Councillors give the 'Go-Ahead' to sell CityBus

Plymouth City Council will sell Plymouth CityBus to Go Ahead for £20.2 million after councillors yesterday voted in favour of the deal.

In a lively Full Council debate Leader of the Council, Vivien Pengelly, urged politicians from all parties to cast their votes with the benefit of the city and public transport users in mind.

Arguments were put forward by those for and against the sale before a vote by all city councillors present took place, which resulted in the majority deciding the sale would benefit the city and agreed it should go ahead.

Council Leader, Vivien Pengelly, said: "This is a good decision that will benefit the city and improve our local bus services. Go-Ahead is very well respected in the transport industry and in the cities in which they operate. They have told us they want to invest in Plymouth and create a newer, greener and more popular bus service.

"Plymouth CityBus will keep its name, staff get better job security and indeed will receive improved benefits including the option to join Go Ahead's sharesave scheme and the option to join what Go-Ahead have said is a better pension scheme.

"Go Ahead will continue to provide school bus routes, they will continue the profitable coach services arm of the business and they won't change routes for at least six months while they look at how the services operate and plan for improvements. Finally, they'll update our buses and reduce the average age of the fleet in their first year.

"We've debated whether Go Ahead is the type of company that we want in Plymouth and we decided that they clearly were. They have recently received a whole host of awards for being environmentally friendly and a company that cares about 'green' issues. Their Brighton and Hove company was recently crowned with the award for best UK bus operator. They tell us they give local companies the freedom to run services based on their wealth of local knowledge, with the back up and financial stability of a big transport organisation and that formula creates award winning companies.

"I am very pleased that councillors have made the right decision based on what will be best for people living in the city and public transport users. This was a tough decision to make and I'm proud that this city's politicians are mature and responsible enough, in the most part, to set aside our political agendas to ensure that we put the lives of Plymouth people first and foremost in the choices we make. I'm glad the process is now over and we can move on. I look forward to seeing the improvements that Go-Ahead will make to our bus services."

Barry Keel, Chief Executive of the Council, said: "The decision to sell Plymouth CityBus has been carefully considered and made with the best interests of the city at heart. We handover Plymouth CityBus knowing that the company taking over ownership is capable, conscientious and innovative. I have every confidence that Go-Ahead will be a breath of fresh air in Plymouth and I expect the public to reap the rewards over the coming months."

Plymouth City Council was advised by KPMG Corporate Finance. Andrew Hodgson, Partner, said: "We received strong interest from eleven bidders. However, Go-Ahead's commitment to working with the Council and investing in Plymouth CityBus really made them stand out. This makes them an excellent future owner of the business, both for CityBus employees and for the people of Plymouth. We are delighted to have advised Plymouth City Council on this important transaction."

The sale is set to complete today, 1 December, with a formal handover and signing of the sale agreement.

For details of the sale agreement see the Full Council report available online.

1 December 2009