with powered wheelchair access should you need it.
All our vehicles are maintained to the highest standards by our dedicated team of qualified fitters. All 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.
All our drivers are enhanced CRB checked in line with current regulations and have undergone first aid and disability awareness training so you know you will be in safe hands.

For more details and pictures of our vehicles, click on the Vehicles button above

No booking too big or too small. We are here to help you so whatever your specific requirements are, contact our friendly office staff to discuss them.
Some of our popular bookings include :
Day excursions
Local drives
Race meetings
Golf days
Corporate events
Airport and dockside transfers
Nightclubs
Theatre trips
Continental travel
And that's just part of what we do, we will tailor our service to meet your needs.

Call us on 01424 430621 or use the e.mail link.
Our email address is info@empresscoaches.com

Here's some of our more frequently asked ques tions.

Q. How much is it to hire a coach ? Probably the most popular question this on. Here's what you do. Before contacting us, try to get as much info. as you can with regards to your booking. Things like journey times, destinations, pick up points, how many people, how long you'll be , that sort of thing. This all saves loads of times and will enable us to give you a much more accurate quote.

Q. Have you got a coach for this weekend ? We can sometimes help with short notice bookings but try to give us as much notice as possible to avoid disappointment.

Q. Are we there yet driver ? NO.

No lookalikes here, it's the real thing. Empress supplied the transport during the filming of 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.

Just a quick line to let you know that we have luggage trailer facilities. Ideal for airport transfers, golf days etc. Please let us know if you think you might need us to include this in your hire.

The picture above 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.