London red bus maker enters administration

Wrightbus, the manufacturers of London’s iconic red double decker buses, entered administration yesterday, a spokesman for the company confirmed. Wrightbus is best known for supplying New Routemaster buses to Transport for London (TFL) under the mayorship of Boris Johnson, who is now Britain’s prime minister. Based in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, the company is one of the province’s largest employers.

The administration procedure is to be undertaken by Deloitte. The firm said 1,200 of 1,250 Wrightbus employees were made redundant yesterday. The Unite union has predicted a further 3,400 jobs will be endangered throughout the supply chain. A spokesman for Wrightbus confirmed the business -- founded in 1946 -- had entered administration, but said that a statement was not planned yesterday. DUP MP Ian Paisley said the administrator now “has a week to find a buyer”.

Wrightbus -- which based its business model on production of low-emissions vehicles -- has been seeking investment or a new owner as it struggles with cash problems. “This is a workforce at the cutting edge of technological advancements in the design and supply of green public transport,” said Jackie Pollock, regional secretary of the Unite trade union.

As recently as 2016 the firm was awarded a $77 million contract to produce the vehicles for the capital. The iconic red “double decker” vehicles with a sleek updated design were dubbed “Boris buses”. But they were plagued with cost overrun and design issues -- including ventilation problems which saw passengers suffer in uncomfortable heat.