MCGILL’S, the Greenock-based bus company owned by brothers Sandy and James Easdale, has acquired the routes of two Lanarkshire-based independent bus operators for undisclosed sums.
The firm, which is Scotland’s biggest independent public transport operator, has acquired the routes of Arthur’s Coaches and D.A. Coaches, both based in Coatbridge.
The deal will see McGill’s extend its Lanarkshire commercial network into Coatbridge, Chapelhall, Kirkintilloch and the Salsburgh areas.
“We are delighted to have concluded these deals with Arthur’s Coaches and D.A. Coaches,” said McGill’s chairman James Easdale. “Both companies have operated in the local area for a long time and built up a loyal customer base that we look forward to welcoming on board a McGill’s bus from Monday 4 April.”
The acquisitions are the firm’s third and fourth in less than a month. At the end of January, McGill’s announced it had acquired the routes and vehicles of Coatbridge-based McNairn Coaches alongside coach and minibus hire business JJ Travel for an undisclosed sum.
James Easdale retains a shareholding in Rangers Football Club, where both brothers were directors until last Spring. The Easdales also own window manufacturer Blairs and have commercial property interests.
Jack Irvine, the Easdale family strategic adviser said: “Both Sandy and James found the experience of dealing with The City and the Alternative Investment Market market during the Rangers episode fantastically stimulating and their appetite for deal making has increased dramatically. We can look forward to more exciting acquisitions and not just in Scotland. The brothers are spending a huge amount of time with London-based advisers and are ready to move swiftly when the opportunities arise.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here