Michael Bishop, an entrepreneur from within the coach and bus industry, has purchased the entire share capital of Western Greyhound.
As reported in last week’s issue, Western Greyhound had already sold its outstation in Liskeard to Plymouth CityBus. The company will continue running 65 buses from its depots in Summercourt and Wadebridge.
Former Managing Director Mark Howarth is staying on as a consultant. He said services need to get ‘leaner and fitter,’ including a review of routes.
He said: “Obviously they will be reviewed to see how they will be taken forward, but there will be new investment coming in. Already we’ve been talking about replacing vehicles so a lot of things are going to happen very, very quickly.”
Mark added that he is pleased to have been able to safeguard jobs for staff and services for the public.
“We are all now in our sixties and it is time for new management and ideas to be introduced into the business.
“As a board, we were all keen to ensure that we sold Western Greyhound as a going concern and that the jobs of our hard-working and loyal staff could be protected. The decision to split the sale was because many staff wanted to see Western Greyhound return to a smaller, leaner and fitter operation.”
Michael Bishop said: “We have identified areas of the business that would benefit from further development and investment to strengthen the commercial future of the company.”
