Bus company operating in Haverhill, Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket sold to its own employees

The provider of key bus services between Haverhill and Bury St Edmunds has been sold into the ownership of its own employees.

Eastern Transport Holdings Ltd, the parent company of bus operators Stephensons of Essex and NIBS Buses, operating across Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, has been sold by its sole shareholder, Bill Hiron, to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).

The business operates around 140 buses on an extensive network of services covering much of East Anglia, among them services connecting Haverhill to Bury St Edmunds and to West Suffolk Hospital.

There are no changes at all to staffing, services or depots as a result of the business’s sale to an EOT.

Mr Hiron said: “Our company has grown from 10 vehicles and a turnover of a few hundred thousand pounds, on the basis of continued investment in both new and modern second-hand vehicles, and a reputation for high standards of service.

“That has been achieved by the hard work and enthusiasm of everyone here – from cleaners and drivers, engineers and supervisors, to managers - so it seems entirely appropriate that the team should be given the opportunity of taking the company to its next stage of development.”

Introduced in April 2014 as a government initiative, an EOT is often referred to as the John Lewis model.

Under the scheme, all shares in the company are held in trust on behalf of the employees who are beneficiaries of the EOT rather than being individual shareholders.

This ownership gives them a stake in the company without personal risk or expense, and has been shown to have significant benefits to both employee engagement and motivation.

It is thought to be, said the company, the only bus operation in England currently structured in this way.

Employing around 200 staff with an annual turnover of around £16 million, the original business was founded in 1972 with a single coach and went on to run a small number of contracts and private hire from its Rochford depot until it was purchased by Mr Hiron in 2001.

Over the next 23 years it expanded considerably, firstly across Essex and then into Suffolk, opening a depot in Haverhill.

In October 2018, it purchased NIBS (Nelsons Independent Bus Service) of Wickford and in 2022 took over operation of a number of services around Newmarket when these were withdrawn by Stagecoach East.

The team heading up the current day-to-day operation of the business will remain unchanged with managing director, Dean Robbie, supported by finance director, Gary Raven and Mr Hiron as chairman. The team will be strengthened by the appointment of fleet engineer, Mark Sayer, to the newly created position of engineering director.

Mr Robbie said: “We already benefit from being locally owned and managed, with short lines of communication and a lean management structure, but we anticipate that the prospect of working for an employee-owned company will set us above others in the area in our ability to retain and attract high quality staff, enabling further expansion in the future.”

“This is a hugely exciting development for all of the team here, and I feel privileged to be at the helm as we evolve into this next phase of our existence.”