Mcgill’s Buses Announce Takeover Of First Scotland East
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07/09/2022Mcgill’s Buses Announce Takeover Of First Scotland East
McGill's Buses
McGill’s Buses has announced the purchase of First Scotland East, which operates in the Stirling, Falkirk and West Lothian areas as its latest acquisition.
The firm has announced that they will be renamed McGill’s Midland Bluebird and McGill’s Eastern Scottish but collectively operate as McGill’s Scotland East.
McGill’s will also takeover First’s depots in Livingston, Larbert, Bannockburn and Balfron.
The deal also includes Bright Bus Tours in Edinburgh, which First launched in 2019 to rival Lothian’s bus tours of the capital.
First is now reduced to operating in Aberdeen and Glasgow, where it remains the largest operator.
McGill’s, which operates in Inverclyde, Glasgow and Renfrewshire, took over Xplore Dundee, the city’s main operator, in 2020.
In an announcement to staff on Tuesday, First Bus Scotland managing director Duncan Cameron said:
“First Bus has announced its intention to sell First Scotland East (FSE) to another Scottish operator, McGill’s.
“Under what is known as a share purchase agreement, all depots, routes and vehicles, including Bright Bus Tours, owned by FSE will transfer to McGill’s.
“All colleagues working for FSE will move to work for McGill’s and we expect this to be effective from September 19.
“There are no redundancies or job losses and this does not impact our Aberdeen or Glasgow colleagues or operations.”
