‘Boris Bus’ maker Wrightbus enters administration

Northern Irish firm Wrightbus, which constructed London’s fleet of double-decker New Routemaster buses, otherwise known as the “Boris Bus”, has gone into administration, at the cost of 1,200 jobs.

The company, based in Ballymena, County Antrim, was one of Northern Ireland’s largest employers, and had been in talks in the lead-up to yesterday’s news with three potential buyers, all of which failed to produce a deal.

The collapse is now the second major UK corporate failure of the week, after Thomas Cook entered liquidation on Monday.

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“Despite extensive efforts over recent months it has not been possible to find a buyer who wanted to maintain the business as a going concern,” said Michael Magnay, one of two administrators, who will manage a type of creditor protection that often precedes bankruptcy.

“This will be devastating news for those who worked there, their families and the town, which has already suffered from a number of manufacturing closures in recent years,” Magnay continued. He added that the administrators will “explore all remaining options for the business and assets, and would encourage any parties with an interest to contact them”.

Only 50 of the 1,250 employees will return to their jobs this morning.

Regional secretary of the Unite union, Jackie Pollock, called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to intervene. “This is a workforce at the cutting edge of technological advancements in the design and supply of green public transport. We cannot afford to lose any more jobs or skills in this area,” said Pollock. “Just three months ago Boris Johnson gave assurances that he ‘will do everything we can to ensure the future of that great UK company’. He has a chance today to do something decent.”

He continued: “Johnson has made great play about how he stands strong for British industry. We call on Boris Johnson to ‘take back control’ and nationalise to invest in securing UK bus manufacturing capacity.”

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“An expected sale evaporated at the end of last week when the Chinese engineering group Weichai and a firm led by the JCB heir, Jo Bamford, pulled out of talks,” reports The Guardian. “That double blow came days after the Northern Irish businessman Darren Donnelly also withdrew from making a potential bid for the firm.”

Wrightbus was owned by the family of 92-year-old Sir William Wright, who founded the company in 1946. Wright, who in 2016 was one of the first major business leaders to back leaving the EU, had fought to keep the company alive.

According to a family spokesman, the change from diesel to electric in bus technology had caused a “sharp decline” in UK demand for buses. “As a shortfall became apparent, one of the steps taken was to move work from our Malaysia facility back to Ballymena to secure jobs here. These factors have resulted in significant losses at Wrightbus which our family has been covering for over a year,” the spokesman said.

“A person with knowledge of the situation said the family put £15m into the business last year and a further £8m since January,” reports the Financial Times. “The family also provided funding to pay staff wages for the last fortnight as its financial situation worsened, the person said.”