Cityfox Bus

[Hophead]

My personal favourite is on the contact us page with an address for a company in Canada

Though the map is of Washington DC

 

[freetoview33]

Though the map is of Washington DC

And the road is in Totterdown!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

My personal favourite is on the contact us page with an address for a company in Canada

I personally like the Ovvio Facebook page (aka the rebranded Cityfox page) and the comment

"from what I've heard about the guy who runs it, I would certainly recommend them"

I would ordinarily say you can't make this s**t up, but actually, you can and Rhys has

 

[Dai Corner]

I personally like the Ovvio Facebook page (aka the rebranded Cityfox page) and the comment

"from what I've heard about the guy who runs it, I would certainly recommend them"

I would ordinarily say you can't make this s**t up, but actually, you can and Rhys has

The rebranding appears to be unfinished. For example there is a post advertising jobs at Cityfox. The Bristol phone number given is unavailable though so prospective applicants will be disappointed ☹️

 

[RustySpoons]

I'd like to think that people would know better to apply to work for CityFox or whatever it's being called nowadays considering all thats gone on this last couple of months...

 

[Dai Corner]

I'd like to think that people would know better to apply to work for CityFox or whatever it's being called nowadays considering all thats gone on this last couple of months...

Perhaps I should have said 'prospective applicants will have a lucky escape'?

 

[nesw]

David Donati’s ‘Welsh Bus and coach newsletter’ published on the ‘Bus news around Wales’ Ygroup has a concise summary of recent events

‘
The operator posted that all of their vehicles were "stolen" which more likely was a euphemism for "re-possessed"

in early April. Most of the vehicles recorded here were supplied by Dawsongroup, Milton Keynes.


Some facts surrounding the closure are as follows.

On Tuesday 2 April, Dawsongroup repossessed the four Volvo buses, one was parked up in Newport Bus Station, two

were on their way to or from Bettws and the buses were stopped and passengers asked to get off. It is not known where

the fourth vehicle was. Prior to this, Dawsongroup had already repossessed two Ford Transits, presumably two of the

four branded for Splendour. Sources suggest no payments had been made on the Volvo buses since they were deployed

in December. The Volvos made unplanned, brief stops at Newport Bus, but were taken to Milton Keynes the same day.

Two Enviros were hastily put into service the next day and it is suggested these were on hire from Ensign Bus. It is

understood that the ticket machines were collected by the company from Milton Keynes. It is also reported that the

Wrightbus StreetDeck demonstrator was collected on Friday 5 April.


There is plenty posted on line about the company, including a suggestion that the MAN hired from Wheelers (SF08 RRO)

was similarly taken back swiftly by them (in December?) for non payment of rental.


Since the ending of the service not much of substance has appeared on line, but in a few postings on different sites, it is

suggested that the businesses ceased on the Friday that Newport operations came to a sudden end, with only one of the

taxi companies continuing in Bristol and run by the administrator. We have no idea whether this is true, but Mr Hand went

on a break to Majorca that weekend and posted pictures on Twitter – one of which said ‘So relaxed!’ – say no more...


Coverage of this fantasy operator is therefore suspended until something resembling a normal operation is established

but the indications are that the closure is terminal.’

The newsletter also listed the recent vehicles used and returned to hire companies.

 

[Dai Corner]

I hadn't previously heard that two of the buses were repossessed while actually in service with passengers on.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

David Donati’s ‘Welsh Bus and coach newsletter’ published on the ‘Bus news around Wales’ Ygroup has a concise summary of recent events

‘
The operator posted that all of their vehicles were "stolen" which more likely was a euphemism for "re-possessed"

in early April. Most of the vehicles recorded here were supplied by Dawsongroup, Milton Keynes.


Some facts surrounding the closure are as follows.

On Tuesday 2 April, Dawsongroup repossessed the four Volvo buses, one was parked up in Newport Bus Station, two

were on their way to or from Bettws and the buses were stopped and passengers asked to get off. It is not known where

the fourth vehicle was. Prior to this, Dawsongroup had already repossessed two Ford Transits, presumably two of the

four branded for Splendour. Sources suggest no payments had been made on the Volvo buses since they were deployed

in December. The Volvos made unplanned, brief stops at Newport Bus, but were taken to Milton Keynes the same day.

Two Enviros were hastily put into service the next day and it is suggested these were on hire from Ensign Bus. It is

understood that the ticket machines were collected by the company from Milton Keynes. It is also reported that the

Wrightbus StreetDeck demonstrator was collected on Friday 5 April.


There is plenty posted on line about the company, including a suggestion that the MAN hired from Wheelers (SF08 RRO)

was similarly taken back swiftly by them (in December?) for non payment of rental.


Since the ending of the service not much of substance has appeared on line, but in a few postings on different sites, it is

suggested that the businesses ceased on the Friday that Newport operations came to a sudden end, with only one of the

taxi companies continuing in Bristol and run by the administrator. We have no idea whether this is true, but Mr Hand went

on a break to Majorca that weekend and posted pictures on Twitter – one of which said ‘So relaxed!’ – say no more...


Coverage of this fantasy operator is therefore suspended until something resembling a normal operation is established

but the indications are that the closure is terminal.’

The newsletter also listed the recent vehicles used and returned to hire companies.

Have to say that on seeing this.....

The following has been posted on Facebook by Foxstar Bus Newport


Edited to add link as requested by Admin, but the original post appears to have been deleted.

Also asked to add a comment of my own. I'll note that my comment on the original post saying I thought it was odd to repossess Company A's buses because you were afraid Company B might not be able to pay in future was deleted and I was barred from commenting further.

... I had assumed that they had turned up and grabbed them first thing in the yard, not whilst they were actually on the road.

That must have been interesting for the passengers! Have obviously heard of vehicles being called in back to the depot whilst on the road but not quite these circumstances.

Very interesting....

Whatever next!

 

[Observer]

There was nothing mentioned in the Ensignbus monthly stock update about any E200 hires to them.

 

[Dai Corner]

There was nothing mentioned in the Ensignbus monthly stock update about any E200 hires to them.

They only had them for one day as far as I know

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

They only had them for one day as far as I know

I suspect Ensign grabbed them as soon as they heard the story from Dawson’s

 

[RustySpoons]

One thing I really don't understand, is why anyone with even the most basic of business sense would think it's a good idea to set up bus operation, using 4 heavyweight buses, on a high frequency route, practically give money away weekly, whilst at the same time brag about future expansion and gaining a prestigious private contract using brand new deckers (remember the screenshot of an email shared on Twitter apparently from ADL inviting Rhys for a factory tour?) and have zero intention of paying for anything?

I understand that Rhys is/was the only shareholder in the company so he has the say on what the company does, but surely there were accountants/finance staff within the company that could see what was happening?

It's been (and still is) a very interesting journey to follow from an outsider point of view but I do feel sorry for all the staff that have been caught up in this **** show and I hope they've found employment elsewhere!

 

[RustySpoons]

Also, if they weren't bothering to pay for any of the buses, what are the chances they were up to spec on maintaining them too? Or even insuring them correctly?

 

[father_jack]

practically give money away weekly

Nobody won the prize............

but surely there were accountants/finance staff within the company that could see what was happening?

And there's where the con goes on..........

 

[Jordan Adam]

Nobody won the prize............

Was the prize a holiday to Majorca by any chance?...

 

[Mwanesh]

Rhys is a smooth talker.He knew the walls were coming down thats why he fled to Majorca.Lets hope he wont set up another fly by night operation there.

 

[anthony263]

Haven't heard from him here for a while

 

[Observer]

Probably been told to keep quiet before he gets himself in more trouble.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Rhys is a smooth talker.He knew the walls were coming down thats why he fled to Majorca.

I'm not sure I'd credit him with that. He seems to be a bit of a big kid - "playing buses" but with real buses.

 

[nesw]

I’m never entirely sure it was always him posting on here as there was a marked difference in how he conducted himself compared to other public postings. His replies often appeared to well structured and sometimes evasive in a ‘MP’ kind of way. I imagine that it’s entirely possible that another of the vast ‘management team’ posted on his behalf.

Don’t worry he’s keeping his ‘hand’ in with Ovvio and I expect that they’ll soon be various announcements and his Twitter goes public again. A fantasist and sociopath thrives on the attention.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I'm not sure I'd credit him with that. He seems to be a bit of a big kid - "playing buses" but with real buses.

If only it were so "innocent" (for want of a better word)... Rhys is clearly very persuasive. He has seemingly convinced various taxi owner drivers in Bristol, as well as various other individuals and businesses incl Dawson's, First Group, Babcock (assuming that's true), Wrightbus.

I don't doubt that the personality traits apparent in Rhys, as shown from his first emergence a few years ago, will continue to manifest themselves. In fact, the Ovvio Group appearance shows the early signs of Rhys' modus operandii - delusions of grandeur and unsubstantiated (or patently false) claims, photoshopping of images, theft of text (copy) from legitimate websites. In that respect, nesw is absolutely on the money with his closing lines.

If only it stopped at playing buses but instead, there are legitimate businesses being affected and somehow, I suspect the general travelling public who purchased FoxStar passes won't be receiving a refund!

 

[anthony263]

Well he was at cribs causeway earlier according to a photo he posted on his Facebook account posting alongside some of the buses on the M1 service

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Well he was at cribs causeway earlier according to a photo he posted on his Facebook account posting alongside some of the buses on the M1 service

Until I’d looked at that, I’d not realised that he’d claimed to work for Stagecoach.

 

[Robertj21a]

Until I’d looked at that, I’d not realised that he’d claimed to work for Stagecoach.

I think it has been suggested that he was dismissed by Stagecoach once they were aware of various issues.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I think it has been suggested that he was dismissed by Stagecoach once they were aware of various issues.

Hmmm.... he’s a bit confused. He was there for 4 months (LinkedIn) or 15 months (FB).

The Rotala one of being UWE Contracts Supervisor... Simon Dunn recalls him being a cleaner at Avonmouth depot.

 

[richw]

Hmmm.... he’s a bit confused. He was there for 4 months (LinkedIn) or 15 months (FB).

Considering his age if you take all the claimed employments he’s been working since he was a toddler!
Taken with a pinch of salt like everything else

 

[RustySpoons]

Well he was at cribs causeway earlier according to a photo he posted on his Facebook account posting alongside some of the buses on the M1 service

Possibly an old picture, I seem to remember a while back he attended the launch. Possibly as an excuse to get a feel for the two new Envro400s FoxStar apparently had on order...

 

[father_jack]

Considering his age if you take all the claimed employments he’s been working since he was a toddler!
Taken with a pinch of salt like everything else

.

 

[Robertj21a]

A weeks work experience was his railway career at Bristol Parkway before peculiar traits were noticed and departure was hastened. A spell at Lawrence Hill gsrage allegedly saw a mechanic leave the business after allegations of missing ticket machines surrounding our friend. A brief National Express career contained disciplinary action towards a third party over our friend allegedly abandoning a car in a bus depot. A train operating company's "Economic Fraud manager" took interest after an non staff individual was noted on the incline at Temple Meads in FGW uniform though with London Underground shoes !!! Same manager took interest in someone selling First Group uniform on Ebay. Director of Bristol Greyhound/Pier Buses, well we know about that fallacy.

But the importation of matchsticks to Cornwall, that we'll never know.....

Strange that you should mention Cornwall and matchsticks........

I'm not a betting man but I'm told the odds are still good on a Greyhound.