Rotala

Rotala plc[2] LSE: ROL is an Alternative Investment Market listed company, established in 2005, which owns a number of bus operators in England.

Rotala plc
Public
Traded asLSE: ROL
IndustryBus & coach services
FoundedMarch 2005
Headquarters
Birmingham, England
Key people
John Gunn (Chairman)
Simon Dunn (CEO)
Revenue £55 million (2016)[1]
£2.68 million (2016)[1]
Websitewww.rotalaplc.com
For the aquatic plant, see Rotala (plant)
Hallmark Plaxton bodied Volvo B12B in March 2010
Diamond North West Mercedes-Benz Citaro, at Leigh bus station, August 2019

History

In March 2005, Rotala was listed on the Alternative Investment Market. In August 2005 it agreed on terms to purchase Flights Hallmark.[3]

Acquisitions

In October 2006, the business of Zak's Buses, Birmingham was purchased[4] and rebranded Central Connect; this was followed in December 2006 by Birmingham Motor Traction (20 vehicles).[5] In June 2007 Ludlow's of Halesowen (21 vehicles) was purchased[6][7] followed in July 2007 by North Birmingham Busways (26 vehicles) of Erdington.[8]

In April 2007, Flights Hallmark commenced operating services in Bristol under the Wessex Connect brand after winning the contract to provide two Bristol park and ride services, and in June 2007 purchased the bus routes of South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach with 68 buses.[9][10][11]

In March 2008, the Go West Midlands business was purchased.[12] At this stage Rotala merged all its Birmingham based operations under the Diamond Bus brand. In January 2011, Preston Bus was purchased from Stagecoach.[13][14]

In January 2013, Rotala purchased depots in Kidderminster and Redditch from First Midland Red with 36 buses. These were integrated into the Diamond Bus operation.[15][16][17] In March 2015, Rotala acquired South Lancs Travel from D&G Bus and Julian Peddle and rebranded it Diamond Bus North West.[18][19][20]

In June 2015, the 17 vehicle Wings Luxury Travel operation in London was purchased and integrated with Rotala's existing Heathrow operation.[21] In December 2015, Rotala purchased the Heathrow-based operations of OFJ Connections.[22]

In July 2017, Hanson's Local Buses in Birmingham was purchased followed in August 2017 by the route service business of Go-Goodwins in Manchester and the Hotel Hoppa business from National Express in October 2017.[23][24][25][26]

In February 2018, Central Buses in Birmingham was purchased and integrated into Diamond Bus.[27][28] Wessex Bus ceased operations on 1 September 2018, with eight services and nine vehicles taken over by Stagecoach West.[29][30]

In August 2019 Rotala purchased First Greater Manchester's Bolton depot with 18 routes. The routes had an approximate PVR of 170, and part of the deal involved renting 125 buses from First Manchester. The acquired business has been integrated it into Diamond Bus North West.[31][32]

Former operations

Rotala's first acquisition was Surrey Connect in 2005, when Centra decided to sell its Addlestone operation. The business was purchased by Flights Hallmark. Surrey Connect developed and continued to grow and won contracts for a number of Surrey County Council tendered routes. Rotala sold the company in June 2007 to Wiltax.

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References
  1. "Royals Inc. 2016".
  2. Companies House extract company no 5338907 Rotala plc
  3. Proposed Acquisition of Flights Hallmark Limited Rotala 29 August 2005
  4. Acquisition of Zak's Bus and Coach Services Limited Rotala 20 October 2006
  5. Acquisition Rotala 27 December 2006
  6. Placing & Acquisitions Rotala 18 June 2007
  7. Acquisition of Ludlows of Halesowen Limited Rotala 21 June 2007
  8. Trading Update/Acquisition Rotala 30 July 2007
  9. History Archived 21 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Rotala
  10. About Wessex Archived 6 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Rotala
  11. Rotala buys in the West Midlands & South West Transit 29 June 2007 page 7
  12. Disposal of Go West Midlands Go-Ahead Group 3 March 2008
  13. Acquisition Rotala 25 January 2011
  14. Rotala buys Preston Bus for £3.2million Archived 8 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 25 January 2011
  15. Acquisition in Worcestershire Rotala 24 January 2013
  16. Rotala snaps up FirstGroup's bus operations in Worcestershire for £1.5 million Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine The Bus People 24 January 2013
  17. First sells Worcester bus services Worcester News 25 January 2013
  18. Rotala buys South Lancs Bus & Coach Buyer 4 March 2015
  19. "Rotala buys South Lancs Travel" Coach & Bus Week issue 1178 3 March 2015 page 7
  20. Diamond Bus North West Limited Archived 8 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Rotala
  21. Rotala acquires Wings Bus & Coach Buyer 3 June 2015
  22. Rotala to buy part of OFJ Route One 25 November 2015
  23. Change of Ownership for Hanson's Local Buses Hanson's Local Buses
  24. Rotala plc purchases Hanosn's Local Bus Archived 25 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Diamond Buses 28 July 2017
  25. Rotala buys another bus business Express & Star 29 August 2017
  26. Rotala buys Hotel Hoppa Route One 17 October 2017
  27. Rotala buys Central Buses Coach & Bus Week 2 February 2018
  28. Rotala buys Central Buses for £1.95 million Route One 2 February 2018
  29. Important Changes for Wessex Bus Wessex Bus 20 July 2018
  30. Wessex bus to close and services 42, 12 and 51 cancelled in Bristol and Bath Bristol Post 20 July 2018
  31. Acquisition in Manchester Rotala 27 June 2019
  32. Diamond North West services are expanding Diamond Bus North West 25 July 2019
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