Yellow Buses in administration

Administrators have been appointed at Bournemouth-based Yellow Buses.

The affects of Covid-19 and the associated changes to lifestyle habits, with more working remotely and some people still being reluctant to travel on public transport, were blamed for the appointment of administrators. A statement on its website said this had contributed to severely reduced passenger numbers on all routes.

Simon Rowe and Rachel Hotham of Milsted Langdon LLP, have been appointed as Administrators of Bournemouth Transport Limited, which trades as Yellow Buses.

The operator employs around 300 staff and celebrated its 120th anniversary this year.

National operator buyout?

The statement went on to say the directors have, for some time, been looking for outside investment or a purchaser to take Yellow Buses onto the next stage of its life. It said: “They felt that as a small independent business it was unable to handle the current challenges alone and hoped that by merging with a larger operator it would provide them with a broader platform from which to operate.”

It went on to say the company came under increasing financial pressure before the negotiations were complete. However, negotiations with a large national operator are now in the final stages and it is hoped a deal will be concluded in a matter of days.

The statement on its website said: “We can recognise this and want to reassure everyone that we and our team are doing all we can to ensure that the business continues to operate as normal as possible under the circumstances and continues to do so into the future.”

The operator was bought out by Transdev in 2006, but in March 2011 the operation transferred to RATP Group. After a series of annual losses posted at Companies House, RATP Group’s ownership came to an end in July 2019 when it was subject to a management buyout.

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