Consolidation within the coach industry is no new thing. It has been ongoing for well over a decade, and the current round shows little sign of slowing, with multiple buyers making clear that they are not finished yet.
Such purchases so far have generally focused on larger businesses. That of Pearces Coaches by Go-Ahead in March suggested smaller acquisitions may be coming onto the radar, although Pearces’ base near Oxford sits very close to other businesses already within the Go-Ahead fold.
Nevertheless, some at the compact end of the coach sector are keeping a keen eye on what is happening and how inevitable efficiency gains from group ownership might influence rates and customer behaviour locally.
Whether the process will ultimately capture small operators remains to be seen. An alternative is a cooperative approach, as advocated by well-known industry figure Anthony Marett alongside a separate consolidation exercise.
It will adopt a Coach Co-operative name. As Mr Marett outlines, the work intends to create benefits of scale among smaller operators by centralising functions including back-office work while retaining individual ownership.
The nascent plan calls for up to 40 small coach operators to work together on that basis. It will offer a future exit strategy via eventual sale of a group of those businesses.
A cooperative strategy might be a leap of faith to some, but it has been seen before in the wider industry. The Ayrshire Bus Owners group lasted for decades; perhaps hinting that Mr Marett’s work may deliver in time, it was sold to Stagecoach in the mid-1990s.
