Northern Counties, who had then been recently purchased by the Henlys Group, developed a body then known as the Paladin LF to be the low-floor successor to their step-entrance Paladin, with the bus first being unveiled at the Coach & Bus '95 expo by the manufacturer.

Some Plaxton Prestiges on DAF SB220 chassis were powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as part of early developments into the manufacture of zero-emissions buses.

[3] Two years after the Paladin LF was launched by Northern Counties, the first production models entered service with Stagecoach Manchester in March 1997, with five built on Volvo B10BLE chassis - the only Prestiges built on the chassis - being delivered to the operator.

[6] The largest operator of Prestiges on DAF SB220 chassis was Arriva, with multiple examples delivered to the group's subsidiaries throughout the Prestige's production run, 54 of which entered service with companies today grouped under the Arriva North East name.

[9][better source needed] Another large operator of Prestiges on DAF SB220 chassis was the National Express-owned Speedlink Airport Services, taking delivery of 19 dual-doored Prestiges equipped with extra luggage capacity in early 1998 for use on the temporary FastLink shuttle service between Heathrow Airport and the short-lived Heathrow Junction railway station.