George Ewer absorbs Birch Bros
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• Under the terms of an agreement with George Ewer, the future coaching activities of Birch Bros Ltd will be conducted from Ewer's offices and depot at Stamford Hill—the hq of Grey-Green Coaches.
Mr Raymond Birch, chairman of Birch Bros, told a staff meeting on Friday that he, his brother John Birch and nephew Peter Birch had been painstaking in ensuring the continuance of the business in an environment where it would flourish and continue to be looked after with the same care and close personal interest as in the past under the direction of the Birch family "Where better than with the Ewer family business?" He was particularly pleased that so many of Birch's staff would be able to continue their existing work with a minimum of disturbance and yet enjoy wider opportunities in a larger organization.
The transferred coaches would continue in the familiar white and red livery, and Birch's many long-standing customers would continue to be served by Birch's former staff.
Mr Henry Ewer, chairman of Ewer, said the merging of the coach hire business was seen as a logical and natural step enabling managements to concentrate their activities in one cennral organization. He felt a great sense of pleasure and pride at the prospect of joining forces with Birch.
Mr Ewer declared: "How could we feel otherwise when we know that Raymond Birch's grandfather and my grandfather were among the earliest pioneers of the motor coach industry? They were true coaching men and their coaches were driven by four-legged horse power."
Mr Ewer said Birch's roots went back to 1832 and Ewer started in 1885, Ewer became a public company in 1947 and now with a fleet of 200 vehicles was the largest independent coach operator in London.
Free enterprise fleet grows
• Five new passenger/vehicle /commercial freight ferries are to be added to the Townsend Thoresen fleet which currently consists of eight ferries and two specialized freight ships. The Werf Gusto yard of IHt, Holland, will supply two vessels; the remainder will be built in Denmark. Deliveries will begin in April 1972.