Sutton has more grammar schools than almost any other London borough, and on a Saturday morning in term time its roads fill with school teams heading off to fixtures. It's also a short drive from Epsom Downs racecourse, home to one of the most famous flat races in the world, and it has two major hospitals. Minibus hire Sutton customers book reflects all of that, with school sport and trips, race days at Epsom, hospital staff nights out, weddings and runs to Gatwick.
The borough covers Sutton town, Cheam, Carshalton, Wallington, Worcester Park, Belmont, Beddington and Hackbridge, in the far south of London on the Surrey border. From our base in SE1, Sutton town is about fifty minutes to an hour outside the rush hour, via the A24 or the A217.
Minibus hire Sutton for schools
Sutton's grammar schools, among them Sutton Grammar, Wallington County, Wilson's, Nonsuch and Wallington High School for Girls, draw pupils from across south London and Surrey, and the borough has many other secondary and primary schools besides. Sport, music and academic competitions keep teams on the road through the year.
Schools book us for fixtures, county finals, debating and maths competitions, museum visits and residential trips. The team, the staff and the kit travel together, and the driver waits for the end of the event. For a term of fixtures, send us the dates in advance and we'll follow the pattern.
Derby Day and the Downs
Epsom Downs racecourse is about fifteen minutes from Sutton town, and Derby Day in early June draws one of the biggest crowds of the sporting year. The course also races through the spring, summer and autumn, with summer evening meetings that suit an after-work trip.
Office parties, racing clubs and hen and stag groups book us for race days. On Derby Day, the roads around the Downs are controlled, and coaches and minibuses use set areas, so we'll confirm the arrangements for the meeting and set a meeting point for the return. Minibus hire Sutton racegoers book for Derby Day is best arranged well ahead.
The Royal Marsden and St Helier
The Royal Marsden's Sutton site, on Downs Road in Belmont, is one of the world's leading cancer hospitals, and the Institute of Cancer Research works alongside it. St Helier Hospital, between Carshalton and Morden, is the borough's main general hospital. Staff at both book us for nights out, leaving dos and conference trips. The Belmont site is at the centre of the London Cancer Hub, a life-sciences campus being developed around the hospital.
Families of patients sometimes need to travel together for treatment or for long visits. Tell us about any mobility needs, and we'll check the vehicle is suitable.
Historic houses and parks
Sutton has a surprising number of historic places. Nonsuch Park, on the Cheam side, covers the site of Henry VIII's vanished Nonsuch Palace. Whitehall in Cheam is a timber-framed house from around 1500. Honeywood Museum, by the ponds in Carshalton, tells the borough's story, and Carew Manor in Beddington Park has a great hall from the fifteenth century. Beddington Park and the Oaks Park, near Carshalton Beeches, suit school outings and family picnics. BedZED, the eco-village in Hackbridge, draws school and university groups studying sustainable building.
Our Cheam and Carshalton pages cover these in more detail. For school and community groups, the drop-off is at the gate and the return at a time you choose.
Weddings and nights out
Couples marry at churches across the borough, at Nonsuch Mansion and at the register office, and receptions follow at golf clubs and country venues in Surrey. The minibus collects guests, drops at the ceremony, runs on to the reception and takes everyone home late in the evening.
Sutton High Street has restaurants, bars and pubs, and it's the borough's main spot for a night out. Groups also head to Kingston or into central London. For a birthday group, the driver collects from homes across the borough and plans the drop-offs at the end of the night.
Gatwick and the town centre
Gatwick is about thirty-five to forty-five minutes from Sutton outside the rush hour, via the A217 and the M25 or the A23 and the M23. Heathrow, round the M25, takes about forty-five minutes. Stansted and Luton are both more than an hour and a quarter.
Sutton High Street is pedestrianised for much of its length, and the town centre is ringed by a one-way gyratory with bus lanes and limited stopping. Pickups in the centre happen at an agreed point on the gyratory's side roads or by the station. On race days at Epsom, the A217 and the roads towards the Downs are slow from late morning, so tell us if your booking crosses that area.
For minibus hire in Sutton, call 020 7183 0567.