Wrightbus has signed a landmark £500 million contract to build more than 1,000 mostly zero-emission buses for the multi-national British transport operator Go-Ahead Group over the next three years.
The deal, the largest in the Ballymena firm’s 78-year history and described as “momentous”, will safeguard 500 green jobs at the plant, create multiple training and up-skilling opportunities, and will also support an additional 1,500 across the UK supply chain.
Go-Ahead Group, which was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange prior to being purchased by Kinetic Group and Globalvia in 2022, is already the UK’s largest rail operator, but has been rapidly expanding its bus offer.
It now has thousands of operations across Britain, from London to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and also operates services in Ireland, Australia, Singapore, and Norway, and it has already deployed more than 20 Wrightbus-made hydrogen vehicles for the Gatwick, Crawley and Horley areas.
The deal comes on the back of a phenomenal year for Wrightbus, which was recently named as fastest growing bus manufacturer in the UK, commanding a 40% market share and delivering an average of 22 buses a week to operators.
Indeed the firm has registered 786 buses so far this year, which is 250 more than its nearest rivals in Europe and 500 more than BYD (Build Your Dreams), a Chinese-owned company that manufactures electric buses and other vehicles.
Wrightbus chief executive Jean-Marc Gales described the deal as “momentous”, adding: “It is hugely significant not just for Wrightbus and Ballymena, but for the wider United Kingdom.
“It represents a huge boost to the UK’s economy and it will support home-grown manufacturing, jobs and skills for the next three years and beyond.
“We’ve always been proud to support the UK’s supply chain and have already spent more than a billion pounds with UK firms.
“This Go-Ahead partnership will ensure even more money can be spent supporting good green jobs, and we’re incredibly excited about the training opportunities it will bring as we help to create a highly-skilled workforce for the future.”
Matt Carney, chief executive of Go-Ahead Bus, said: “This multi-million-pound investment and partnership with Wrightbus will accelerate the transition to zero-emission fleet across the UK.
“We are proud to be working in partnership with the UK Government and local authorities to deliver transformational environmental change for communities, while supporting UK jobs and the growth of the country’s supply chain.”
Under the terms of the deal, Go-Ahead will become official partners with the Wright Technology & Research Centre (W-Tech) at Queen’s University Belfast, the only research centre in the world dedicated to zero emission buses.
