5620 x 3733 px | 47,6 x 31,6 cm | 18,7 x 12,4 inches | 300dpi
Aufnahmedatum:
2007
Ort:
Perth City Bus Station Tayside Scotland
Weitere Informationen:
Perth-based Stagecoach has bought out Strathtay Scottish buses, who operate throughout Tayside and parts of Fife, as part of a £26 million deal, writes Stefan Morkis. Staff at the Dundee base for Strathtay, part of Traction Group Ltd, only discovered they had new employers when they arrived at work today and found notices announcing the sale pinned to the wall. One employee said the entire workforce had been shocked by yesterday’s takeover. “Nobody had any idea this was happening. It has come completely out of the blue, ” he said. The takeover prompted fears amongst staff that it could lead to job losses, although this was refuted by Stagecoach today, who said it planned to invest in and further develop the Strathtay network. A spokesman said, “We are retaining the local management team and, obviously, the frontline staff will continue in place. “We see a lot of potential to develop the Traction business, including the services operated by Strathtay. “Stagecoach has had a lot of success in attracting more people to bus travel as a result of improved telemarketing and we have a good record of investment, ” he added. Traction was the sixth largest bus operator in the UK, with operations in South and West Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In its financial year ending December 21, 2004, Traction reported a turnover of £56.6 million, an operating profit of £2.5 million and gross assets of £50.5 million. The deal is worth £26 million, £21.5 million of which was paid in cash and the remainder by the issue of 4, 022, 070 Stagecoach ordinary shares. Stagecoach has assumed Traction’s net debt of approximately £11 million. Brian Souter, chief executive of Stagecoach Group plc said, “The acquisition of Traction is consistent with our strategy for growth in our core UK and North American markets, and follows the acquisition of Glenvale Transport earlier this year. “Traction is the largest of the remaining privately-owned UK bus operators. “We believe we can add value through innovation,
