(20 Apr 2026, 1:23 pm)Adrian wrote On the latter point, I'm not sure I agree. I would hope that lessons have been learned about the way the big boys were able to grab most of the SME work, and that they resolve that going forward. There's definitely a role for SMEs to play here, and I think the security of a long-term contract award will allow them to invest.
We could end up with a situation where someone buys Northstar, for example, to get a foot into the market - as we saw with Tower Transit and Huyton Travel when Huyton won more contracts than it has actual buses!