As Britain’s small and medium-sized bus operators prepare to gather in Nottingham, David Astill warns against squeezing them out of the market
Astill: ‘We’re talking about an existential threat’
Ahead of this month’s ALBUM Conference in Nottingham, ALBUM chair David Astill has warned that bus franchising poses “an existential threat” to small and medium-sized bus operators.
ALBUM represents Britain’s non-aligned, municipal and SME bus operators – and many of these businesses fear being pushed out of business if bus franchising is implemented in their area.
In an interview for The ALBUM Report 2025, which accompanies this edition of Passenger Tranpsort, Astill warned: “We’re talking about an existential threat. There are no SME operators left operating local buses in Greater Manchester, and it looks like the same thing is likely to happen in the Liverpool City Region. Just look at Huyton Travel recently – they were an ALBUM member and decided to call it a day, selling out to a larger group because they couldn’t see a future for them.”
Astill, who is also managing director of council-owned Nottingham City Transport, fears this could become a pattern: “We have ALBUM members in South and West Yorkshire who are very concerned. We’re working with those operators to persuade the authorities that franchising must be designed in a way that allows the SME sector not only to tender, but to have a fair and realistic chance of winning contracts. There need to be checks and balances in place that ensure SMEs don’t lose out to the multinationals.”
In the East Midlands, mayor Claire Ward has committed to build on existing partnership working with bus operators. “Bus partnerships everywhere are raising the bar,” said Astill.
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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