Oldham's bus company reportedly be up for sale

First Group could be about to sell it's Manchester Division

The owners of the bus company that run the majority of services in Greater Manchester is reportedly up for sale.

First Manchester - owned by FirstGroup - is one of the largest bus operators in the region with more than 580 buses and employing around 2000 people.

According to reports in The Telegraph the company are looking for a quick sale to stem mounting losses and are willing to take a cut price to get the money in the bank.

FirstGroup - who have a depot here in Oldham and at sites at Cheetham Hill, Bolton and Rusholme - have the option to sell each depot off individually or sell the whole regional division.

If a sale does goes ahead industry experts want reassurances that routes and fares won't be affected.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent transport user watchdog Transport Focus, said passengers would be looking for reassurance about routes and fares in the wake of the reports.

FirstGroup to jettison loss-making Manchester bus network - passengers will be looking for re-assurance about routes and fares https://t.co/u5YQGgBNMu via @telebusiness

— Anthony Smith (@AnthonySmithTF) February 5, 2019

The group refused to comment on the claims, but said the entire business portfolio was kept 'under constant review'.