Arriva Midlands is to sell its Cannock depot and “nearly all” of its services there, in Rugeley and in Stafford, to Centrebus-owned D&G Bus. 42 buses and 153 staff will form part of the deal. 9 January 2021 is to be the last day of Arriva operation.
D&G and Centrebus Managing Director Matt Evans says that D&G is “committed to building a new, refreshing brand” for the services that it will take over. That has since been confirmed as Chaserider. All routes at Cannock that are part of the deal with D&G will continue to be operated from the Delta Way base, a spokesperson has confirmed.
Arriva Midlands Area MD Simon Mathieson adds: “Although we will be sad to hand over operations of our Cannock depot, we are delighted that it will be in the hands of D&G Bus. It is a well-known local company, and we know that it will take great care of the depot, customers and all employees.”
In a notice to staff dated 24 November, Mr Mathieson noted that D&G had first expressed an interest in purchasing Arriva’s Cannock operation in late 2019.
D&G Bus currently runs 95 vehicles from depots in Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent, with an outstation near Northwich. It sold its first Stoke-on-Trent operation – including the Mossfield Road, Adderley Green depot – to Arriva-owned Wardle Transport in 2011.
The Wardle business was subsequently purchased by D&G from Arriva in 2015, returning Mossfield Road to D&G’s ownership.
Centrebus took ownership of D&G Bus in December 2019 after it purchased then-MD David Reeves’ shares in the business. Mr Reeves, who co-founded D&G in 1998, passed away in May.
The Chaserider name was originally used by National Bus Company subsidiary Midland Red for its operations in Cannock and Stafford.
