TMS acquire Konnectbus

[greenline712]

@TheGrandWazoo: I'm not sure that your list is entirely accurate (but thanks for posting it so concisely anyway!!). There seem to be duplicate entries for Start Hill Road, Stansted and River Way, Harlow . . . both sites noted with different vehicle allowances. However, AFAIK, there is no need to delete operating centres from a licence, unless they are no longer capable of being so used (demolition, for example); there is no cost attached. The number of vehicles authorised is not the same as the number of O-licence discs authorised. It would probably be sensible to tidy them up a bit . . . but it's not urgent to do so.

I must admit that the appointment of Alex Carter as Operations Director had passed me by . . . I suspect his experience will be greatly drawn upon in the next few years . . . with such a large area to control, there's much to do!! I'd love to know how they manage day-to-day operations . . . a huge number of local "leading drivers", perhaps (or am I being too "big company" oriented??

 

[Simon75]

Not being funny here @Simon75 but if you want to find out, just google Konectbus fleetlist https://www.ukbuses.co.uk/fleet/goeastanglia.pdf and it will tell you. Or if you want more detail, just do an operator search on the VOSA site?

Also, why would they get rid of East Midlands?

@TheGrandWazoo, that website I've read isn't 100% accurate,and the VOSA one i forgot. The reason why I said about East Midlands is nowhere near their main territory. Sorry for any missed understanding

 

[markymark2000]

They sold the software side to Faria in July (so no doubt got quite a bit of cash there) and had a restructure in August which brought in Alex Carter which hopefully brings experience and focus
https://cbwmagazine.com/vectare-sold-to-faria-education-group/

Fair. There was a lot of quick expansion before this purchase though as well with Simonds, Flagfinders and Central Connect. All suggesting there seems to be some kind of bottomless money pit.

Interesting that they have brought in Alex Carter. Hopefully he works some magic on simplifying the mess of the network.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

@TheGrandWazoo: I'm not sure that your list is entirely accurate (but thanks for posting it so concisely anyway!!). There seem to be duplicate entries for Start Hill Road, Stansted and River Way, Harlow . . . both sites noted with different vehicle allowances. However, AFAIK, there is no need to delete operating centres from a licence, unless they are no longer capable of being so used (demolition, for example); there is no cost attached. The number of vehicles authorised is not the same as the number of O-licence discs authorised. It would probably be sensible to tidy them up a bit . . . but it's not urgent to do so.

I must admit that the appointment of Alex Carter as Operations Director had passed me by . . . I suspect his experience will be greatly drawn upon in the next few years . . . with such a large area to control, there's much to do!! I'd love to know how they manage day-to-day operations . . . a huge number of local "leading drivers", perhaps (or am I being too "big company" oriented??

Yeah - I spotted that too. My thought was it might be a hangover from when you had Galleon Travel and Central Connect O licenses.

I don't know how they manage two drivers in Swaffham at the moment! Very much self managing, I suspect. When you overlay the Essex operations against each other (Kelvedon x 2, Braintree, Halstead, Sible Hedingham), there's clearly scope for rationalisation.

There was a lot of quick expansion before this purchase though as well with Simonds, Flagfinders and Central Connect. All suggesting there seems to be some kind of bottomless money pit.

It may well be that they have PE backing.

There's a difference between that and a certain Bristol based "entrenpreneur"

Interesting that they have brought in Alex Carter. Hopefully he works some magic on simplifying the mess of the network.

The network (or networks) have grown piecemeal as opportunities have been secured. As I say above, there's clearly scope for rationalisation.

 

[Jim James]

Yeah - I spotted that too. My thought was it might be a hangover from when you had Galleon Travel and Central Connect O licenses.

I don't know how they manage two drivers in Swaffham at the moment! Very much self managing, I suspect. When you overlay the Essex operations against each other (Kelvedon x 2, Braintree, Halstead, Sible Hedingham), there's clearly scope for rationalisation.


It may well be that they have PE backing.

There's a difference between that and a certain Bristol based "entrenpreneur"

The network (or networks) have grown piecemeal as opportunities have been secured. As I say above, there's clearly scope for rationalisation.

The best way to understand it is from the trading companies

Parent Company - Transport Made Simple (TMS)

Subsidiary Companies

Central Connect
Flagfinder
Galleon
Konectbus (From next Week)
Simonds

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The best way to understand it is from the trading companies

Parent Company - Transport Made Simple (TMS)

Subsidiary Companies

Central Connect
Flagfinder
Galleon
Konectbus (From next Week)
Simonds

The thing is that you had the original Vectare business in Derby/Notts/Cambs and that is probably worth keeping @Simon75 as it is less contract dependent (though someone can always offer a comedy cheque).

Then you have Simonds in Norfolk, Flagfinders in North Essex, Galleon in West Essex and Herts, the old Vectare in mid/South Essex ; that's a bit of a simplification but indicates standalone pockets of operation. Purchasing Konectbus/es means that there is now overlap especially in North and mid Essex. Hence it's that which will be ripe for rationalisation - there are two Kelvedon sites albeit next to each other, or Hedingham and Halstead being 5 miles apart.

There may be some other tweaks (like the Swaffham ops coming under Dereham too, or Thetford under Diss).

 

[Wawanesa]

The thing is that you had the original Vectare business in Derby/Notts/Cambs and that is probably worth keeping @Simon75 as it is less contract dependent (though someone can always offer a comedy cheque).

Then you have Simonds in Norfolk, Flagfinders in North Essex, Galleon in West Essex and Herts, the old Vectare in mid/South Essex ; that's a bit of a simplification but indicates standalone pockets of operation. Purchasing Konectbus/es means that there is now overlap especially in North and mid Essex. Hence it's that which will be ripe for rationalisation - there are two Kelvedon sites albeit next to each other, or Hedingham and Halstead being 5 miles apart.

There may be some other tweaks (like the Swaffham ops coming under Dereham too, or Thetford under Diss).

New poster, long time lurker here. What nobody seems to have noticed is that the co-founder of TMS has been posting on this very website ever since he was a teenager. Indeed he has been viewing this thread today.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

New poster, long time lurker here. What nobody seems to have noticed is that the co-founder of TMS has been posting on this very website ever since he was a teenager. Indeed he has been viewing this thread today.

In which case, I’m sure they’ve been chuckling

 

[Jim James]

In which case, I’m sure they’ve been chuckling

TMS will have their work cut out turning around Konect
The last accounts show it has a lot of debt and is making a trading loss. plus it is having high levels of cancelations
They will have to make changes to turn it to profit

 

[John HG1]

TMS? Trimdon Motor Services, surely!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

TMS? Trimdon Motor Services, surely!

I have to say I thought the same. Shows our age?

 

[gingerheid]

Genuinely fascinating company as it's evolved over time.

Am I right in saying that it is now a traditional bus company rather than a technology company? Or was the technology aspect also relevant to being a bus company?

I remember wondering if the expansion was Private Equity funded when they came to Cambridgeshire, and thinking from the accounts that they weren't?

 

[John HG1]

I have to say I thought the same. Shows our age?

Sadly, I suspect it does.

 

[richard13]

Genuinely fascinating company as it's evolved over time.

Am I right in saying that it is now a traditional bus company rather than a technology company? Or was the technology aspect also relevant to being a bus company?

I remember wondering if the expansion was Private Equity funded when they came to Cambridgeshire, and thinking from the accounts that they weren't?

Yes it has all changed and more over this last summer. I think this is about right.

Vectare Ltd (formerly VBO Transport Ltd) was the technology company behind Home to School / Work management with operation by others. It got involved in running buses.
It has been sold to Faria Education Limited, but Dominic Kalantary remains a director.

Transport Made Simple Ltd, owned by Dominic Kalantry and Peter Nathanail, the original founding pair, was created to make an umbrella to own and run the bus company purchases. Vectare bus operation was renamed to Central Connect Transport and Dominic is a now a non-executive director (works with the technology Vectare), and a team of industry professionals now runs the bus businesses. It is bound to use technology to design and monitor bus networks, staff / vehicle schedules, ...

Addition - Explanation.​

Taken from the 2023/4 accounts of Central Connect Transport Ltd, but then the original Vectare ltd.

The turnover was about £16 million with profit before tax of £2.5 million.

Post account activities;

On 31 May 2024, 100% of the issued share capital of the company (ie Vectare) was acquired by VBO Transport Limited by way of a
share for share exchange, both companies being under common control.
On 7 August 2024, by way of a capital reduction and demerger, the transport opcrating business was transferred from VBO
Transport Limited to Transport Made Simple Limited, which became the ultimate parent company of the group. The
technology business remaining with VBO Transport Limited.
On 28 August 2024, Vectare Limited changed its name to Central Connect Transport Limited, and VBO Transport Limited
changed its name to Vectare Limited.

As above, Vectare ltd has since been sold in 2025 and Dominic has remainder an executive director of it, where as Peter is MD of Central Connect buses.

 

[Jim James]

Operators for sale as REL Capital plans coach market exit​

The company made purchases of various operators during the pandemic and afterwards, including Redwing, Davian Coaches, Lewis Coaches, KB Coaches, Klarners Coaches and Advance Minibuses.

Whether TMS will be interest in any who knows. Probably only Klarners is in the general Central Connect area

 

[Wawanesa]

Konectbus Limited was duly sold on October 1st but to Central Connect Transport Limited rather than Transport Made Simple.
Anglian Bus, H.C. Chambers and Hedingham all remain with Go-Ahead as dormant companies.

 

[Camb]

A further article by Route One indicates big changes will be coming in two phases from January 2026, going to be interesting to see how things develop https://www.route-one.net/news/transport-made-simple-sets-out-east-of-england-roadmap/

Transport Made Simple has set out its roadmap for integration of its East of England bus network over the coming months.

It comes after the operator finalised its acquisition of Go East Anglia and operating companies Konectbus (Norfolk) and Konectbuses (Suffolk and Essex) on 1 October. The enlarged operation now runs close to 400 buses and employs over 800 staff.

In a statement titled Building a Passenger First Network, the operator writes: “In the coming months we intend on combining our existing network with Go East Anglia’s network. We believe that a joined up operation, utilising the talent, facilities, and vehicles we will gain from Go East Anglia will be able to deliver a far more reliable, sustainable and well integrated service than either company could have delivered alone.”

The company says its new network will now be developed in two phases. The first, in January 2026, will see services across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex restructured and resource consolidated to improve reliability and address what it describes as “struggling standards of delivery” faced by Konectbus passengers in recent months. A second review is scheduled ahead of Easter 2026, following public consultation.

Transport Made Simple says it intends to “work closely with the communities and people we serve to design a network together that puts them first”, and that it will engage with schools, universities, hospitals, and elected representatives during the process.

As well as service integration it has also signalled plans to invest in modernising its newly acquired fleets and will bid for additional local government funding, including through Essex County Council’s Love Your Bus scheme.

 

[Simon75]

Does the Vectare brand still exist ?

 

[WibbleWobble]

Does the Vectare brand still exist ?

Yes but as a transport supplier not an operator - similar to Zeelo/Kura.

 

[Jim James]

Yes but as a transport supplier not an operator - similar to Zeelo/Kura.

Transport Made Simple

TMS is the holding company and operates no buses

Under TMS as far as I can establish are the flowing companies

Flagfinder, Galleon Travel, Simonds and now Konect Bus, Lion Tyres

All the public service buses appear to trade under the Central Connect name but are not always shown on the Central Connect Web site. The Galleon company is now used for their East Midlands operations

They probably need now they have Konect to but all the buses on the Central Connect Web site perhaps organised by County

Simonds and Flagfinder should probably be kept for their coaching operations as locally those brands are probably well known

I assume Central Connect will review their operations.
When you take over a company as a going concern you take on its debt. Konect was also making a trading loss

There must be scope to streamline local management as well as rationalize garages. Could be they may move a few routes to different garages they also now have two routes operating between Sudbury and Braintree so they may look at that

 

[WibbleWobble]

Transport Made Simple

TMS is the holding company and operates no buses

But Simon was asking about the Vectare brand name. The bus operating side was split off to form TMS when Vectate (the platform) was sold. Vectare as a tech platform still exists.

 

[chubs]

I'm quite surprised there's nothing on the website or social media about this and Go Ahead is still all over both.

I wasn't expecting a redesign on 1st October but thought they'd want to make more of a deal over it and Go Ahead would want their name off it all?

Living on a Konect (ex Anglian) route and remembering the glory days I'm hoping for a radical transformation. First have invested heavily in fleet and reliability recently and it shows.

 

[greenline712]

I'm quite surprised there's nothing on the website or social media about this and Go Ahead is still all over both.

I wasn't expecting a redesign on 1st October but thought they'd want to make more of a deal over it and Go Ahead would want their name off it all?

Living on a Konect (ex Anglian) route and remembering the glory days I'm hoping for a radical transformation. First have invested heavily in fleet and reliability recently and it shows.

Has the deal concluded? If not, then it is an "intention to purchase". I dare say that when the contract is concluded the media will be updated. Patience!!

 

[markymark2000]

Has the deal concluded? If not, then it is an "intention to purchase". I dare say that when the contract is concluded the media will be updated. Patience!!

It has. Peter Nathanail (TMS MD) posted on Linkedin the other day about it being the first day of TMS owning Konectbus https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7379026654901460992-xcOT (screenshot attached of the post)

 

[richard13]

I'm quite surprised there's nothing on the website or social media about this and Go Ahead is still all over both.

I wasn't expecting a redesign on 1st October but thought they'd want to make more of a deal over it and Go Ahead would want their name off it all?

Living on a Konect (ex Anglian) route and remembering the glory days I'm hoping for a radical transformation. First have invested heavily in fleet and reliability recently and it shows.

I notice that although not much has changed, some things have been adjusted. The companies registered address has been changed to Nottingham along with the email address.

I suspect the emphasis at present is on staff and back office systems to keep the current service running. They have said that service changes in January is planned and that may well be the trigger for a level of rebranding and the first that the public really sees.

However one relevant change has already happened. https://www.konectbuses.co.uk/88-826

However, to provide additional capacity around school times in the short term, we have reached an agreement with Flagfinders, a local coach operator, to accept Konectbuses tickets for route 88 on Flagfinders route 826, which runs between the Hedinghams, Halstead and Colchester at school times.

(Both TMS companies now, not competitors)

 

[Voyager 2953]

Two weeks ago about 20 Ex Go Ahead London E200s and E400s were delivered to Simmonds. Good luck to them, they’ll need a lot of work.

 

[Wawanesa]

Due, no doubt, to the the number of things that needed to be changed, the Konectbus web site is incorrect. The registered office has been changed to Diss rather than Nottingham and the company registration number is incorrect. Ironically the registered address of Simonds ("one "s") is at Nottingham.

The Simonds depot has excellent facilities so I suspect that any vehicles needing a lot of work will end up there.

 

[Jim James]

Due, no doubt, to the the number of things that needed to be changed, the Konectbus web site is incorrect. The registered office has been changed to Diss rather than Nottingham and the company registration number is incorrect. Ironically the registered address of Simonds ("one "s") is at Nottingham.

The Simonds depot has excellent facilities so I suspect that any vehicles needing a lot of work will end up there.

It seems to be a bit confusing there is which is the existing Central Connect Company but they have also changed Konect Buses to Central Connect Transport Ltd but with a different address and company number which does not make sense I assume it will need to be corrected

CENTRAL CONNECT TRANSPORT LIMITED​

Company number 09964786

Konect bus though has been changed to Central Connect Transport Ltd with registered address in Diss Mo 6362308

 

[Kernow Dave]

Two weeks ago about 20 Ex Go Ahead London E200s and E400s were delivered to Simmonds. Good luck to them, they’ll need a lot of work.

I wonder if these are for Central Connect and maybe part of the deal?

 

[richard13]

It seems to be a bit confusing there is which is the existing Central Connect Company but they have also changed Konect Buses to Central Connect Transport Ltd but with a different address and company number which does not make sense I assume it will need to be corrected

CENTRAL CONNECT TRANSPORT LIMITED​

Company number 09964786

Konect bus though has been changed to Central Connect Transport Ltd with registered address in Diss Mo 6362308

Konectbus Limited remains a company 03149258, but now owned by Central Connect Ltd and not Go Ahead group.
The 29 Arboretum Street, Nottingham address is for Lemans, an Accountancy and Business advisory company. They will be Central Connect's and TMS's accountants, but Konectbus Ltd may well currently have a different accountant and so they have chosen Simmonds depot in Diss as the registered address. The registered address can be any address connectable to the directors.

Simmond's at Diss appear to have the space and central location to be the new HQ, at least for now. Many things have to change and be updated and we will see in due course. The important thing is that current bus and coach services run today and tomorrow and the staff and suppliers get paid. The changes will happen when that is stable and the management have time for alterations, some already planned with others to be planned or be found and resolved. If the website isn't perfect it really doesn't matter as long as it is workable.

There are always more personal considerations as to where the senior management team individuals currently live and whether they want to move house or not.