Wrightbus goes into administration, risking 1,400 jobs

Wrightbus goes into administration, risking 1,400 jobs

Wrightbus, maker of the revived Routemaster bus and one of Northern Ireland’s biggest employers has collapsed into administration, putting 1,400 jobs at risk.

The failure of Wrightbus represents the UK’s second significant insolvency of the week, following the demise of the holiday group, Thomas Cook.

The Ballymena-based engineering company had been scrambling to find a buyer. The company was known for the manufacturing the New Routemaster buses launched by the then-mayor Boris Johnson in 2012.

At the end of last week, an expected sale did not come into fruition when Chinese engineering group Weichai and a firm led by JCB heir, Jo Bamford, pulled out of talks. This was made worse after a few days when Northern Irish businessman Darren Donnelly also withdrew from making a potential bid for the firm.