Thanks MMC!

[Tony]

Sorry Mr Souter we will not let you buy these routes in case you have to up the fares to make them profitable we prefer the passengers to have no buses at all.

What a wonderful bunch of ***** the civil servants at the MMC who probably don't know what a bus is



North Devon Business Update

Monday 23 July 2012

First Devon and Cornwall today (23 July 2012) announced plans to discontinue its bus services in the North Devon area, including closure of the Barnstaple depot. The company also confirmed that it has started the collective consultation process with trade unions on the possibility of redundancies.

Firsts bus services in North Devon have underperformed for a number of years, despite the introduction of a variety of marketing and promotional initiatives. The company is now faced with extra cost pressures due to the economic climate and cuts in external funding and routes are now being discontinued in order to ensure the long term sustainability of operations elsewhere.

A range of alternative options including the potential sale and transfer of employees and assets to Stagecoach Group plc were fully explored. That option will no longer go ahead following the Office of Fair Trading's announcement on 10 July that it was referring the case to the Competition Commission.

Giles Fearnley, FirstGroup Managing Director, UK Bus, said: "We understand that this news will be distressing for employees affected by the decision and that it will similarly cause our customers in the area some concern. We apologise and will be supporting affected employees over the coming months, as well as working with Devon County Council on the future of bus services in the area. We will give customers ample notice of the date that services will cease to operate in North Devon.

"We will be working hard to minimise the extent of redundancies, trying to redeploy people where possible. We would like to take the opportunity to stress that the decision to close the North Devon operation is a business driven one and does not reflect on the effort or individual performance of the employees in North Devon.

"We are progressing our strategy to reposition and rebalance our UK Bus portfolio to restore operating margins and help facilitate improved growth and returns. The decision by the Office of Fair Trading to refer our proposed sale of our North Devon operations, where we had a uniquely high degree of overlap with Stagecoach, was disappointing. We are confident, however, of future successful transactions in the coming months as a number of potential bidders exist in the markets where we have identified other businesses for disposal.'

First Devon and Cornwall today (July 23) began its official consultation process with affected staff. This will include offering opportunities in other areas. The timescale for closing the business will be confirmed once the consultation with the affected employees has been completed.

Notes to editors

� A timescale will be confirmed in due course.

� The North Devon business comprises of the depot facility in Barnstaple, a fleet of around 30 vehicles and ten routes (Services 1, 2, 3, 5/5C, 8 (operates summer only) 30/30C, 31, 32, X7 and X9). The routes cover Appledore, Barnstaple, Bideford, Braunton, Bude, Coombe Martin, Fremington, Ilfracombe, South Molton, Swimbridge, Westward Ho! and Woolacombe.

� The decision regarding the North Devon business does not affect any other part of the First Devon and Cornwall business.

[Stu]

Surely its better to have a service with no competition, than no service at all?  ::)

[winston]

Mr Souter has come out of this laughing...... the OFT have saved him the agreed £2.8 Million price tag and he can now cherry pick the best of the routes & register those with the most potential for being profitable under Stagecoach ownership for free. Stagecoach will now also be in a position to adjust/cut the frequencies of competing services with First to also improve the profitability. The OFT have failed the North Devon travelling public & local authority, Stagecoach still end up with a monopoly in the area, can increase fares & any marginal/rural routes will now be left for the council to pick up the pieces or be lost altogether. At least if the OFT/MMC had allowed the deal to go through, they could have sought undertakings to protect from frequency reductions / fare increases & the cutting of vital rural services

First on the other hand, have lost £2.8 million towards their £100 million asset disposal program, and also now have to pay the costs of closing the business down as well. Not to mention the First employees that will soon be out of work

Sorry Mr Souter we will not let you buy these routes in case you have to up the fares to make them profitable we prefer the passengers to have no buses at all.

What a wonderful bunch of ***** the civil servants at the MMC who probably don't know what a bus is



North Devon Business Update

Monday 23 July 2012

First Devon and Cornwall today (23 July 2012) announced plans to discontinue its bus services in the North Devon area, including closure of the Barnstaple depot. The company also confirmed that it has started the collective consultation process with trade unions on the possibility of redundancies.

Firsts bus services in North Devon have underperformed for a number of years, despite the introduction of a variety of marketing and promotional initiatives. The company is now faced with extra cost pressures due to the economic climate and cuts in external funding and routes are now being discontinued in order to ensure the long term sustainability of operations elsewhere.

A range of alternative options including the potential sale and transfer of employees and assets to Stagecoach Group plc were fully explored. That option will no longer go ahead following the Office of Fair Trading's announcement on 10 July that it was referring the case to the Competition Commission.

Giles Fearnley, FirstGroup Managing Director, UK Bus, said: "We understand that this news will be distressing for employees affected by the decision and that it will similarly cause our customers in the area some concern. We apologise and will be supporting affected employees over the coming months, as well as working with Devon County Council on the future of bus services in the area. We will give customers ample notice of the date that services will cease to operate in North Devon.

"We will be working hard to minimise the extent of redundancies, trying to redeploy people where possible. We would like to take the opportunity to stress that the decision to close the North Devon operation is a business driven one and does not reflect on the effort or individual performance of the employees in North Devon.

"We are progressing our strategy to reposition and rebalance our UK Bus portfolio to restore operating margins and help facilitate improved growth and returns. The decision by the Office of Fair Trading to refer our proposed sale of our North Devon operations, where we had a uniquely high degree of overlap with Stagecoach, was disappointing. We are confident, however, of future successful transactions in the coming months as a number of potential bidders exist in the markets where we have identified other businesses for disposal.'

First Devon and Cornwall today (July 23) began its official consultation process with affected staff. This will include offering opportunities in other areas. The timescale for closing the business will be confirmed once the consultation with the affected employees has been completed.

Notes to editors

� A timescale will be confirmed in due course.

� The North Devon business comprises of the depot facility in Barnstaple, a fleet of around 30 vehicles and ten routes (Services 1, 2, 3, 5/5C, 8 (operates summer only) 30/30C, 31, 32, X7 and X9). The routes cover Appledore, Barnstaple, Bideford, Braunton, Bude, Coombe Martin, Fremington, Ilfracombe, South Molton, Swimbridge, Westward Ho! and Woolacombe.

� The decision regarding the North Devon business does not affect any other part of the First Devon and Cornwall business.

[andy]

I posted a couple of weeks ago in the 'First' section predicting this outcome, and exactly the consequences described by Winston.  It's the preferred outcome for Souter, probably what he wanted all along if the truth be known!

[Justin Tyme]

Yes, it was predictable and it's also sad.  First come off the losers, but the OFT surely come out of this with egg on face, with everything set for precisely the result they were naively looking to avoid.

Stagecoach have a good record for making a success out of less promising territory.  It was also unhappy with the OFT decision.  So I wouldn't be surprised if it registers almost everything that First drops in North Devon.

[Roy]

I've just come back after spending a few days based in Bideford.  The "service" provided by First Devon and Cornwall in this area is frankly appalling.  The fleet consists of a mixture of ancient Tridents, Olympians, Darts and Solos dating from the 1990's, and they look and sound their age.  A lot of the Tridents have been cascaded from London and converted from dual to single door.  I followed an R-registered Dart on the hilly Ilfracombe to Combe Martin route 30 and the bus belched out black smoke and failed to get above 20 mph.

The main corridor is the Ilfracombe - Barnstaple- Bideford - Westward Ho!/Appledore route which First operate with a mixture of all bus types, including the Solos.  Services 1 (Westward Ho! - Barnstaple) and 2 (Appledore - Barnstaple) each operate every 30 minutes and, with additional short workings from Bideford to Banstaple, provide a 10 minute service between these two towns, while service 3 (Barnstaple - Ilfracombe) runs every 15 minutes. 

Stagecoach introduced competing routes 21 (Westward Ho! - Barnstaple) and 21A (Appledore - Barnstaple - Ilfracombe) a few years ago, and each service runs every 30 minutes, giving a combined frequency of 15 minutes between Bideford and Barnstaple.  The service is marketed as the "North Devon Wave".  The difference is that Stagecoach run these services exclusively using some very smart Tridents dating from 2004-2005, many of which have been route branded. 

Therefore, Stagecoach are in a position to take over this corridor without too much extra investment.  The 21 could be extended to Ilfracombe to provide a 15 minute headway on that corridor, while extra short workings from Barnstaple to Bideford would provide the 10 minute frequency on that corridor.

Quite frankly, the feeling I got was that First have made no attempt to provide a decent service and compete with Stagecoach.  I used my car all week but, had I used the bus, I would have used the Stagecoach services 21/21A.  Their buses actually gave you the impression that they could get you to your destination.

The remaining First routes only need about half a dozen buses, with service 8 already withdrawn by First and operated by Stagecoach, while another (X9) operates alongside Western Greyhound's service 599.  Therefore, I can see Stagecoach, Filers (a local Ilfracombe based company) and Western Greyhound carving up the remaining services amongst themselves without too much difficulty.   

[PM]

Well done Stagecoach and I think the chances of First raising £100 million are quite low tbh. The MMC is a stupid institution and has acted against the public interest and against the interests of the employees. It is shameful in my view that an institution is allowed to encourage redundancies in these times of high unemployment. Tho lets not forget-someone else could still step in and buy it couldnt they??

[winston]

Tho lets not forget-someone else could still step in and buy it couldnt they??

I would have thought that would be unlikely at this stage, if there were any other interested parties, it would have been in First's interests to sell the operation as a going concern and accept a lesser sum than Stagecoach had offered. Closure would have been the last resort, I can't see that North Devon would have been of much interest to any other bus group due to its rural location, the size of the fleet and the fact it faces intensive competition with Stagecoach on its core routes.

First have lost the potential £2.8 Million that Stagecoach had offered, and will now also have to pay all costs associated with shutting down the operation. I agree with your statement, First are seriously going to struggle to raise £100 million in disposals without selling a sizeable / profitable operation that would attract interest from a number of suitors & attract a high price.

[PM]

I agree with you Winston-youre only gonna raise £100 million by selling operations such as aberdeen, glasgow, manchester, bristol, worcester, london, chester where there is a great deal of potential. I include Chester because I believe in the right hands it could be made to work and arriva could be sent packing

[Discodave]

Arriva need to be sent packing in staffordshire shitty old darts and knackered dafs at cannock they have new buses but the fleet is still crap compared to Tamworth who Arriva are more intrested in and the shropshire garages (telford, shrewsbury and oswestry) .  Looking at the Hill Top operation its a good job its run by tamworth as the enviro 200 buses would not have been there like look at stafford it had a good fleet now its an out station its just another scrapyard for cannock crap

[Isle of Stroma]

The MMC is a stupid institution and has acted against the public interest and against the interests of the employees. It is shameful in my view that an institution is allowed to encourage redundancies in these times of high unemployment.

I personally think a reality check is in order on this thread. No-one at the MMC has declared that First should close down & lay off its' staff.

If anyone is to blame, then the guilty party is obviously First themselves. They have the option of continuing their operation & making a profit. If that operation isn't profitable, then why the hell would anyone offer nearly £3m for it?

[Tony]

The MMC is a stupid institution and has acted against the public interest and against the interests of the employees. It is shameful in my view that an institution is allowed to encourage redundancies in these times of high unemployment.

I personally think a reality check is in order on this thread. No-one at the MMC has declared that First should close down & lay off its' staff.

If anyone is to blame, then the guilty party is obviously First themselves. They have the option of continuing their operation & making a profit. If that operation isn't profitable, then why the hell would anyone offer nearly £3m for it?

And although I put MMC in the title, it is actually the D(a)fT who are to blame for the farce, They are the ones who referred the purchase to the MMC causing Stagecoach to pull out. The MMC hadn't actually got to make a decision.

The routes may not be profitable as a seperate entity, but they would be for Stagecoach who would reduce management and garage costs by merging the operations.

Stagecoach have now registered the pick of the routes so all DfT have succeeded in doing is saving Stagecoach £2.8m; robbing First of £2.8m. Stopping the staff transferring under TUPE rules so making life harder for them. And also probably leaving some people without a bus earlier than otherwise. If Stagecoach would have bought the whole operation it wlould have looked bad on them immediately deregistering some routes, now they can avoid that embarasment by only registering the decent routes in the first place.

Perhaps DfT can now tell us who is going to compete with Stagecoach now?

Tony

[Isle of Stroma]

The MMC is a stupid institution and has acted against the public interest and against the interests of the employees. It is shameful in my view that an institution is allowed to encourage redundancies in these times of high unemployment.

I personally think a reality check is in order on this thread. No-one at the MMC has declared that First should close down & lay off its' staff.

If anyone is to blame, then the guilty party is obviously First themselves. They have the option of continuing their operation & making a profit. If that operation isn't profitable, then why the hell would anyone offer nearly £3m for it?

And although I put MMC in the title, it is actually the D(a)fT who are to blame for the farce, They are the ones who referred the purchase to the MMC causing Stagecoach to pull out. The MMC hadn't actually got to make a decision.

The routes may not be profitable as a seperate entity, but they would be for Stagecoach who would reduce management and garage costs by merging the operations.

Stagecoach have now registered the pick of the routes so all DfT have succeeded in doing is saving Stagecoach £2.8m; robbing First of £2.8m. Stopping the staff transferring under TUPE rules so making life harder for them. And also probably leaving some people without a bus earlier than otherwise. If Stagecoach would have bought the whole operation it wlould have looked bad on them immediately deregistering some routes, now they can avoid that embarasment by only registering the decent routes in the first place.

Perhaps DfT can now tell us who is going to compete with Stagecoach now?

Tony

Once again missing the point. What you are stating is the likely scenario now that First are dumping the operation (their choice). No-one at MMC/DaFT etc have held a gun to Firsts head to make them shut down. Any redundancies / route losses are thus solely Firsts decision.

[Tony]

The MMC is a stupid institution and has acted against the public interest and against the interests of the employees. It is shameful in my view that an institution is allowed to encourage redundancies in these times of high unemployment.

I personally think a reality check is in order on this thread. No-one at the MMC has declared that First should close down & lay off its' staff.

If anyone is to blame, then the guilty party is obviously First themselves. They have the option of continuing their operation & making a profit. If that operation isn't profitable, then why the hell would anyone offer nearly £3m for it?

And although I put MMC in the title, it is actually the D(a)fT who are to blame for the farce, They are the ones who referred the purchase to the MMC causing Stagecoach to pull out. The MMC hadn't actually got to make a decision.

The routes may not be profitable as a seperate entity, but they would be for Stagecoach who would reduce management and garage costs by merging the operations.

Stagecoach have now registered the pick of the routes so all DfT have succeeded in doing is saving Stagecoach £2.8m; robbing First of £2.8m. Stopping the staff transferring under TUPE rules so making life harder for them. And also probably leaving some people without a bus earlier than otherwise. If Stagecoach would have bought the whole operation it wlould have looked bad on them immediately deregistering some routes, now they can avoid that embarasment by only registering the decent routes in the first place.

Perhaps DfT can now tell us who is going to compete with Stagecoach now?

Tony

Once again missing the point. What you are stating is the likely scenario now that First are dumping the operation (their choice). No-one at MMC/DaFT etc have held a gun to Firsts head to make them shut down. Any redundancies / route losses are thus solely Firsts decision.

It is not the likely scenario, Stagecoach have already put out a press release saying they are registering all the good routes from September

No, because First found a way to not make staff redundant, by selling the operation to a willing buyer. DfT basically said you cannot do that without our say so because it means the loss of competition, So where is the competition now?

The only good news out of the DfTs decision I can see is that most of the drivers will probably now pocket redundancy money from first, before being able to walk straight into a job with Stagecoach

[winston]

The MMC is a stupid institution and has acted against the public interest and against the interests of the employees. It is shameful in my view that an institution is allowed to encourage redundancies in these times of high unemployment.

I personally think a reality check is in order on this thread. No-one at the MMC has declared that First should close down & lay off its' staff.

If anyone is to blame, then the guilty party is obviously First themselves. They have the option of continuing their operation & making a profit. If that operation isn't profitable, then why the hell would anyone offer nearly £3m for it?

And although I put MMC in the title, it is actually the D(a)fT who are to blame for the farce, They are the ones who referred the purchase to the MMC causing Stagecoach to pull out. The MMC hadn't actually got to make a decision.

The routes may not be profitable as a seperate entity, but they would be for Stagecoach who would reduce management and garage costs by merging the operations.

Stagecoach have now registered the pick of the routes so all DfT have succeeded in doing is saving Stagecoach £2.8m; robbing First of £2.8m. Stopping the staff transferring under TUPE rules so making life harder for them. And also probably leaving some people without a bus earlier than otherwise. If Stagecoach would have bought the whole operation it wlould have looked bad on them immediately deregistering some routes, now they can avoid that embarasment by only registering the decent routes in the first place.

Perhaps DfT can now tell us who is going to compete with Stagecoach now?

Tony

Once again missing the point. What you are stating is the likely scenario now that First are dumping the operation (their choice). No-one at MMC/DaFT etc have held a gun to Firsts head to make them shut down. Any redundancies / route losses are thus solely Firsts decision.

First have been left with little choice since Stagecoach backed out. The First statement confirms that the North Devon operation had been underperforming for a number of years, no doubt due to being locked in head to head competition with Stagecoach. I can't see First choosing to close down the operation if it was still generating a profit, the North Devon operation was only ever going to be of the highest value to Stagecoach for the reasons Tony has stated above, there are no independents in the area big enough to consider buying the First operation other than possibly Western Greyhound, any prospective purchasers would not doubt be put off by the Stagecoach competition.