Sale of Finglands bus business to First group
Coaching business now sold to Bullocks
The Finglands Coaches fleet passed to Bullocks Saturday 26th Ocotber, vehicles left their Rusholme base in the morning and returned to Cheadle after they had completed their work. The following vehicles are now part of the Bullocks fleet.
374 RYV 77, ex YR52 MDZ Volvo B12M / Plaxton Paragon.
375 HIL 7745, ex HJ02 HCG Volvo B10M / Plaxton Panther.
376 10 RU, ex YN55 WTO, 377 YN55 WTP Volvo B12B / Plaxton Paragon.
378 YX56 HYM) Volvo B12B / Plaxton Panther.
380 647 JOE, ex VX55 OBW Volvo B12B / Plaxton Paragon. (seen on Rail Replacement on Su 27th at Victoria in Finglands livery with Bullocks legals)
382 YX02 JFY Volvo B12M / Plaxton Paragon.
Coaches 379 FC07 MCF and 381 YX59 FUO Volvo B12BT/ Volvo 9700 Prestige Plus (13.0m) have been retained by EYMS Group, but have been loaned to Bullocks.
It is thought that the vehicles will retain their fleet numbers due to ex Finglands staff already knowing them by their identities, however due to their value as cherished registrations, coaches 374, 376 and 380 are expected to lose these marks and revert back to their original registrations unless Bullocks put some of their own cherished registration plates on them.
A possible date for the sale of the Bus business to First is December 3rd.
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FirstGroup plc Agree To Acquire Finglands Bus Operations In Manchester Thursday 1 August 2013
FirstGroup plc is pleased to announce that First Manchester Limited, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of the Group, has agreed to acquire the Manchester bus business from Finglands Coachways Limited for a consideration of £50,000.
The acquisition of Finglands, which operates a number of commercial bus services and school contracts to the South and East of Manchester, is subject to Office of Fair Trading (OFT) clearance and, if approved, is expected to be completed during autumn this year. The bus business saw unaudited revenues of £3.8m for the year ending December 2012.
The acquisition includes the lease of the existing depot in Rusholme, existing service registrations and the transfer of approximately 100 employees. The fleet of 41 vehicles are not included in the sale although some may be used in the short term to meet current service commitments before new vehicles are introduced. The sale excludes the Finglands coach business.
The acquisition allows First Manchester to expand its successful bus operations in the region. First Manchester currently operates around 700 buses and employs 2000 people. In the past 12 months First has lowered a number of its fares in the Greater Manchester region by around 30% and saw passenger volume growth of around 8% in the three months between April and June.
Commenting, Regional Managing Director for First in the North of England, Dave Alexander said: “This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to Greater Manchester and represents an excellent opportunity to further grow bus passenger volumes. It reflects our strategy of focusing on those areas that offer the greatest potential for growth and will allow us to improve bus networks for the communities we serve. We are looking forward, subject to OFT clearance, to welcoming our new colleagues to FirstGroup.”
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