CBNW joins Competition Review case-study

Back in January 2010, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referred local bus services to the Competition Commission (CC) for investigation and report. It was December 2011 before the CC produced its comprehensive final report (see http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/assets/competitioncommission/docs/pdf/inquiry/ref2010/localbus/pdf/00_sections_1_15.pdf) but one of the conclusions of the report was that new entrants to the bus industry were uncommon.
This week, Classic Bus North West has been invited to be one of a select number of new entrants to the bus market to take part in a 5-year case study which will monitor the extent and reaction of competition in the local bus market. As part of the case studies, the selected operators will submit quarterly reports to the consultants which will include a range of empirical research. CBNW welcomes the research, with other operators selected being regarded as competing with examples of the major bus groups.

Service 22 started operation in September 2012 and CBNW is regarded as a 'new entrant' to the local bus market. This week, CBNW agreed to take part in a 5-year case study that will monitor the effectiveness, or otherwise of competition in local bus markets of operators that have been established since the Competition Commission's 2011 report.