The Highland Council have announced that following a period of negotiation and due diligence, it has been able to acquire the entire shareholding of D&E Coaches Limited.
Provision of home to school transport is a high-cost statutory function of the Council which has caused significant budget pressures in recent years.
The Council state that acquisition of the company will enable them to “accelerate provision of public transport services in the area, achieve operational cost efficiencies and reduce the risk of future contract cost increases”.
Founded in 1996 with one minibus, D&E have become the largest private hire coach and minibus operator in the north, with around 60 vehicles. In addition to cruise liner excursions from Invergordon, branded vehicles operate on Highlander Tours to Loch Ness, and on open top City Sightseeing Tours of Inverness.
D&E operate the strategic Inverness to Ullapool Citylink service, connecting with the Stornoway ferry and also provide other coaches in Citylink livery for some journeys south from Inverness. Some of their white coaches are used for Citylink duplicates, also for rail replacement services when required.
Back in 2019, D&E Coaches handed over most of its public service and school contracts to Stagecoach to allow themselves to concentrate on private and contract hire work. The trend has been in the opposite direction in recent years with D&E regaining some of these services.
Acquisition by the Council will allow D&E’s founder and MD to retire into an advisory role after 40+ years in the industry. Meanwhile, a ‘business as usual’ transition will maintain services to customers as a going concern, and will provide job security for management and staff under the wing of the Council.
The acquisition will significantly augment the local authority’s in house bus services which were launched in 2022. The Council’s operations initially included a mix of rural services and school services. In January 2025, the Council took over Inverness city route 16, previously operated by Stagecoach and in February 2025, have introduced a new route 108, a twice weekly shoppers’ service round the southern suburbs of Inverness.
