§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Secretary of Slate for Transport when the sale of British Rail Maintenance Ltd. and the level 5 maintenance depots will commence.
§ Mr. FreemanNext week British Rail will have available, for suitable prospective bidders, a detailed information memorandum offering for sale its maintenance depots at Eastleigh, Doncaster, Wolverton, Ilford. Chart Leacon and Glasgow and an Electronic Service Centre at Swindon.
For commercial and legal reasons, the memorandum will be available only to bona fide bidders who have signed a confidentiality undertaking. The principal areas covered by the memorandum are:
- The nature of the businesses and the overall market in which they operate;
- Future workload contracts;
- Management and employees, including pensions and travel facilities;
- The process for separating the businesses from British Rail;
- historical financial information.
The six depots do a range of maintenance and repair work on vehicles and components such as bogies, but each tends to specialise in particular types of repair and of vehicle. The Swindon ESC repairs, produces and maintains a range of specialist equipment.
The depots are to be sold as going concerns with workload contracts in place. Their customers will be the various businesses which now own rail rolling stock, principally the three rolling stock companies—ROSCOs—which have taken over BR's domestic passenger rolling stock fleets for leasing to train operators. Other customers include the freight businesses and Rail Express Systems, which is responsible for BR's business with the Post Office.
The depots are being offered separately, though buyers will be encouraged to bid for more than one depot. In evaluating bids BR will have regard to a range of objectives, including the extent to which competition may be fostered in the heavy repair industry. I hope that bidders will include MEBO teams from the depots.
BR will seek indicative bids by the end of August. I expect the sales to be completed by the end of the calendar year.