Hansard

The Convener Lab

Our next item of business is an evidence-taking session with the management of bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis. On 11 June, Alexander Dennis announced a co...

Paul Davies (Alexander Dennis)

The Scotland site’s capacity is about 300 to 400 buses a year. The Government has asked us what it would take to postpone the consultation and stop the proce...

The Convener Lab

What is the number?

Paul Davies

It is about 70 to 100 buses this year. From our perspective, though, there are wider issues. Obviously, there has been a conversation about a potential furlo...

The Convener Lab

But the 2022 act covers the whole of the UK, including Scarborough. I am trying to specifically understand what you would require in the next few months to e...

Paul Davies

We do not have sufficient volume in our order book to sustain two manufacturing sites in the UK, which is why we are looking at consolidation activity.

The Convener Lab

How many more would you need next year to be able to run both sites?

Paul Davies

In the region of 300 to 400.

The Convener Lab

And roughly how many orders do you have for next year?

Paul Davies

Very few.

The Convener Lab

Okay. If you were able to secure those orders—between 70 and 100 this year, say, and 300 next year—would you give an absolute guarantee that production would...

Paul Davies

I would then make a further point about how we bridge the gap in our order book that is coming in the summer, and our being able to build bodies in Scotland ...

The Convener Lab

We will come to the very specific issues about the landscape in a second, but the fact is that those conversations will not result in a solution in the next ...

Paul Davies

There are wider implications for us. Over the past few years, we have spent a lot of money on retaining skills and capacity in Scotland—for example, we have ...

The Convener Lab

You seem to be suggesting that, even if you got extra orders, you would consolidate anyway.

Paul Davies

Our message to the Government has been that a furlough scheme has to be considered as part of a bigger picture, given some of the other issues that we have b...

The Convener Lab

A scheme would allow conversations to continue, because, even with the best will in the world, changes to some of those things might take a bit of time—they ...

Paul Davies

It is absolutely not a done deal—it is a consultation process. We are very grateful for the active engagement that we have had from both Governments and othe...

The Convener Lab

I come back to the point that a lot of those changes are not going to happen in 45 days. Might a commitment to having those wider discussions about the longe...

Debbie McCreath (Alexander Dennis)

To add to Paul Davies’s point, I would say that our ask of the Government at this time has been about the short-term solution. We have split the solutions in...

The Convener Lab

Okay. That is a wee bit clearer. However, you still require a minimum number of orders. Are you saying that an extra 70 for the rest of this year and 300 nex...

Debbie McCreath

Yes.

Michelle Thomson (Falkirk East) (SNP) SNP

I have a couple of wee questions. First, it seems as if you are saying that, even if you reach the magical number of orders, you still have to get them sold,...

Paul Davies

Yes.

Michelle Thomson SNP

Given the business’s numbers and the financial flows that it has seen over the past few years—and well before Covid—it appears that there was a trigger for t...

Paul Davies

Historically, UK market registrations were between 2,500 and 3,000 buses per annum. Before the move to low-emission vehicles only, the competitive landscape ...

Michelle Thomson SNP

You have again articulated the position as it has progressed over a number of years. We can see that, but it looks as if the trigger has been the refinancing...

Paul Davies

No. Our proposal has been entirely led by me and the UK executive team, although it will go through the executive of NFI Group, which is our parent company, ...

Michelle Thomson SNP

Okay. Thank you.

Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con

Good morning. Following on from those questions, am I right in saying that you mostly only produce buses to order?