Stagecoach West takes Wessex routes

Stagecoach West has completed its takeover of Rotala’s Bristol services and taken over eight bus routes in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, saving 70 jobs. It has appointed Mark Rosaman, who started at the bus company as a bus driver in 2000, as operations manager to head up the new team.

The bus operator, which covers Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and South Herefordshire, has acquired some of the assets of Rotala – the owner of Wessex Bus Ltd – and will be taking on the company’s employees.

Wessex Bus launched in Bristol in 2007 as Wessex Connect but later rebranded as Wessex Bus in 2011. It stopped operations after its parent company Rotala said there had been a reduction in “business opportunities” and it could no longer sustain a depot and the overheads in place.