Bus company goes out of business with immediate effect

A bus company in Wirral has gone out of business with the loss of dozens of jobs.

Avon Buses has ceased trading with immediate effect claiming it has hit by rising fuel and insurance costs.

Drivers and workers arrived at Avon buses’ Birkenhead depot on Friday to be told the firm had ceased trading with immediate effect and that they were being made redundant.

The company, which has been operating for 35 years, also blamed the introduction of the Merseyside youth ticket for its demise.

Managing director George Lewis sent a letter to staff.

He said the company had been “losing significant amounts of money” for some months and could no longer carry on trading.

He said: “Some of you may be aware that over the past nine months, the marketplace in which we operate has become very challenging.

“The company has been losing significant amounts of money over this period of time. My advisors and myself have explored all options available to us to try to raise some additional funding for the company, however our efforts have been unsuccessful.

“After considering this matter at great length, the only conclusion that can be arrived at is that the company ceases trading with immediate effect.”

Mr Lewis went on to thank staff for their “service and dedication”.

He added: “I extend my best wishes to yourself and your families at this very difficult time.”

The company later released a statement to the Liverpool Echo.

It read: “It has been the case for some time, that the cost of running services has been far in excess of the revenues that we receive and whilst every effort has been made to cut costs and improve ticket sales it has become obvious that the situation is unsustainable.

“We have been subject to significant increases in fuel costs that show no prospect of reducing and a very large increase in insurance premiums caused by the ‘claims culture’ that currently exists nationally.

“On their own these factors would be difficult to manage but the main problem with revenue has been the introduction by Merseytravel of a product called MyTicket.

“As MyTicket is essentially a discounted half fare, a substantial part of our revenue from adult tickets has been halved and this has had a massive negative effect on our revenues.

“As our passenger numbers fall well short of those experienced by the larger bus companies we have been unable to absorb these losses.”

A Merseytravel spokeswoman said: “We have received notification from the operator, Avon Bus Ltd, that they have made a commercial decision to cease operating.

“We acknowledge the inconvenience this decision by Avon Bus Ltd will cause customers and are advising them to make alternative travel arrangements whilst we focus on assessing current service provision.

“Customers are advised to look for alternative bus services by checking the Merseytravel and other bus operator’s websites plus they can also use the Merseytravel Journey Planner.

“We can confirm Arriva are presently providing some support in covering some of Avon’s services.”