This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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£29 million orders for bus builder
30/10/2001
A Scottish bus manufacturer has won two significant orders worth £29 million securing jobs for 1000 employees in Scotland, it was announced today.
Transport Minister Sarah Boyack congratulated TransBus International, which incorporates the Alexander operations in Falkirk, on winning the bus-building orders during a visit to the company today.
It has won a £15 million order from Kowloon Motor Bus in Hong Kong, and another for £14 million from Travel West Midlands in England.
All 200 buses will be built at the TransBus manufacturing facilities in Camelon and Larbert and will help to secure continuity of work for their 1000 employees in Scotland.
Ms Boyack said:
"Staff at the Scottish base of TransBus International are working hard to improve the quality of buses on offer to passengers not just in Scotland but around the world.
"Quality buses built in Scotland mean better quality to journeys on routes around Scotland and are attracting more people onto public transport. I want that level of excellence and innovation to be mirrored in the level of service passengers across Scotland can expect from their local bus company.
"Earlier today I published new guidance on the bus provisions in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 which will enable local authorities and the bus industry to make a step change in the provision of bus services, and to achieve a better deal for bus passengers. Transbus has shown in winning these most recent orders, a confidence in its ability to compete in a world market. I want the rest of the bus industry to show a similar level of determination to drive up standards in services and attract new passengers."
BACKGROUND
TransBus International is Britain's biggest bus and coach manufacturing company. It was formed on January 1 this year following a merger between the UK operations of Mayflower Bus and Coach and Henlys.
Since the merger TransBus has undertaken a major review of all operations and introduced a new organisational structure based around four core operations - Body Group, Chassis, Parts and Customer Care. The headquarters of the Body Group, which across the UK employs 1,850 of TransBus' 2,720 UK workforce, is now based at Larbert.
TransBus - and its predecessor companies (including Alexander, in Falkirk; Dennis, in Guildford, Surrey; and Plaxton, in Yorkshire) has pioneered low floor technology that has transformed bus services and markets in the UK and the Far East. These new generation buses, which are the most advanced of their type in the world, are now in the process of stimulating similar changes in the USA and Canada.
In 1998 Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley helped TransBus secure £3.75m of funding, which consisted of £250,000 of SE Forth Valley grants, Regional Selective Assistance, funding from Falkirk Council and the company's own contributions. Funding from SE Forth Valley was used to fit out the new logistics centre at Larbert and in the provision of training and recruitment opportunities for local people.