25 November 2024

Go-Ahead expands West of England operations with acquisition of Swanbrook Transport

• Coach operator to become part of Go-Ahead’s Pulhams Coaches operation
• Deal adds to Go-Ahead’s expanding network of UK coach operators

The Go-Ahead Group has agreed a deal to acquire Swanbrook Transport, a bus and coach operator based in Cheltenham.

Swanbrook operates local bus, home to school services and private hire and will become part of Pulhams Coaches, which sits in Go-Ahead’s Oxford division.

This latest deal builds on Go-Ahead’s recent acquisitions across England, including four coach companies across West and North Yorkshire, and the North East which further strengthens its service offering for schools, businesses, private hire and local authority partners.

Go-Ahead is now one of the largest coach operators in the UK with over 400 coaches from the South West to the North East, integrating its network with existing bus operations.

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Pulhams Coaches already has an excellent reputation in the Cheltenham area as both a local bus operator, and as specialist providers of coach services. Our acquisition of another reputable operator in the area in Swanbrook is an exciting opportunity to provide an even greater range of services locally and integrate it with our existing network.

Luke Marion

Managing Director of the Oxford Bus Company

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We’re delighted to welcome Swanbrook to the Go-Ahead Group, and to grow our presence in the UK coach market. As a company, we’re committed to connecting communities, so providing coach services across the country for schools, groups, small business and local authority partners is important to us. This is an exciting expansion of our coach operation to provide for more customers in the West of England.

Matt Carney

CEO – Go-Ahead Bus

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We are excited by the opportunities that joining such a prestigious group in Pulhams and Go-Ahead will bring to the company. Having established our business as a well respected operation in the local area we believe this is the natural progression for the business to further develop and be well equipped to meet the challenges of the industry for the future.

John Thomas

Operations Director, Swanbrook Transport Ltd