Scottish bus: single sell-off
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• The Scottish Bus Group is to be privatised as a single unit and plans for an employee buyout, which would lead to an NFC-style employee share participation, are being supported by management.
Financial advisers from the Scottish Office are analysing the company to establish its worth, and a figure of around 240 million has been suggested. Equal share ownership for the 9,000 staff would mean an investment for each employee of 24,500.
SBG is composed of 11 bus companies — Central Scottish, Clydeside Scottish, Eastern Scottish, Fife Scottish, Highland Scottish, Kelvin Scottish, Lowland Scottish, Midland Scottish, Northern Scottish, Strathtay and Western Scottish — and coach company, Scottish Citylink.
The privatisation was denounced by Labour Party MPs, and Scottish Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, was accused of reneging on his commitment to Scotland's nationalised industry. Labour Shadow Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar said the SBG privatisation was designed to "earn Brownie points from the Prime Minister". SBG and Caledonian MacBrayne together form the Scottish Transport Group — Caledonian is responsible for providing ferry services on Scotland's west coast. Rifkind said last week at the Commons: "I shall be considering the best future arrangements for Caledonian MacBrayne, consistent with our commitment to the provision of shipping services to the islands."