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Bamford Bus Company purchases Wrightbus
Bamford Bus Company, wholly owned by Jo Bamford, son of JCB chairman Lord Bamford, has formally acquired Wrightbus, with recruitment set to begin in the coming weeks.
Wrightbus designs and manufactures buses in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and is recognised as one of Europe’s leading providers of passenger transport solutions. Last month, the business entered administration, putting 1,200 jobs at risk.
Bamford Bus Company has formally acquired Wrightbus with recruitment set to commence over the next few weeks / Picture: Getty/iStock
Jo Bamford will serve as executive chairman of Wrightbus and Buta Atwal will become chief executive. Buta Atwal brings significant expertise in leading projects, sales and distribution networks, product design and development. His experience includes managing the operations of a number of JCB’s major factories.
The new management team will be focused on stabilising and rebuilding the business, and recruitment will commence over the next few weeks.
Jo Bamford is also founder and executive chairman of Ryse Hydrogen, a company that delivers green and affordable hydrogen to heavy-duty transport.
Jo Bamford, said: “Wrightbus is a proud family business which is part of the fabric of Northern Ireland life and business. I am delighted to acquire such an established and respected brand. We can now start to look to the future and build on the excellent work that Sir William Wright and his family have done to develop the Wrightbus business.
“We will now begin speaking with customers and suppliers over the coming weeks in order to take a closer look at the financial situation that Wrightbus faces in order to build a viable and sustainable business.”
Buta Atwal, added: “As bus transportation looks to decarbonise, there is growing demand for market leaders in this field. Wrightbus has the potential to lead the way in this area given its track record in manufacturing state of the art zero-emission hydrogen buses as well as electric and hybrid models. We must now focus on that opportunity and work hard as a team to move forward and rebuild this great business.
“Recruitment will begin over the coming weeks and we are very excited about the prospect of recruiting a world-class calibre of people to the business.”