After nearly 23 years of bus operation under the Excelbus brand, bus services operated by Johnsons of Henley-in-Arden along with some vehicles and staff will move to Diamond Bus West Midlands
Long-established Midlands operator Johnsons announced on 28 April that it is to sell its Excelbus bus division to to Rotala subsidiary Diamond Bus. The deal is expected to be concluded on Sunday 29 May and will increase Rotala’s presence in Warwickshire and the West Midlands.
All of Johnsons Excelbus’ commercial and tendered work, plus most drivers and some operating staff, will become part of the Diamond Bus West Midlands operation, working from Diamond’s existing depot at Redditch. Rotala Chief Executive Simon Dunn said that the vehicles will rapidly be rebranded into the Diamond Bus livery. Johnsons will continue to operate 45 coaches and employ 180 staff under its existing long-established brand name.
In a statement, Peter Johnson, Operations Director at Johnsons, said: “As we look forwards and consider the challenges of meeting the needs of air quality and environmental issues, through electric and then hydrogen-powered vehicles, we have decided that we must now focus on building our coach business in terms of holidays, day trips, private coach hire and school services.”
Commercial Director John Johnson added: “We are proud to continue to offer the high-quality coach services Johnsons is known for. As an industry leader and multi-award winner we are committed to growing our coach business for the long term, and we look forward to continuing to provide a great quality and friendly service for our customers.”
Rotala has long signalled its desire to grow, with a key part of that strategy being to ‘consolidate smaller businesses via bolt-on acquisitions in existing areas of operation.’ It has previously purchased multiple operators in the West Midlands, the most recent being the bus operations of Claribel’s Coaches on 24 April. Writing in Rotala’s most recent annual report on 5 May 2021, Non-Executive Chairman John Gunn outlined a belief that the group is ‘very well placed to take advantage of the opportunities which are likely to occur for both organic growth and acquisitions’ in coming years.
In a statement to it’s new customers, Diamond said in a social media post: “This new acquisition further strengthens Diamond’s growing Midlands business in the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Warwickshire region. The deal will involve Diamond Bus taking over operation of all Excelbus local bus services including the X20 Stratford to Solihull and 150 Redditch to Birmingham services and Stratford’s park & ride services.
“For those customers joining us from Johnsons we look forward to welcoming you on board. We will be taking on Johnsons drivers – so you will continue to see familiar faces on your routes and we will be working to rebrand the buses into our distinctive Diamond livery soon after the change over date.”
Reacting to the announcement, Warwickshire County Council said in a statement on its social media page for its bus services: “Following yesterday’s announcement by Johnsons Coaches that it has sold its Excelbus public transport operation to Diamond Bus, we would like to reassure passengers that we will be working closely with both parties to ensure a smooth transition and that all services will continue as they are.
“We would like to thank Johnsons Coaches for its valuable contribution to the operation of public transport in the south and west of Warwickshire and wish them well as they focus on the continuing parts of their business.”
In terms of the services operated, whilst there is some overlap with the Diamond Bus network, it gives the Rotala-owned company a presence in Leamington Spa, the Cotswold region of Gloucestershire and an enhanced presence in Worcester and Oxfordshire, with three services plus variations to Banbury and a Sunday and Bank Holiday-only service to Chipping Norton, meaning that the county is not only served by Diamond Bus West Midlands, but also Diamond Bus South East which has the contract to operate service 250 between Bicester and Oxford via the Heyfords.
The biggest gains will be in Stratford-upon-Avon area, where the vast majority of Excelbus’ operations are centred. Diamond Bus has had a presence in the town for some years now with the operation of a handful of services. Amongst the local town services and services to surrounding rural areas acquired is the high profile Stratford-upon-Avon park & ride service. Nineteen buses will transfer to Diamond Bus including two Optare Solos, four Scania Omnilinks, four Optare Tempos, seven Enviro200s and a pair of Optare MetroDeckers.
