Go Bus is expanding its lower South Island operations with the acquisition of Invercargill-based McDermott Coachlines.
McDermott Coachlines has a fleet of 81 buses and employs 76 staff operating school and charter services throughout the Southland region with depots in Winton and Invercargill, and smaller satellite sites around Southland.
Go Bus is the country’s largest bus operator with dedicated bus and coach services across 38 depots from Auckland to Invercargill. It currently operates around 1800 vehicles and employs over 2100 people throughout New Zealand, including 85 in Southland.
The transaction was completed on July 30 with McDermott Coachlines family shareholders deciding it was a good time to exit the business.
All McDermott staff will carry on with their current roles as usual with no changes to pay rates or conditions.
Go Bus Transport chief executive Calum Haslop says he is looking forward to welcoming the McDermott team to the Go Bus family.
“Our intention is to continue to operate the McDermott school services through to the end of the year on their current contracts, and then deploy all staff and vehicles onto the new Ministry of Education contracts that Go Bus was recently awarded in the area.
“These new contracts commence in January 2022 and will run for between nine and 12 years. We will also continue to operate the separate school contracts at Aparima and Waianiwa and McDermott’s existing charter business,” Haslop says.
McDermott Coachlines manager Alister McDermott says the sale is “a very positive step for the business, our staff and customers”.
“There are shared values between the two companies, particularly around family ethos and customer service.
“We were also impressed with Go Bus’s broad experience delivering bus and coach services throughout New Zealand over many years.
“It will be business as usual for our Winton and Invercargill depots with the same team delivering services in Invercargill and Southland looking after our passengers,” McDermott says.
