Shock Announcement

There are (or were) strong indications that the bus manufacturing industry is (or was) buoyant (especially when compared to the coach side of things). Orders are (or were) holding up, in spite of the recession. And the bus operating industry is (or was) relatively recession bomb-proof, unlike the railway. We haven’t heard the last of rail’s problems—only National Express & Stagecoach have so far come clean.

So it is that news from Ballymena-based Wrightbus is something of a shock. As of yesterday, about one quarter of Wright’s 1,000 workforce was placed under 90-day redundancy terms. Wright’s is a highly-skilled workforce that, till 2008, was a rapidly expanding one. And one that is (or was) extremely well cared for by its employer.

Wrightbus is reported to blame a sudden cancellation of a “substantial order” from one of its largest customers. Since Arriva London announced an £11mil order on 5 February for 57 Gemini 2 double decks on top of orders at Euro Bus Expo 2008 from Arriva to the tune of 268 vehicles for 2009 delivery, there’s speculation as to who cancelled.

One possibility is Lothian Buses, with planned frequency cuts on up to 16 routes in a bid to save £300,000 to right its balance sheet. But the scale of Wrightbus possible redundancies means it must be more than that. Dublin Bus is shedding ten per cent of its fleet, or 120 buses.

Could the most likely large customer be First Group? There is concern that a destabilised rail-side recession will affect bus-side capital expenditure. Add to this issues at Greyhound in America and share price drops and, for First at least, the future isn’t perhaps so rosily Barbie as first thought. This could indicate possible bus service cuts in the future.

There are concerns that the rate of investment in new stock is insufficient to ensure the industry becomes fully accessible by the due date of 2017.

Wrightbus is the UK’s second biggest body manufacturer, concentrating exclusively on crisp bus designs manufactured to what are arguably the best build standards in the business. It leads the pack in terms of hybrid designs with its series hybrids launched in London in December 2008. It produced the first British low floor bus body and, although not entirely welcome in UK cities, has pioneered the Streetcar concept. Success is far from confined to England, the UK and the Republic of Ireland.