Southdown acquired by Go-Ahead’s Brighton & Hove

Southdown Buses has been acquired by Go-Ahead-owned Brighton & Hove Buses.

A statement from Go-Ahead said: “Southdown will be a separate business unit within the group and will initially retain its local identity, although over time we anticipate altering the branding to Metrobus.”

Ed Wills, Managing Director of Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus, said: “Southdown is a great business serving communities in and around East Surrey and we’re looking forward to building on its strengths. This is part of The Go-Ahead Group’s overall commitment to investment in the regional bus market across the UK.”

Headquartered in Copthorne, near Gatwick Airport, Southdown Buses operates 18 routes in Surrey, Sussex, south London and Kent, many of which are operated on behalf of Surrey County Council. The operator has a standard national licence for 35 vehicles. Southdown Buses is a trading name of Southdown PSV.

The Southdown name has been in existence in the industry since 1915, when Southdown Motor Services was set up in Brighton. In 1969 it became part of the National Bus Company. With deregulation in the ’80s, the operation split into separate fleet names and was then acquired by Stagecoach in 1989.

Southdown PSV was founded in 2002 and in addition to its bus operations, ran a new and used PCV dealership. In 2016, Steve Swain took this over and renamed it Chartwell Bus & Coach Sales.

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