The origins of the company date back to 1956 when Geoff and Ruby Watts purchased the property of Prospect House 112 Cemetery Road Lye Stourbridge in the County of Worcestershire. Together they renovated the shop which had for a number of years been closed and reopened it as a general store. The company name was derived from the name of the house.

In 1957 Geoff began his first transport company by purchasing a black ‘London’ taxi which was operated from the taxi rank in Stourbridge the minimum fare then being 2’6d. Although there were by now 4 children to look after Geoff could not stop at this and before long he had bought minibuses with which he delivered the school dinners to local schools.

In 1964 Geoff once again decided he wanted bigger vehicles and purchased his first coach a Seddan. The registration number was SWB 200.It was later in the sixties that the growing Transport Company moved to the site of C & V Garage at King St Wollaston. A site purchased from the Don Everall Corporation. Double deck buses were now added to the growing fleet.

And so began the purchase over the years of many other local companies including such old established names as Deluxe Coaches of Enville St Stourbridge, Favourite Coaches High St Lye, Hayes Coaches also of High Street Lye. The premises of Hayes coaches were at this time rented from the owners but were later purchased and the company still trades from the same address today. Further companies were purchased including J E Morris t/as Bearwood Coaches, Homer Luxury Travel of Quarry Bank, Davenports of Cinderbank Netherton and Parkes of Quarry Bank.

All these companies were purchased along with the licences they held for transporting the day-trippers and holidaymakers to the various destinations. With the D –Regulation act of the 1980’s these licences are no longer required.

During this time many workers were transported to and from various sites of BSR at Stourbridge and Old Hill, Austin’s at Longbridge, B I P at Oldbury, Birmetals at Woodgate and Ewarts at Dudley. Conductors were required to collect the fares from the passengers and the setright ticket system was used.

It was during this time Prospect grew rapidly and by now 3 of the 4 children were working in the company. Glynne & Lynton the eldest sons being employed as drivers later being joined by the only daughter Roslynd who was asked to leave the banking industry to join the company in 1974. Later the 4th son Grenville joined as a driver and assisted with the scheduling of the many drivers’ rosters.

Not satisfied Geoff once again needed a new challenge and purchased the businesses of Fred Jones in Aberdare South Wales followed by Ladvale Limited of Gloucestershire which later caused many problems for Prospect when many undisclosed items came to light.

It was at this time that the company was re-modelled and returned to its routes in the Black Country alone. The company was renamed Prospect Coaches West Limited.

Once again the company has successfully grown. Its current status the core of the company now being the provision of transport for many local authorities for home to school transport, sports and swimming establishments and educational visits. Private hire is also undertaken for many individuals and clubs. We like to pride ourselves on the care and attention paid to each and every customer. Some of the early children transported now see their grandchildren travelling to school by the same company.

Today Geoff (Founder and director) and daughter Roslynd (Co-director) are ably assisted by Roslynd’s two sons Nathan formerly of the Royal Corps of Signals (Transport Manager) and Martin formerly a Field Service Engineer for Alexander Dennis (Fleet engineer). Collectively they have over 100 years of experience within the coaching industry. With Geoff into his retirement years many more tasks have passed over to Roslynd, Nathan and Martin who continue to ensure that the company remains at the most efficient and friendly level possible.