Perth and Kinross operator Earnside Coaches has confirmed that its business will close after 31 March. It says that the decision was “difficult,” but the family company has told local media sources that the step will come about as a result of rising costs among other concerns.
Closure was first mentioned by the business in a tweet posted in October 2022. Director Gary Rutherford has more recently told the local press that selling to a new owner was not an option, adding that uncertainty over a retendering process for home-to-school contracts was a further factor in the decision to cease trading.
The respected business marked 50 years of operation from its Glenfarg base in early 2020 with delivery of a special edition coach.
Mr Rutherford – the third generation of the Rutherford family to lead Earnside Coaches – noted at that time that the operator began soon before its move to Glenfarg with a small number of vehicles alongside a car garage in nearby Bridge of Earn.
When that anniversary coach was delivered, the Earnside fleet was already almost entirely Euro VI, with Mr Rutherford adding that its vehicle upgrade plan had been influenced by increasing numbers of emission control zones.
