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First to pull out in Clacton area

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The latest 'Notices and Proceedings' shows a couple of cancellations from 29/07, I expect the rest will show in the next week or two.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notices-and-proceedings-for-the-east-of-england

PF0000599/77 FIRST ESSEX BUSES LTD, FIRST ESSEX BUSES LTD, WESTWAY,
CHELMSFORD, CM1 3AR
Operating between TELFORD ROAD and JAYWICK - TOWER CAMP given
service number 10A effective from 29 July 2018.

PF0000599/78 FIRST ESSEX BUSES LTD, FIRST ESSEX BUSES LTD, WESTWAY,
CHELMSFORD, CM1 3AR
Operating between Clacton Pier Avenue and Point Clear Holiday Park given service
number 17 / 18 effective from 29 July 2018.
 
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Clacton Depot is to close on 28th July.

http://www.clactonandfrintongazette...mpany_confirms_it_will_shut_depot_in_Clacton/

Drivers' anger as bus company confirms it will shut depot in Clacton
James Dwan @JamesDwanSenior Reporter

7888152.jpg

PULLING OUT: First Essex boss Steve Wickers

BUS drivers claim they have been “stabbed in the back” by bosses after they confirmed their Clacton depot will close next month.

First Essex announced in April that 60 jobs were at risk as part of its plans to pull out of the town.

The bus company said it wanted to close its operating base and pull the plug on most of its routes in Tendring.

Company boss Steve Wickers said he was disappointed to announce plans to withdraw services in Clacton, but there has been insufficient passenger demand for a stand-alone bus operation.

Staff have now been told following a 30-day consultation with trade union Unite that the firm will close its Clacton depot on July 28.

A bus driver, who asked not to be named, said: “We feel like we have been stabbed in the back.

“They only just got us new uniforms at the end of March and we had new ticket machines installed a few weeks ago.

“As far as we knew everything was going well here and First were trying to compete with Hedingham on a few routes, which is what we thought they should be doing.

“There were always rumours the Clacton depot could close, but nothing ever came of it. We had Colchester drivers who came over to cover who told us we were going to close, but we didn’t believe it.

“It was quite a surprise for drivers when we were told the depot could close.”

He said more than 40 drivers have been affected, as well as between 10 and 15 engineers – who are competing for just one position at the Colchester depot – as well as a manger and two supervisors.

“I know a handful of drivers have had interviews at Hedingham, but that’s mainly the older guys who don’t want to change,” he added.

“First had 25 positions up at Colchester that they are looking to fill with Clacton drivers, but they upped that to 30.” Driver have been told they will be invited to an individual meetings to discuss how the moves affect them and suitable alternative employment.

Bosses said the services are not making enough money and its bus operations in Clacton have not been viable “for a number of years”.

Mr Wickers said:” We have concluded the process of consultation with our staff and members of Unite and can regretfully confirm that the proposal to close Clacton bus depot will go ahead.

“This decision will mean that the last day of operation for First Essex buses operating town services 2, 3, 4/4a, 5/5a and 6 will be July 28, however services between Colchester, Clacton and Walton on Naze will continue to be operated by First Essex seven days a week.

“This decision will sadly affect some of our employees who presently work at the depot who will be made redundant and we will do everything we can to support them through this difficult time.

“On a more positive note, I am pleased to announce that some of our staff will be transferring to our sister company in Colchester.

“I would like to stress once again that this decision does not in any way, reflect on the commitment of our colleagues in Clacton who have worked tirelessly to provide the best possible service to the local community.

“I would like to thank everyone who has travelled with us over the years and I hope that with the recent announcement by Hedingham bus company, there will continue to be town services operating in Clacton.”

Hedingham Omnibuses announced last month it will step in to cover routes which had been run by First.
 

DragonEast

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As a local resident, and as I've commented before, I don't know what First are doing in Essex. It's not their sort of territory. I don't think Wickers does either. I appreciate they're trapped, paralysed; no-one is I suspect going to make them the offer they can't refuse. Why should they? They're just being patient which is all they need to do, or in Hedingham/Go-Ahead's case helping them along a bit. Although I suspect the help is rather more the other way around.

(Do I recall a comment somewhere from one of the disgruntled investors that First's management didn't seem too keen to invest in their own company? Perhaps they prefer Go-Ahead? I suspect it could be a better investment.) But seriously, I do wonder if the loss of the contracts at Clacton was the straw that broke the camel's back, though to me the surprise was not that pigs couldn't fly but that it took First years, apparently, to find out? Over the winter better quality fleet was transferred into Clacton (from a route where there is passenger growth elsewhere, with unreliability and complaints from the affected passengers now increasing), and in the spring they announce they are closing it? The only certainty is that mere passengers will never find out, mushrooms, as usual, kept in the dark and fed BS. But does it look like a company that knows where it's going? If the loss of the contracted routes is so serious, then what about Colchester and Chelmsford which have been frantically garnering contracted routes (on short term contracts) too. If I were Go Ahead I know what I'd be looking at to find First's vulnerability. The word on the street too is that Basildon depot has been a problem for years, and things aren't getting any better. That leaves Hadleigh which competes with Arriva and Ensign; and neither are slouches.

Colchester depot is relatively new, and built, I understood with a significant margin of capacity (to take on Clacton's operations, I guessed), as Braintree was closed and operations transferred to Chelmsford with the outstation a short-term expedient. But now the sudden rush to shred services? Is it a sudden change of plan? If so why necessary? Wickers is a finance man isn't he? Pure speculation but it smacks to me of a company with a problem. I may not be the only one locally that thinks so, it seems.
 
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For First Essex and the wider group, I suspect it will be business as usual for the near future. Ultimately, I don't think that First Essex is the basket case some are suggesting.

Yes, First Essex may be slashing and burning most of their ties in Clacton, but I have heard on good authority that the wage bill alone has been higher than income for a while.

First Essex is certainly changing under the leadership of Steve Wickers. This year alone, the networks have been revised to reduce PVR back in February, Clacton & Braintree are closing at the end of July and Colchester & Chelmsford T&C changes will reduce the wage bill from these depots. I suspect that more efficiencies can and will be made, but I won't begin to speculate here on what they could be.

There may not be a profit overnight, as there will inevitably be costs from close downs, T&C changes etc. but I think First Essex will be in a stronger position in the medium term.
 

Robertj21a

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For First Essex and the wider group, I suspect it will be business as usual for the near future. Ultimately, I don't think that First Essex is the basket case some are suggesting.

Yes, First Essex may be slashing and burning most of their ties in Clacton, but I have heard on good authority that the wage bill alone has been higher than income for a while.

First Essex is certainly changing under the leadership of Steve Wickers. This year alone, the networks have been revised to reduce PVR back in February, Clacton & Braintree are closing at the end of July and Colchester & Chelmsford T&C changes will reduce the wage bill from these depots. I suspect that more efficiencies can and will be made, but I won't begin to speculate here on what they could be.

There may not be a profit overnight, as there will inevitably be costs from close downs, T&C changes etc. but I think First Essex will be in a stronger position in the medium term.


Having made a £340k operating loss in the last financial year I wouldn't be surprised if more cutbacks are on the way.
 

Cesarcollie

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They need it. First lost £340k on a £50m turnover.

Hedingham lost £553k on a £4m turnover. An improvement on 2016 but then counteracted with Chambers going from £52k profit to £233k loss on £1.7m turnover!!


I hesitate to correct The GW but Hedingham operating loss was actually £708k (the -£553k was after tax). It was indeed however still an improvement on the previous year, where the loss was over £1m. The performance of Hedingham/Chambers, relative to turnover, is therefore vastly worse than First. Put in context, if Hedingham/Chambers turnover was the same as First Essex and the percentage loss was the same, it would equate to over £8m.....!!!
 

carlberry

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I hesitate to correct The GW but Hedingham operating loss was actually £708k (the -£553k was after tax). It was indeed however still an improvement on the previous year, where the loss was over £1m. The performance of Hedingham/Chambers, relative to turnover, is therefore vastly worse than First. Put in context, if Hedingham/Chambers turnover was the same as First Essex and the percentage loss was the same, it would equate to over £8m.....!!!
I suspect that was the point GW was making, First's cuts may benefit Go-ahead operations however they're unlikely to benefit the P&L enough to turn the loss into a profit whereas First don't need much cost cutting to get the right side of the line (just!).
 

Cesarcollie

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I suspect that was the point GW was making, First's cuts may benefit Go-ahead operations however they're unlikely to benefit the P&L enough to turn the loss into a profit whereas First don't need much cost cutting to get the right side of the line (just!).


Indeed, agreed!!
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I hesitate to correct The GW but Hedingham operating loss was actually £708k (the -£553k was after tax). It was indeed however still an improvement on the previous year, where the loss was over £1m. The performance of Hedingham/Chambers, relative to turnover, is therefore vastly worse than First. Put in context, if Hedingham/Chambers turnover was the same as First Essex and the percentage loss was the same, it would equate to over £8m.....!!!

I did see the Op Loss was that but they'd had a tax credit ;) but you're fine to correct and keep things kosher.

For even more detail, Konectbus went from a £168k loss to only £77k loss (Op Profit). However, Anglian went from 984k loss to £1.6m on a £2.2m turnover!

So whilst Dragon East is going on how hopeless First are, clearly they are miles better than Go Ahead in the East!!! In that respect, I tend to side with Inspector Bloke. First Essex are indeed slashing and pulling out of Clacton and Braintree but whether that will save Hedingham from more tortuous losses, I somehow doubt and that First are probably doing the right things despite the pain.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I suspect that was the point GW was making, First's cuts may benefit Go-ahead operations however they're unlikely to benefit the P&L enough to turn the loss into a profit whereas First don't need much cost cutting to get the right side of the line (just!).
You're quite right Carl - and I really don't mind being corrected :):)
 

overthewater

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Hopeful come December we will the Go ahead losses reduced, I doubt First will see profit again this accounts.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Hopeful come December we will the Go ahead losses reduced, I doubt First will see profit again this accounts.
There will be a cost for the changes in First Essex (redundancy payments etc) but still probably better than p***ing money away in Clacton as they have been.

I would expect that First Essex will be back in the black (though not some massive margin) and that Go Ahead will continue to burn through money.

Quite odd that you don't hope that First improve but that Go Ahead do???
 

overthewater

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Quite odd that you don't hope that First improve but that Go Ahead do???

Since were talking about the most recent accounts which have yet to appear: April 2017-2018. And first has made clear its making further cut back beyond that point of time, i would be very very surprised to see profit within those accounts. I would hope Go Ahead losses had been reduced, but I still expect losse. ;)
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Since were talking about the most recent accounts which have yet to appear: April 2017-2018. And first has made clear its making further cut back beyond that point of time, i would be very very surprised to see profit within those accounts. I would hope Go Ahead losses had been reduced, but I still expect losse. ;)

Remember what Matthew Gregory said at the last trading update in response to a question viz "going back to UK Bus, your margins look like they might be moving a tad better but that’s still sort of close to 6%. Given the sort of – the nine- to ten-month trading to date, where is the dispersion of the margins in the business you’ve seen in that trading period, and is all the business profitable or is there still other areas where you need to refocus the efforts on mileage reduction or even withdrawal?" His response was:

"There is a wide variety of actions that are being taken across the individual operating companies, and so I think – it’s difficult to characterise precisely where the next improvements are coming from. Your question about are they all profitable – yes they’re all making a contribution to the business, but there are still some areas that need continued work around the network, looking more towards the east of the country we need more action around our Essex business, there’s still action required around our Manchester business, that continues to be a challenge for us, and our Scotland businesses, towards the east of Scotland as well, there’s still more action to be taken there. So each of the individual opco's has its own challenges and has its own action plans to deal with the specifics of its area"

I'd suspect that he's alluding to the fact that whilst FE is profitable, it is low margin and that has to be addressed. No point in making money in Chelmsford if Clacton is losing money hand over fist. So two questions...

Why would you be very, very surprised? - what do you know that we don't

And why do you hope Go Ahead do better but not First?
 

overthewater

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A: I would say the same, but with the amount of cuts happening and still to take place I doubt First has made a profit.

B: I think i'm protrying my sentence in a bad way, I still think both will not be in profit, but its very clear first has a plan of action to turn the company around and get it sailing out of choppy waters. Its Go ahead has a much tougher challenge ahead. I dont need to hope or worry about First since there do fine, Go ahead will Im hopeful but unsure if it will work out for them. Mind you maybe its a waiting game for them and there waiting to grab something else in area?
 

Volvodart

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We shall see at the end of De cember anyway, so there is no point in arguing about it. Last year some places did better than some on here said they would!
 

TheGrandWazoo

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We shall see at the end of De cember anyway, so there is no point in arguing about it. Last year some places did better than some on here said they would!
Inspector Bloke seemed to sum things up. It’s sad for those who’ll lose their jobs. However, it’s apparent that Clacton was losing money for years and there was increasingly no prospect of that changing.

Whilst the Clacton locals will give some benefit in soaking up fixed overheads (and that is assuming that they are covering their direct costs), I’m not convinced that there is much benefit for Hedingham and it won’t dig them out if their hole.
 

overthewater

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The timetables are up on Hedingham website, It does seem most of the new routes are interlinked with School work, and everything has not been fully replaced.
 

Cesarcollie

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The timetables are up on Hedingham website, It does seem most of the new routes are interlinked with School work, and everything has not been fully replaced.

All routes have been replaced . There are some school time gaps on 4/4a and 6 but I reckon there's still a PVR increase of about 7 or 8. Unlikely to make any money on that basis - though it appears the fleet will be considerably older than First's was, so less depreciation!!
 

overthewater

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I would assume that the company will look at the current loadings take stock and do some rejigging within a few months.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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All routes have been replaced . There are some school time gaps on 4/4a and 6 but I reckon there's still a PVR increase of about 7 or 8. Unlikely to make any money on that basis - though it appears the fleet will be considerably older than First's was, so less depreciation!!

Apologies if you've already explained and I've been sleeping but Hedingham did drop a number of their other services? So is this PVR increase gross or net?
 
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First's plans for services between Colchester, Clacton and Walton. Other changes announced (as expected).

https://www.firstgroup.com/essex/ne...lanned-changes/service-changes-22nd-29th-july

Clacton

29th July 2018

97-97A-98

Colchester to Walton via Clacton

New Monday to Saturday daytime services, replacing the existing 7 and 8 between Walton on the Naze and Clacton and services 74 and 76A between Clacton and Colchester, offering a combined service every 20 minutes between Colchester, Clacton and Walton on the Naze.

Services 97 and 97A each operate every hour and follow the existing service 7 route between Walton and Clacton and then operate via Weeley (97), Elmstead Market (97,97A), Frating (97,97A), University of Essex (97A) to Colchester. Service 98 operates every hour, following the existing service 8 between Walton and Clacton via Kirby Cross, then continuing via St Osyth and Thorrington to Colchester.

The late evening service and Sunday service between Clacton and Colchester will continue to be provided by services 74B (Monday to Saturday evenings) and 74A / 76 (Sundays).
 

Cesarcollie

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Apologies if you've already explained and I've been sleeping but Hedingham did drop a number of their other services? So is this PVR increase gross or net?

That is just what appears to be the net increase in Clacton (though I'm not sure what is happening to the existing HO 13X services as if they continue HO will effectively be competing with themselves!!). There are a few savings elsewhere but I don't know what these add up to.
 
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