A NORTH Yorkshire bus building firm's future has been secured for the next decade with a multi-million pound deal to supply one of the UK's largest bus dealers.

TransBus Plaxton, which was threatening to close its Scarborough plant earlier this year, has secured a £5 million contract to supply Coventry-based Lex Transfleet.

The first part of the contract, to build 74 Plaxton Prima coaches on 12m Dennic Javelin chassis by next spring, is one of the biggest orders taken on by the firm.

The new agreement provides a strong base for the streamlined Scarborough operation, said TransBus Plaxton's head of coach sales, Kevin Woods.

"The team at Scarborough has worked hard to demonstrate to Lex Transfleet that we build products which can match the best our European competitors can offer," he said.

"Our Scarborough plant has a secure future as part of TransBus International. Lex Transfleet is one of the biggest and most widely respected organisations in vehicle supply and logistics support and we are delighted to be working with them."

One of the key aims of the firm was to forge ongoing relationships with existing customers and to secure new ones, said Mr Woods.

"The Plaxton product range has many strengths and we are building on these as we develop new and improved products to help us win new businesses and retain our clear leadership in the UK coach market," he said.

Keith Holland, director of engineering at Lex Transfleet said: "In choosing our suppliers we set stringent standards - we need to work with companies which can provide high quality products and with whom we can build long-term relationships.

"The importance we place on the relationships we have with both our suppliers and our customers is underlined by this ten-year contract with TransBus Plaxton."

Updated: 10:49 Friday, August 24, 2001