Optare continues contract winning streak

BUSMAKER Optare has won a £4.3m extension to its contract to supply Greater Manchester’s public transport body.

The company, which has one of its main manufacturing sites in Leeds, will deliver a further 22 diesel-electric hybrids on top of the 66 it agreed to supply the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) in May.

AIM-listed Optare said the new order would be delivered towards the end of the year and in early 2012.

Some 20 buses included in the original £13m deal are now in service.

Chief executive Jim Sumner said: “We are absolutely delighted to have secured this repeat business on the UK’s leading operation for hybrid buses. This takes the order book to a record £55m and underpins the need to increase production capacity later this year.”

This follows a clutch of recent contract wins for Optare.

Earlier this month it won a £3.6m contract for 20 vehicles from bus service operator Rotala.

It also secured a £7.6m order for 68 single and double decker buses from an unnamed operator.