Highland Council plan to buy D&E Coaches valued at between £5.5 million and £6 million amid hopes it could cut the £25 million school transport bill and boost public transport
Highland Council is expected to pay between £5.5 million and £6 million for D&E Coaches in a surprise move announced this week.
Aimed at expanding its own public transport ambitions and saving money currently paid out in contracts for school buses the announcement that the local authority intends to acquire the company came late on Wednesday evening.
D&E then announced that owner and managing director Donald Mathieson is to retire “after nearly three decades of exceptional leadership” while the deal “opens up exciting opportunities for the future of transport in the Highlands”.
The move will not just bolster public transport but could save the the council a fortune with £25 million spent annually providing school transportation - already the existing in-house buses have saved around £1.4 million.
It is understood that councillors agreed the move in private at the full council meeting in December, prompted by hopes to “accelerate provision of public transport services, achieve operational cost efficiencies and reduce the risk of future contract cost increases”.
D&E operates routes connecting Inverness, Dingwall, Ullapool and the Black Isle, with more localised services between Ullapool and Achiltibuie and Beauly and Inverness.
The acquisition will significantly augment the local authority’s in-house bus service launched two years ago and currently operating in the Inverness, Nairn and Ross-shire areas.
It carried 55,000 passengers in the first year, offering online ticketing and adding double deckers to busy routes.
The announcement confirming the council “intends to acquire the entire” company to improve local public transport and limit or reduce costs on school transport was made on Wednesday evening.
The chairman of the economy and infrastructure committee, Councillor Ken Gowans, said he is “genuinely excited for future public transport opportunities in the Highlands as a result of this expansion of our service.
“I am delighted that negotiations have reached this stage, and as we approach completion, I would like to reassure customers, staff and suppliers that the transition in ownership will be handled as smoothly as possible”.
Mr Mathieson, D&E Coaches’ owner and managing director said: “D&E Coaches has been in business for almost three decades and we feel as a family firm that we have taken the company as far as we can.
“Moving forward, we feel that the acquisition of D&E Coaches by The Highland Council is the best move for the company and everyone concerned, including our staff and customers.
“We are also pleased that the company will move into local authority/public ownership.”
The chairman of the economy and infrastructure committee, Councillor Ken Gowans, said he is “genuinely excited for future public transport opportunities in the Highlands as a result of this expansion of our service.
“I am delighted that negotiations have reached this stage, and as we approach completion, I would like to reassure customers, staff and suppliers that the transition in ownership will be handled as smoothly as possible”.
Mr Mathieson, D&E Coaches’ owner and managing director said: “D&E Coaches has been in business for almost three decades and we feel as a family firm that we have taken the company as far as we can.
“Moving forward, we feel that the acquisition of D&E Coaches by The Highland Council is the best move for the company and everyone concerned, including our staff and customers.”
He added: “We are also pleased that the company will move into local authority/public ownership.”