All aboard for growth as Optare seals deal

The firm, which has one of its two operating sites in Leeds, won the deal with Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority.

The five-year contract covers the Optare hybrid buses that will start entering service later this year. The authority's hybrid fleet, which will be one of the largest in the country, will be made up of Optare Solo, Solo SR, Versa and Tempo models.

Glenn Saint, Optare's commercial director said: "Our success in winning this important contract is a measure of the level we have reached in our understanding and experience of hybrid technology and of fully integrated electrical systems."

Earlier this week Optare said its order book is at a 12-month high and it anticipates stronger UK demand, particularly for single deck buses.

Announcing its annual results for the year to December 31, the group said it has accepted an offer for its Rotherham site which was closed last July.

The closure meant that the group's operating sites were reduced from three to two in Leeds and Blackburn, which are both providing flexible production.

The group is anticipating strong demand for single-deck buses in 2011 and 2012, driven by the desire among transport operators to avoid new legislation in 2013 and compliance with Disability Discrimination legislation which is required for all single-decker buses by 2014.

In addition as the UK economy climbs out of recession, more buses will be replaced.

Optare has almost halved its workforce from a peak of 913 full-time staff to 474, resulting in a 2.5m non-recurring redundancy charge.

The group, which at one point employed 300 staff at its Leeds factory, introduced short-time working at its Blackburn and Leeds plants.

However all staff are once again working a full working week.

The group said the order book had increased by 189 per cent from 8.8m in September to 25.4m last month.

Optare supplies the big transport operators including Stagecoach, Go-Ahead and First Group.

The group said its investment in green bus technology is well-timed as the trend toward low carbon technology gathers momentum.