Maker of Boris Johnson’s New Routemaster Bus Goes Bust

(Bloomberg) -- The maker of the double-decker London buses synonymous with Boris Johnson’s term as the city’s mayor has collapsed amid faltering demand for vehicles that reportedly cost 350,000 pounds ($434,000) apiece.

Wrightbus Ltd., based in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, has filed for administration, threatening 1,300 jobs at the manufacturer of the New Routemaster model, the Unite union said Wednesday, adding that a further 3,400 posts in the supply chain are also at risk.

Johnson commissioned the vehicle after decrying the so-called “bendy buses” that replaced an earlier generation of double-decker, leading the model to be dubbed the “Boris Bus.” Transport for London says it won’t buy any more after current mayor Sadiq Khan described the buses as the world’s most expensive, with windows that don’t open and batteries too expensive to replace. The Evening Standard said they cost 50,000 pounds more than rival autos.

Unite said the failure of Wrightbus delivered a “devastating blow” and called on the prime minister to intervene to keep the company going until a buyer can be found. Founder William Wright was among the first Northern Irish business leaders to support Brexit, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported in 2016.

U.K. registrations of new buses fell 31% in the second quarter of 2019, the 10th consecutive decline, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Economic and political instability ahead of Brexit and confusion over emission rules have affected operator confidence, the lobby group said.

The original Routemaster was introduced in 1956 and became a London icon, with 2,876 of the buses built through 1968, according to the Routemaster Association website. The vehicles were phased out in 2005 by Johnson’s predecessor Ken Livingstone.

--With assistance from Dara Doyle.

To contact the reporter on this story: Siddharth Philip in London at sphilip3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper, Andrew Noël

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