Mistral Group, from its humble beginnings as a regional bus operator in Cheshire, has grown to become one of the nation’s most reputable providers of new and used public service buses for sale, lease & finance.
Controlling several hundred assets across the UK, the company supplies a range of premium vehicles, from Volvo to Alexander Dennis, directly to its extensive portfolio of customers.
Over its 33-year history, Mistral Group has observed a number of significant changes within the industry. However, few have wielded such a profound impact as the gradual emergence of vehicle CCTV technology in recent years, which is currently playing a pivotal role in reshaping Britain’s bus and coach sector and how it operates.
With Mistral Group typically taking delivery of several hundred vehicles per year, it has called upon the services of Tamworth-based vehicle CCTV and telematics experts Centrad to equip their vehicles with the latest CCTV solutions, on behalf of their customers.
Centrad, which is one of the foremost providers for camera solutions to the bus and coach sector, acts as one of Mistral Group’s providers, supplying and installing six and eight camera systems onto the company’s vehicles, enabling comprehensive coverage and safety for both drivers and passengers.
This latest development sweeping the sector has been driven by operators across the country seeking a fresh and innovative approach to not only enhance the safety and security of road users and passengers alike, but also to mitigate expensive insurance premiums in the long-term.
According to Mistral Group’s Sales Director Freddie Fuller, this paradigm shift has largely come about in the past five to ten years.
While there was initially a brief feeling of trepidation from bus and coach operators towards embracing such technology due to fears of potential privacy concerns, the growing need to provide further support for drivers to avoid incidents and mitigate rising insurance premiums has quickly dampened any scepticism or preconceptions.
Fast forward to the present day and the adoption of vehicle CCTV camera solutions has become a standard practice for bus and coach operators.
Freddie Fuller commented: “Over the past decade the position on vehicle camera systems has certainly shifted exponentially. Around five years ago, probably half of our assets went out with retrofitted camera solutions. Now, 100 per cent of our vehicles come equipped with some form of camera system in place.
“The vast majority of bus and coach operators we engage with simply refuse to operate without these systems retrofitted as from their perspective it leaves them exposed to a number of unwanted risks. This attitude shift has primarily been driven by operators’ heightened sense of responsibility to implement necessary measures to encourage road safety, for the benefit of protecting fellow road users, drivers, and passengers as well as lowering premiums.
“Equally, if you assess the typical demographic of bus passengers across the UK, a sizeable proportion are made up of children or those classified as vulnerable, which further emphasises the importance for camera solutions to be installed, as from a customer perspective safeguarding passengers isn’t an option, it’s imperative.
Freddie continued: “When Centrad approached us, their impressive track record and reputation in the bus and coach industry, combined with their innovative approach, made partnering with them an obvious choice.
“Over the decades, our customers have come to expect a certain level of service with us. Naturally any business we choose to partner with becomes an extension of ourselves and therefore we want to ensure they reflect our values and customer-centric approach. Centrad has done this and more. Not only are their systems quality-driven but they’re also willing to go the extra mile for our customers time and again by installing systems regardless of location, and often on short notice, which is a rarity from our experience.”
