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Peace comes to Rhyrnney
Page 19
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• Rhymney Valley's battle of the buses is over, with the sale of Council-owned Inter Valley Link to National Welsh for a figure understood to be in excess of £1 million.
Managing director Brian Noton is confident that the current Office of Fair Trading investigation into NW's activities will not lead to a Monopolies & Mergers Commission report as has happened in the case of Badgerline's take-over of Midland Red West.
NW gave guarantees of service and staff levels and this helped tip the scales in favour of its bid. "I am satisfied that both the staff of Inter Valley Link and the residents of the Rhymney Valley will be as well looked after as the circumstances of the sale allow," says Rhynriney Valley council's chief executive Peter Bennett. "Both were of the first priority to the Council; the former in the safeguarding of jobs and the latter in safeguarding of services."
Noton believes he can avoid the rocky path trodden by Badgerline because the Rhytnney Valley constitutes such a small area. "A merger investigation will only go ahead if the .takeover affects a substantial part of the UK and this area cannot be called substantial," he says. He stresses that Badgerline gave insufficient guarantees before its acquisition, whereas NW gave guarantees vohnitarily and in advance. "We have got a major task in front of us to live up to IVL's high standards. However, I feel that we can even improve services by using minibuses (NW runs Sherpas and a few Iveco Fords) in small and medium-sized towns."