Independent ex‑operators.
Whether you’re thinking about selling, merging, growing or simply stepping back, talk it through with people who have run coach and minibus businesses themselves.
It’s all about the endgame
Most coach, minibus and bus businesses are family run, and many owners are reaching the point where they’re asking the same questions. Who takes over? What is the business actually worth? Is now the right time?
At the same time, the industry is changing fast. Larger groups and investors are actively buying, consolidation is accelerating, and new costs around compliance, drivers and vehicles are putting pressure on smaller operators.
That creates real opportunity, but only if you’re prepared. 21point5 helps you understand your options, get the business in shape, and make the move that’s right for you and your family, on your terms and in your time.
We know how sensitive this is. Staff, customers and competitors won’t hear about it from us, and we’re happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement before we discuss anything.
Our operation supports your operation
Exit · Merge · Grow
Totally independent, with practical support built around your business, not a template.
Thinking of selling or stepping back? We’ll help you understand what the business is worth, fix what could reduce the price, and find the right route out.
Joining forces with another operator can protect jobs, reduce costs and build a business worth more than the sum of its parts. We help you plan it properly.
Looking to grow? We’ll help you assess acquisitions, new contracts and new markets with the eye of someone who has been there before.
Stronger together
Large groups buy fuel, tyres, parts and insurance at prices smaller operators can’t reach alone. We’re bringing independent coach, minibus and bus operators together to change that.
What it could cover: fuel, tyres, parts, insurance, vehicle finance and purchases, telematics and software.
Who can join: any independent operator, from a handful of vehicles upwards.
What it costs: free to register interest, membership details to follow.
Registering interest doesn’t commit you to anything. We’ll keep you updated as the group takes shape.
Where does your business stand?
About 5 minutes, 12 questions. It will help you see how ready your business is for a sale, merger or growth, and where to focus first. It’s completely optional and strictly confidential, with no obligation of any kind.
Why 21point5 Group?
We’re not accountants or bankers who have learned about coaches from a spreadsheet. We’re ex-operators. We’ve run depots, dealt with the Traffic Commissioner, covered shifts when a driver didn’t turn up, and been through the process of buying and selling businesses ourselves.
That means we know what buyers look for, what reduces a price, and what really matters to an owner beyond the numbers: their staff, their customers and their name.
We’re independent. We’re paid by you, not by buyers, so our advice is always on your side.
40+
Years in the industry
Ex-operators
and business owners
CPC
Transport Manager qualified
UK-wide
support
The people behind 21point5 Group
Co-founder
Kevin has spent 40 years running coach, minibus and bus businesses, including his own coach and minibus company. He holds a Transport Manager Certificate of Professional Competence and knows from the inside what it takes to run a compliant, profitable operation, and what a business needs to look like when the time comes to sell, merge or grow.
Today he advises operators across the UK on operational reviews, financial planning, fleet management, compliance and exit strategy. He founded 21point5 to give owners independent, practical support from someone who has sat in their chair.
Co-founder
David has over 30 years’ experience buying, building, managing and selling businesses, particularly in the transport sector. He grew a two-person courier business by over 1,500% before selling it, then joined the board of South Mimms Travel, securing major contracts. He subsequently led the acquisition of Regs Coaches, managed its operations and orchestrated the sale of both coach businesses to private equity.
Today, David advises businesses on growth, acquisitions, restructuring and commercial strategy. An accredited Help to Grow mentor and mediator, he co-founded 21point5 to bring operators practical commercial expertise from someone who has personally built, bought and sold transport businesses.
21point5 in the press
routeone, the bus and coach industry’s weekly newspaper, has featured 21point5 Group in a full-length article on the growing appetite for coach businesses among large groups, private equity and individual buyers, and what owners should know before they sell.
Read the article on routeone“There was so much stuff that I found out in terms of due diligence, and it was unbelievable the number of hoops one must jump through.”
Kevin Wilde, in routeone
routeone
Front page to follow
21point5 works alongside a trusted group of ex-operators and industry specialists who, between them, have bought, sold and merged bus and coach businesses. Where your situation calls for it, we bring in the right people, from finance and legal specialists to experienced operators, so you get the expertise you need without the cost of a large firm.
Are you prepared for the future?
A no-obligation, confidential conversation costs you nothing, and could save you a great deal.