Chinese auto company may rescue Wrightbus
Northern Ireland-based Wrightbus sends out SOS call as it hunts for new owner or £30m injection
The Chinese auto giant BYD is exploring a potential rescue deal for the troubled “Boris bus” maker Wrightbus as the Government comes under pressure from the DUP to save jobs in Northern Ireland. Around 1,400 roles are on the line as the race to secure a new owner or fresh funding is on. Parent company Wrights Group, one of Northern Ireland’s biggest exporters, hired Deloitte last month to find new funding after a cash flow squeeze cast doubt on its future.
THE Chinese auto giant BYD is exploring a rescue of the troubled “Boris bus” maker Wrightbus, as the Government comes under pressure from the DUP to save jobs in Northern Ireland.
Around 1,400 roles are on the line as the 73-year-old company races to secure either a new owner or fresh funding. Parent company Wrights Group, one of Northern Ireland’s biggest exporters, hired Deloitte last month to find new funding after a cash flow squeeze cast doubt on its future.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that BYD, whose vast global operations include providing bus batteries to Wrightbus rival Alexander Dennis, has since been approached about a potential rescue deal.
The Chinese giant, which is partowned by Warren Buffett’s investment firm in a bet on the electrification of transport, last night paid tribute to “iconic” Wrightbus and said that it was monitoring investment opportunities.
The fate of Wrightbus could prove crucial in Westminster, where the DUP has been holding talks with the Government about a new “confidence and supply” deal to underpin Boris Johnson’s shaky majority of only two. In the Commons last month the Prime Minister pledged to do “everything we can” to save Wrightbus, which is based in the DUP stronghold of Ballymena.
The company is also personally associated with Mr Johnson, as the manufacturer of London’s so-called Boris bus, an update to the classic Routemaster agreed when he was mayor of the capital. Wrightbus built 1,000 of the vehicles between 2012 and 2017, when new mayor Sadiq Khan halted orders in favour of rival models he said were cheaper and greener.
In its latest filed accounts, for 2017, pre-tax profit at Wrightbus’s parent company plunged 85pc to £1.5m. Its financial situation is since said to have deteriorated with annual losses hitting £15m. In February and July this year almost 100 staff were made redundant and the company is reportedly in need of a £30m cash injection.
Shenzhen-based BYD already makes vehicles under its own brand and provides batteries for heavy good vehicles such as lorries, fork-lift trucks and buses. It has a joint venture with Daimler to make luxury electric cars and has a contract with one of Wright’s biggest bus making rivals, Alexander Dennis, to build electric London buses.
Wrightbus makes electric buses in conjunction with French battery company Foresee. A spokesman for Foresee said it is not planning to buy the Northern Ireland busmaker.
BYD Europe managing director Isbrand Ho said: “Wrightbus is an iconic company in Northern Ireland and the UK with talented and skilled people.
“We have also been working closely with the UK Government in helping to fulfil its zero emission ambitions, a process that started several years ago when Boris Johnson, now the UK Prime Minister, was the mayor of London.
“We will continue to monitor all opportunities in the UK.”
Wrights Group and Deloitte declined to comment.