We're Winners!

We're celebrating the McGill’s Buses Group winning the 'Public Transport Operator of the Year' award at the Scottish Transport Awards!

The prestigious award, received by McGill’s CEO Ralph Roberts at the Radisson Hotel in Glasgow on 29 September, comes hard on the heels of the acquisition of First Scotland East (recently rebirthed as Eastern Scottish and Midland Bluebird).

Mr Roberts said: “The whole team at McGill’s is thrilled to have their hard work recognised. We have the best team in Scotland.

“McGill’s is at the forefront of the transport decarbonisation revolution and with the continued financial support of James and Sandy Easdale we plan to continue this journey.”

“Another 41 zero emission buses will be delivered in February 2023 as part of a £20m project to further decarbonise the fleet. As buses only produce 4% of transport emissions, we desperately need local authorities to follow suit and start the decarbonisation journey by prioritising clean public transport in line with their declared transport hierarchy.”

Last year, the McGill's Buses Group acquired Xplore Dundee from National Express, and has been working hard to deliver transformational change - including persevering against a challenging operating environment, ramping up connections on the FLY link between Dundee and Edinburgh Airport, and launching the Discover Dundee sightseeing tour with a pair of open-top buses over the spring and summer.

And in the past few weeks, the group has taken control of bus depots in Larbert, Bannockburn, Balfron and Livingston and all of the fleet formerly owned by First Scotland East. Edinburgh’s popular open top bus tour, Bright Bus, is also included in the purchase. Approximately 550 staff have now moved to McGill’s, taking the company’s total staff to more than 2,000.

The company said it would now work to rejuvenate every area of the business in the coming months and years.

The good news keeps on coming

In more good news for the McGill's Buses Group, the 'GlasGo Bus Alliance' took home the 'Net Zero Achievement' award at the Glasgow Business Awards on 6 October. A first of its kind collaboration, the GlasGo Bus Alliance is a collective effort of the city’s biggest bus operators who have come together to proactively tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the bus sector. Its work is similar to that of the Tayside Bus Alliance, and this recognition demonstrates that the bus industry has great potential for future recovery.

With more initiatives coming over the rest of 2022 and beyond, the GlasGo Bus Alliance continues to work hard to make positive difference to Glasgow’s transport system, making bus an integral part of local communities.