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The Go-Ahead Group plc ("Go-Ahead") is delighted to have been selected as the preferred bidder for Plymouth CityBus ("PCB"). Completion is subject to final due diligence and full council approval, expected at the end of November.

PCB is currently owned by Plymouth City Council and operates a high quality fleet of 173 buses and 11 coaches from a large freehold depot in the centre of Plymouth. The company carries around 14 million passengers each year across a wide network in and around Plymouth.

Keith Ludeman, Chief Executive of Go-Ahead, said: "We are very pleased to have been selected as the preferred bidder and are now working closely with Plymouth City Council to complete the deal. Plymouth CityBus has an excellent reputation and fits well with our strategy of investing in high quality bus companies in urban areas which then maintain a strong local brand and high degree of autonomy to ensure close links to local customers and other stakeholders."

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Notes to editors

Go-Ahead

Go-Ahead is one of the UK's leading providers of passenger transport services operating in the bus, rail and aviation services sectors. Employing around 27,000 people across the country, around 960 million passenger journeys are undertaken on our services each year.

Our local focus

We believe that public transport is best provided locally. All of our bus and rail companies are locally branded and form an integral part of the communities they serve. We empower our local managers to deliver services to their own markets in the way they best see fit. This local focus and understanding of community needs means we are able to provide high quality services.

Environment & corporate responsibility

Go-Ahead is the only UK public transport Group to have been officially certified with the Carbon Trust Standard after taking action on climate change. The Carbon Trust Standard is the UK's only independent certification recognising achievements in action on climate change by leading organisations in industry, commerce and the public sector. For the third year in a row Go-Ahead achieved a gold rating in Business in The Community's (BITC) 2009 Corporate Responsibility Index – the highest rating amongst comparable participating transport operators. These awards highlight our commitment to being a responsible employer and public transport operator.

For further information visit www.go-ahead.com

Plymouth CityBus

Plymouth CityBus was formed in 1986 following the 1985 Transport Act (deregulation) and is wholly owned by Plymouth City Council. It provides a local bus service in the urban area of Plymouth in Devon in the South West of England.

Plymouth CityBus currently secures just over 60% of the Plymouth market measured in patronage terms with a fleet of approximately 180 vehicles and an annual turnover in excess of £15million. It employs 485 staff and is based from a site located in Milehouse in Plymouth of just over 10 acres.

For further information visit www.plymouthcitybus.co.uk

Plymouth City Council

Plymouth City Council is a diverse and complex business offering over 300 distinct services to residents and the public. It employs over 12,000 staff in a variety of occupations. Across the authority staff are responsible for the implementation of a huge amount of national legislation and regulation.

The Council provides a massive range of services from libraries and museums, to social care and trading standards, plus vast uniform city-wide services like refuse collection and street cleaning. It helps to tackle difficult issues, like reducing people's fear of crime or helping children who face serious disadvantages fulfil their potential by working with partner agencies in the police and health.

Plymouth City Council is a democratically accountable organisation that needs to respond to the electorate's views, whilst at the same time trying to influence public behaviour in areas like carbon emissions and recycling.

Plymouth City Council became a unitary authority in 1998.