Rising fuel costs having ‘major’ impact on Fife bus company

The boss of a Fife bus company said rising fuel costs are having “a major impact” on the business.

Moffat and Williamson managing director George Devine said the firm tries to limit the impact by buying fuel at the best possible prices.

Drivers are also warned to avoid motorway service stations to fill up coaches, he said.

It comes as the family firm, based in Newport-on-Tay, reports a rise in sales of more than £1 million.

Newly filed accounts for Moffat and Williamson show turnover for the year to November 2021 rose to £6.9m, up from £5.7m the year previous.

Mr Devine said the “dramatically increased turnover” came despite private hire income falling below pre-pandemic levels.

The firm also reported a pre-tax loss of almost £74,000 for the reporting period. That compares to a profit of over £238,000 the year before.

More contracts won by Fife bus firm

Mr Devine’s strategic report, published alongside the accounts, set out the firm’s performance for the period.

In it, he said: “Private hire income remains below pre-Covid levels, however service income has increased steadily as more contracts have been won.

“Gross margins have been squeezed to 4.6% from 6.8%, essentially due to an increase in depreciation in the year as bus values were hit.

“The private hire market is still recovering from the effects of Covid, and this is driving down the value of coaches.”

Mr Devine said the firm was encouraged by the increase in its cash balance. It rose from £600,000 to more than £1.2m.

Net debt has also decreased by more than £1m, he added.

The managing director said that left the company “in a much more robust position than in previous years”.

The firm’s accounts show it has a headcount of 127, down three from the year before.

Despite the drop in staff, the wage bill of £3.3m was slightly up on the previous year’s total of £3.1m.

Moffat & Williamson’s future plans

Looking to the future, Mr Devine hopes figures for 2022 will signal a return to pre-pandemic trading.

He added: “The strains of Covid-19 are hopefully largely behind the business.

“Although still affecting trading in 2021, we believe that 2022 year will see an improvement in the private hires as the company gets closer to business as usual.

The business, which also has a depot in Viewfield Industrial Estate in Glenrothes, also hopes to win more contracts.