Merseyside independent operator Peoplesbus will become the latest independant operator to move into big group ownership next month
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire announced on Wednesday 21 June that it is to acquire the bus services, contracts, and the majority of vehicles and employees of Liverpool independent bus operator Peoplesbus from Sunday 9 July.
Twenty-one Peoplesbus employees and 23 vehicles will relocate from its Aintree depot to Stagecoach’s nearby Gillmoss site along with all tendered local and school bus services and a network of commercial school and football services. The acquired operations will operate as Stagecoach and the vehicles will initially be rebranded and gradually repainted.
Peoplesbus was founded by Andrew Cawley in June 2001 with one Leyland National, operating a number of weekend-only services. In April 2002, its first Merseytravel school service was secured, and the operation grew to a peak of 32 vehicles, with school contracts forming the core of the business, supported in later years by tendered local bus services. Peoplesbus recently expanded with new tendered services in St Helens.
Managing Director of Stagecoach Merseyside Matt Davies said: “Peoplesbus is a local quality independent operator. This acquisition is a good strategic fit for our business, as we expand our portfolio of Merseytravel tendered operations across the city region. It also makes for an excellent bolt on for our Gillmoss depot in Liverpool. We are delighted to be welcoming new colleagues to our Stagecoach team and we will be doing our best to ensure they quickly feel at home.”
Andrew Cawley said “After 22 amazing years of service to the people of Merseyside, I am delighted that we have been able to secure a deal that will see our employees and vehicles moving over to Gillmoss. This feels like things have come full circle as Gillmoss is where my passion for the industry started, with my dad having spent 26 years driving buses from here and where I have some extremely fond childhood memories. It feels like coming home. I still have a huge passion for this fantastic industry and in the short term I’m looking forward to assisting Stagecoach with the smooth transition of our operation.”
Peoplesbus operates six bus services in Liverpool, St Helens, Ashton and Bootle, provides four services on football match days, and holds multiple school contract services across Merseyside. Its fleet has been standardised in recent years on Alexander Dennis models, with Enviro200/400s and ALX400s operated; a pair of Enviro200MMCs are the newest vehicles in the fleet.
