Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Kingdom bus operator sees profits drive ahead

George Devine of Moffat and Williamson. Image: Gareth Jennings/DC Thomson.
George Devine of Moffat and Williamson. Image: Gareth Jennings/DC Thomson.

Fife bus and coach operator Moffat & Williamson saw its profits almost quadruple last year.

New filings at Companies House show the business produced revenues of £4.5 million in the year to November 30, an improvement on the £4.26m of a year earlier.

Profits also pushed ahead with a pre-tax return of £231,607, up from £102.187 in 2015.

A tax credit in the year of £165,686 took the company to an over all profit for the year of £397,293, almost quadruple the outcome of the previous year.

The group operates out of two sites at Glenrothes and Newport-on-Tay and has a private hire operation and a service bus network.

A significant proportion of the group’s work comes from local authority contracts with Fife Council, with school buses being a mainstay.

In his strategic report to the accounts, managing director George Devine said the group had invested to modernise its fleet and cut its carbon footprint.

“In the year 2015/16, the company purchased seven new environmentally friendly service vehicles and are about to take delivery of two new coaches to enhance an already impressive coach fleet,” Mr Devine said.

“Furthermore, improvements are being made to the Glenrothes depot and a new Ticketer ticketing system was installed in all service buses.”

The company currently operates a total fleet of 72 vehicles and carries a workforce of around 100 staff.

Mr Devine said issues in the prior year with higher than anticipated insurance and repair costs had settled down in 2016 to more normal levels.

He said the company’s improved peformance had continued into the current financial year and it was taking advantage of new opportunities – including making its first foray into the Dundee market with two service routes to Mill O’Mains and Broughty Ferry.

Mr Devine said the company would assess other tenders as they arose.

“We are just continuing on from where we were last year,”he said.

“We are eight months into this year, we are still busy and things are looking reasonable.

“The bulk of our business is local authority contracts and the service network, which has been quite good and year-on-year is holding its own.”

Moffat and Willamson has operated as a single entity since 1978.

It was formed when Moffat & Sons of Cardenden and Williamsons of Gauldry – which were both founded in 1945 – amalgamated.