“Inevitable Disruption” As Traffic Commissioner Revokes Ex-GHA Connected Company Licence

Wrexham Council have said there will be ‘inevitable disruption’ following a ruling on RJ’s of Wem today, despite being aware of connections to GHA back in August.

Back in August we wrote how Arwyn Lloyd Davies, and Gareth Lloyd Davies both from Corwen were listed as Directors of GHA Coaches on Companies House, both were also listed as Directors of RJ’s of Wem Limited.

GHA Coaches had the registered office of Unit 11 Vauxhall Industrial Estate, Ruabon. RJ’s of Wem Limited had the registered office of Unit 10 Vauxhall Industrial Estate, Ruabon.

At the time we asked Wrexham Council if they were aware of the connection and had any concerns.

At the time Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We were aware of the interests of the companies through the tendering process.

“As with all tenders, there is a procurement procedure to follow, and this will be subject to all statutory procedures.

“They will both also also need approval from the office of the Traffic Commissioner.”

In September following the detail that directorship changes had occurred, and £5.2m was left owing to creditors when GHA Coaches went bust, we asked Wrexham Council if they were aware that RJ’s of Wem has had a director change recently. We also enquired if connections of directors are taken into consideration on any current or future contracts with Wrexham Council and bus providers.

Wrexham Council did not comment.

This evening a spokesperson for Wrexham Council has said “We have learnt today of the decision of the Traffic Commissioner to revoke the License for RJs of Wem. There will now be some inevitable disruption to some services.

“We have immediately repeated our tendering process, which we have asked to be returned in one week, in order to find alternative providers for the services affected.”

We believe the RJ’s of Wem Whitchurch to / from Wrexham route will be affected, with no detail of any planned coverage between now and when the tendering process takes place – with around eight routes possibly being affected if similar action is also taken against RML2418 Ltd.

There is no indication if the £27,000 owed to Wrexham Council has been recovered.