It certainly is a turbulent time in the micro independent bus market as recently opened Southampton Mini Link has announced it’s first takeover of another, more established operator.
Poole based Dekkabus Ltd which mainly operated private hire, schools and rail replacement work in Hampshire and Dorset, was handed over to Simon Gard as of Friday 25th September. There are no details of whether this was a takeover, business sale, or other arrangement; but it seems fairly hasty with Southampton Mini Link previously welcoming one of the Poole based DAF double-deck vehicles into it’s fleet just days before.
Included in the acquisition is a classic Bristol Lodekka, registration KRU224F. The vehicle is currently off the road as it is having work done on the engine. The bus was originally brought into the Dekkabus fleet by Trevor Shore MBE, and will be available for hire from next year.
Interestingly though, Southampton Mini Link has opted to not continue the core of the private hire business that Dekkabus had developed. Existing bookings are being honoured, but no new bookings are being taken. The existing Dekkabus website has been removed.
The Dekkabus and Simon Gard (entrepreneur starting up Southampton Mini Link, previously owners of Southbourne Buses and GardBus) connection runs deep, with Simon occasionally driving for Dekkabus and the two companies swapping a Ringwood School service between them on a regular basis. Hopefully this will translate into a company that starts to become competition for established operators.