Rotala expands its business in the North West

By Rotala PLC
schedule24th Sep 19

Rotala Plc expands its Diamond North West business with the aquisitition of their Bolton depot

During August 2019, Rotala Plc, the parent company of Diamond North West, acquired from First Manchester Limited, its Bolton depot and the majority of the First business located at that depot.

The aquisition comprised of 18 commercial bus routes operating in the Bolton and Bury areas and into the centre of Manchester. The acquisition also included the depot at Weston Street, Bolton, the plant and machinery at that site and the goodwill of the business. Around 500 staff also transfered from First to Rotala with the business.

Upon launch of the newly expanded operation, 11 brand new Euro 6 Wrights Streetdecks and a number of other Euro 6 rated vehicles were placed into the new Bolton services, with a two-year program announced to replace 125 vehicles currently leased from First in order to maintain service.

John Gunn, company chairman, said: “These vehicles will be replaced progressively up to 30 June 2021 with more modern vehicles and the leased vehicles will be returned to First by that date."

He added: "The board believes that the acquisition of this business will strengthen significantly the operations of the Company in the Greater Manchester area."

"Greater Manchester represents one of the largest bus markets in the country, on a par with the West Midlands where Rotala already has a notable presence. The Bolton acquisition has, taken together with Rotala’s existing operations.... created a business which has a significant share of the Greater Manchester bus market."