National Express sells Mortons and Kings Ferry VIP operations

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Mortons was established in 2004 and set great store by its high standards of vehicle presentation and exemplary customer service. PAUL GREEN

Mortons Travel is now a part of Rambler Group Holdings, whilst The Kings Ferry’s VIP operations have been sold to Grange Travel

Following closely on from last week’s news of the purchase of Regency Coaches by the Go-Ahead Group and both Klarners and Tendring Travel by REL Capital, Rambler Group Holdings has purchased Mortons Travel from National Express, which has also divested itself of the specialist VIP operations of its Kings Ferry division TKF Football Services.

The Mortons deal completed on 3 September and Rambler has promised to safeguard all 35 roles at the Basingstoke-based business. The company confirmed that all existing bookings and work will continue as usual and customers will be contacted directly to confirm their bookings remain in place.

Established in 2004 and based in North Hampshire by Adrian Morton, with a firm focus on presentation and customer service, Mortons Travel is also a key provider of school services, which Rambler says will continue as planned.

Chief Executive Officer at Rambler Group Holdings Qasim Ahmed said: “We are pleased to announce the strategic acquisition of Mortons Travel and look forward to building on its current success. The acquisition reflects our commitment to growth and innovation, enhancing our service offerings with a fleet of over 175 coaches and expanding our reach in the market.

“All existing booked orders will continue as usual, with the same high-quality service customers have come to expect. We remain focused on driving progress with a fresh perspective, a dedication to excellence, and an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction.”

Chief Safety and Operations Officer at National Express Mark Heffernan said of the sale: “We were pleased to complete this deal with Rambler Group Holdings as a key part of our business strategy. This sale enables us to increase efficiency and utilisation in our scheduled coach and private hire network and to deliver engineering more efficiently from other depots.”

Speaking about the sale of the Kings Ferry football operations sale, a spokesperson for National Express Travel Solutions said: “As part of our business strategy, we have sold the first team football operations from our Reading and Wandsworth depots to Grange Travel. We will continue to invest in and operate services on behalf of football supporters and academies, as well as first team football operations across our depots on the south coast.”

Grange Travel will continue to operate services for Brentford, Fulham, Watford, Reading and Norwich football clubs.