Busmen bid to start depot co-op
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• As advisers to the Scottish Office weigh up the pros and cons of selling off the Scottish Bus Group as a single unit, 180 drivers, engineers and cleaners at the Bannockburn bus depot in Stirling are pushing ahead with a bid to take over their depot and form a co-operative.
They aim to keep control of the proposed co-operative entirely within the workforce, but recognise that outside financial support will be required. Spokesman for the workers Chic Hulston says: "The Scottish Bus Group management has access to detailed information on the current assets and trading viability of the various depots within the company, and without this information it is very difficult for us to proceed much further. Our MP Michael Forsyth is fully supporting us in our bid and has been lobbying Scottish Secretary Malcolm Rifkind to make this information available as soon as possible."
The workers have formed a steering committee and have been receiving advice from the Scottish Co-operatives Development Committee and the newly-formed Community Enterprise Support Unit. • Specialist coachbuilder Wadham Stringer has supplied two 248,000 Vanguard 11 buses to airport parking-shuttle company Gatwick Motors. The 30-seaters are built on 4.4mwheelbase Leyland Swift chassis supplied by Arlington Motors of Enfield. The boot, which can be opened from the side or back of the vehicle, is extra-large to carry holidaymakers' luggage.