(03 Jun 2014, 10:54 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Isn't EU law that the tender goes to the lowest bidder? Nexus may love the bid to go to an operator providing a bid which is much higher - they can't if it is the case re EU law. Their hands are tied.[/b]

For all we know, Compass have put their bid in, based on a new vehicle arriving in the depot - either on hire or bought outright, for the deal to fall through, the vehicle to suffer mechanical failure or a whole host of other reasons.

Suppose it isn't that different to GNE bidding for a stack of DCC contracts 10yrs ago and having to acquire deckers from all over the shop in order to fulfill the deal.
There were issues with those acquired vehicles and fortunately, alternatives (although extremely unreliable) were available.