BC sells more
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• The National Bus Company has continued its pre-Christmas privatisation spree. Following the recent sale of its operating subsidiaries Midland Red West, Midland Coaches and Eastern National in December, NBC has started 1987 by selling off Trent Motor Traction.
All four companies have been sold to their res pective management teams, and bring the number of NBC subsidiaries sold off since deregulation to 13.
Worcester-based Midland Red West's management buyout has been led by Ken Mills. The Midland Red West team also placed the winning bid for Midland Red Coaches — the Birmingham company which took over the private hire, excursion and National Express work from the old Midland Red company.
The two new companies currently operate 382 buses and coaches, including 104 minibuses, and have 875 staff employed at six depots.
The Eastern National buyout is being led by current managing director Geoffrey Clarkson and financial director Harold Taylor, who will also become Eastern's chairman.
Eastern runs 526 buses and coaches, including 58 minibuses, and employs 1,470 staff at its Chelmsford headquarters and at 15 garages.
Eastern is the largest subsidiary yet to be sold under the Government's privatisation programme.
Trent Motor Traction serves most of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as well as parts of Leicestershire, South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. It runs 350 buses and coaches and employs 1,100. The buy-out of TMT, which will trade under the name Trent Buses, is being led by the company's existing manag ing director, Brian King.
The staff of all the four exNBC subsidiaries will be given the opportunity to buy shares in their respective new companies. NBC is maintaining its policy of not revealing the amount of each winning bid, but says that further National Bus Company sales are expected in the near future.