Coach drivers and office staff are worried their jobs are at risk after a corporate takeover of an Epsom institution approaching its centenary year.

Epsom Coaches, which was founded in 1920, is to be directly managed by Twickenham-based RATP Dev London from June 25, putting an end to a number of its services.

The company, which had record bookings for this summer, according to managing director Steve Whiteway, who is retiring because of the takeover, will be renamed Quality Line and will no longer run its holiday and tour packages.

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It will continue to carry out contract work from National Express and local health authorities from its depot in Roy Richmond Way, Epsom, said Mr Whiteway, who first joined the company as a trainee coach driver 37 years ago.

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“It’s not the way I want to go. I wasn’t planning to go until 2020,” he added.

“I think the day I actually walk out of here will be very, very hard.

“My staff are very loyal – they’re more concerned about me than they are about themselves.”

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Staff were informed of the takeover by letter on Monday (April 3).

One coach driver – who has worked at Epsom Coaches for 15 years and who did not want to be named – said he had “heard rumours” of the changes, but the announcement still came as a shock.

He added that the company was not unionised and that he and his colleagues may have to find other jobs.

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Visitors to Epsom Coaches on an open day

He told the Epsom Guardian: “All the office staff went in for a meeting and then came out in tears – so we knew something was happening.

“No one knows what is happening about the jobs side of it all. It’s like a bomb has gone off. There’s no morale.

“It has shut down Epsom Coaches as we know it.”

Mr Whiteway told the Epsom Guardian he expected only “three or four job losses”.

He added that he might drive the coach home to Epsom after its last tour to Torquay in June.

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A RATP Dev UK spokeperson said: "In order to focus on buses, the core area of our business, we have decided to close Epsom Coaches holiday and day trip business by the end of June 2017.

"Focusing on Quality Line will allow us to better serve passengers, stakeholders and employees and ensure a successful, long term future for Epsom Coaches."

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The spokesperson added: "These changes mean that there will be a new management structure and reporting lines for Epsom Coaches from June 2017.

"All of Epsom Coaches’ existing TfL routes and associated roles, schedules and shift patterns will remain the same and continue to be run from Epsom." 

To read a full statement from Epsom Coaches, visit their website.

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