Member Info for Trent700

Levis, I'm not sure about Nigel Farage or his new party. There was/is absolutely nothing wrong with his old Brexit party IMO. He left it when things got difficult for him, and there is nothing to stop him doing the same thing here.

I did have a lot of respect for him until that point, but to walk away when he was needed the most begs the question of his level of commitment to this new party.

I also hold the view that he should not have criticised his successor the way he did. You can't bail on any organisation and then complain that someone else is running it from a different point of view to your own.

I'm just not convinced that this new party is or will be what it appears to be on the face of it.

Ukip/For Britain is the way to go for me I think.

Hi Dabbler. Yes, another good warm day.

Bodes well for the bank holiday drinkers, and of course those that like a barbie.

It was nice to see The beer section fully stocked with our brands at Morrison's this morning. while I was out doing our weekly shopping.

It was rather nice to see. Doubtless we should see some increased sales today.

@ Moniman.

I think Branson has other things on his mind at the moment.

His Virgin Trains franchise has had some of them blown out due to issues with the Government wanting him along with Stagecoach to take on extra pension liabilities and SGC not being prepared to do so.

I'd be gloating about it if my holding there hadn't taken such a beating over it.

I did a bit of a search on it, due to Facebook being Facebook.

Apparently, there is a level of truth in it. Ok, it is only a rumour at the moment, and nothing is certain as yet, but that said given the debacle of those rail franchises, I think it makes sense to look into this to help to recover some of the lost revenue from them.

As long as SGC don't cripple themselves with unnecessary additional debt to pay for it then this seems like a good idea.

Seen a news item on Facebook (make of that what you will):-

Stagecoach rumoured to be considering Arriva takeover.

Stagecoach is weighing up a potential takeover bid for Arriva, city sources have told financial website This is Money.

According to the article, Stagecoach’s main interest lies in Arriva’s bus business, which currently operates over 5,000 vehicles across its UK and European arms.
As reported in CBW1387, Arriva’s German owner Deutsche Bahn has announced it’s ‘exploring options’ for the sale of the company to reduce its debt pile.

Deutsche Bahn acquired 100% of shares in Arriva back in 2010 at a cost of £1.5bn, but by May of 2016 it was planning to sell off 45% of its stake – raising a projected £3.6bn.

However, these plans were curtailed months later as a result of the Brexit vote.

Rumours of a sale began circulating once again in January of this year, although sources told news agency Reuters that Brexit was making Arriva a ‘challenging’ company to value.



You can read more Bus News here: cbwmagazine.com/category/news/buses

I can't personally see it myself, but thought I'd share the article to see if anyone knew anything about it.

And welcome on board, Dabbler1

* a lovely start to the Easter Weekend.

A lovely staff to the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

Should be a nice boost for us here for accommodation, and of course eating & drinking out.

Interest in the pharmaceutical sector over the years, but after stumbling on this one recently, I think this one has got great growth potential over the next few years.

I originally bought 1000 a couple of weeks ago as a small punt, but going over the last trading update again recently I can see potential increased market share gain over the course of time.

So much so I added another 500 shares in here today, May well add further at a later stage of I'm right.

@ Dinoken.

Hi mate. I guess it depends on where you eat. Some may well be better with their offering than others.

I've eaten I a couple of Marston's pubs, one in Didsbury near where I live, and one in Stourbridge while visiting friends. Both have fared quite well.

I was also in a Greene King pub also near where I live and it was awful. But as I say, some of it will depend on the skill of the chef, as well as the quality of the ingredients.

Some shares are like that.

I have 3000 shares in here, and in an odd way this low sp suits me quite well as it goes. I usually reinvest my dividends so always get quite a few out of it.

And has not tanked any further, which is a relief.

I've not heard anything back yet from the Company Secratary, but as soon as I do I'll post it on here.

I hope that this is as far as we drop. Fingers crossed.

Off to the Company Secretary.

Good evening Mr Vaux.

As a shareholder of Stagecoach, I was quite surprised and shocked at the RNS relating to the decision by the DfT to exclude our company from those 3 rail franchises.

While this was disappointing, I do not necessarily see it as a bad thing in the sense of the pensions risks involved.

However, I do have some concerns relating to the negative impact that this is likely to have to us as a business, namely the probable loss of revenue to the company, and other possible negative impact(s) to the company. Do we have contingencies in place to minimise potential damage to earnings elsewhere going forward?

Having received an excellent standard of service from East Midlands Trains and it's train crews in the past, going to and from work, this was one of the main reasons I made the decision to invest into Stagecoach, and have been very happy to being a shareholder of the company.

I do only have a small holding in the company, but as you can appreciate, this issue does raise questions as to how the potential negative impact could be detrimental to the company over the medium to long term performance relating to income, divdends, etc and of course the share price.

Any information/assurances you can provide would be very helpful.

Thank you in advance.

I don't usually bother doing things like this, but I just wanted to see what comes back.

I will of course post whatever response I get.

@ Rooster.

Lol. I hadn't thought of that. I see the pun in there now. Ha ha.

There have been more buys than sells today. I'm not sure if that is an act of investors taking a chance on recovery, or closing of short positions. Maybe a bit of both? Hard to say.

And your 22:08 post on First Group also last Thursday

Stagecoach Firstgroup Virgin who cares?
Travellers are freezing them out.
No money no business.
Itll start to hit soon.
The station kiosks get nothing at all either.
Do not depend on them in any way shape or form for work shopping or any other
purpose.
Ha ha ha
Use the bus bike or car.(taxi)
No hassle no umpleasantness.

You clearly have nothing of any value to say, and hours a saying too much of it.

This is your post on FTP last Thursday at 22:05;

05Trust Pilot Great Western Railway Reviews 350 • Bad

This company is unfit for purpose.

All complaints are fobbed off by 'Brad' taking the piss.

Dont worry Virgin closes down in November.

Am keeping every penny away from these crooks.

I do not depend on them Ive made sure of that.

They can sit in their ticket office whistling till the cows come home they get nothing from me.

Worldgoround. Didn't you post the same $hit on FGP about them as well?

I don't mind critism on bad news from you, but you seem to be just doing the rounds with a view to do nothing to stir the pot, presumably to serve your own agenda.

By all means criticise but at least do so constructively.

Interesting points on both sides here. I guess it all boils down to how Marston's decides to spin it.

Certainly offer free/low cost charges at first to gain momentum to see which way the wind blows, if it proves successfully then use it to our advantage.

@ Martin1

Thank you for that.

I had not followed National Express too much, but I did remember hearing about them walking away from a rail franchise a while ago, and that came to mind after reading that link that was posted on here the other day.

As you say, Brian Souter is reputedly no fool. This gives me confidence that the company is in good hands.

With these franchises though, I'm not so sure why any other company would want to take them on under the terms & conditions the Government wants to impose. It does seem to be quite reckless to do that, even if they do have deep pockets. Still, if they are foolish enough to take that risk then more fool them.