The Go-Ahead Group is to purchase the Eastbourne Sightseeing open-top operation from Seven Sisters Bus and Coach. Once the transaction is complete, the business will become part of the group’s Brighton and Hove Buses operating company.
Eastbourne Sightseeing is based in Ringmer near Lewes. It owns nine open-top vehicles that are used seasonally to provide tours on the seafront, around Eastbourne, and into the South Downs. 2024 operations begin on 29 March.
Go-Ahead says that the Eastbourne Sightseeing brand will be retained and that its website and marketing knowledge will be used “to build demand for the tour in the future.” Opening partnership marketing opportunities with train operating company Southern also forms part of aspirations for the open-top business.
Eastbourne Sightseeing adds to 15 open-top tours already part of the Go-Ahead business in the UK. Brighton and Hove Buses Managing Director Ed Wills has described the East Sussex sightseeing undertaking as “a thriving operator,” and notes that Go-Ahead intends to “build on its success, invest in the business, and look at opportunities for expansion.”
Seven Sisters Bus and Coach MD David Mulpeter says that he is “delighted” to see the Eastbourne Sightseeing operation join Brighton and Hove Buses.
Adds Mr Mulpeter: “We are incredibly proud of the success of the open-top route over the last few years, and I have every confidence that the team at Brighton and Hove will continue building and developing the service for the future.”
Purchase of the Eastbourne operation is a further bout of regional expansion by Go-Ahead, and follows its purchases of Dartline Coaches, Pulhams Coaches, and Southdown Buses since late 2022.
CEO Matt Carney notes that the group has “an eye for expansion in the regional bus industry” and that it “aims to invest in communities across the UK and to grow the popularity of bus travel.”
