Tranport charity rescued in National Express deal
ATRANSPORT charity has been rescued out of administration by National Express. Birmingham-based Accessible Transport Group has been bought out by West Midlands Accessible Transport, a subsidiary of the listed bus and train operator for an undisclosed sum.
Accessible Transport Group, along with its sister charities Ring and Ride West Midlands and Accessible Transport Group Contract Services, provide accessible transport services for people in the region who experience mobility impairment or social isolation in urban and rural environments.
It also runs daily home-to-school transport for 2,500 children and
young people with special educational needs in Birmingham and the Black Country and has 11,000 registered members.
Together, the Birmingham-headquartered group is the largest accessible transport provider in the UK with more than 700 staff and 600 vehicles from nine depots across the West Midlands.
They were funded in part by Birmingham City Council and a number of other local authorities and the West Midlands Transport Authority.
Matthew Ingram and Tyrone Courtman, from Duff & Phelps, were appointed joint administrators of the three charities in March but the financial services firm said it could not disclose the reasons behind its appointment.
Duff & Phelps said the insolvency of the group had had immediate and real consequences. As a charity, the group took advantage of special permits meaning the vehicles and drivers were not subject to the operating licence restrictions that commercial transport companies must obtain.
Therefore, there was no immediate option for a commercial operator to undertake the activities of the group in its entirety, according to administrators.
The joint administrators worked with law firm Squire Patton Boggs on discussions with Transport for West Midlands and Birmingham City Council and were able to secure a service agreement enabling the group to continue trading under the administrators’ control while longterm options were considered.
During the administration period, service level improvements were such that Birmingham City Council took the unusual step of awarding several additional routes to the group in respect of the home-toschool service.
Having held detailed conversations with a number of prospective service providers, the joint administrators concluded that the subsidiary of Birmingham-based National Express would provide a high level of stewardship for the services.
Mr Ingram said: “I am delighted we can finally assure all users of these fantastic services of certainty for the future.
“Since the group entered administration, many people have come together and worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome, including my own team and our advisers, the group’s employees, representatives of the local authorities and the purchasers and their advisers.”