Bus shuttle service up for sale

It announced last Friday Dot2Dot was up for sale and buyers are actively being sought. The company would not disclose the price it was looking for or the value of the business.

Joy Williams of National Express said: “We are selling it rather than closing it down and Dot2Dot is still taking bookings.

“It’s been a difficult decision for us to make because it is a fantastic product but unfortunately our half-yearly results revealed growth was not meeting expectations. But we have had high customer satisfaction reports and the corporate account book is very good.

“But we think it would be more suited to being operated by a specialist business such as a private hire company while we concentrate on our core business.�

The Dot2Dot brand was officially launched in central London last November before expanding to include Canary Wharf. Passengers booked a time slot when they would be collected by one of the service’s 83 12-seat minibuses and were then taken directly to their destination.

But the service encountered problems, with the Gatwick route discontinued in July and the fleet of buses was cut to 51. The company also reassessed its target market and shifted the emphasis to corporate business rather than holidaymakers.

Ms Williams said: “We have had more than 100,000 satisfied customers since last November, and there has been great success in growing the corporate market as companies have sought to cut their expenses on things like taxis.

“We’ve also promoted it as an alternative to the Tube for commuters coming into Liverpool Street station and that has been very popular.�

The future of the on-demand service now hinges on whether a buyer can be found.