Mr Bean wrote:
On Air wrote:Archie Moore was notorious for running desperately outdated and worn out old bangers well beyond their trashing date, on front line peak services whilst new buses languished in his depots unregistered. Rumour has it that when Harris Park handed back their route work contracts there were still near new Bedford underfloors sitting unused at one of his depots?
I believe they purchase new buses ahead of requirements so they could store them and claim their depreciation in value as a tax deduction. One wonders about the legality or effectiveness of this given no other bus companies appeared to do this.
Back in the day the tax office had many tables for business to claim depreciation on their assets, from memory it was about 10 years for a bus? With a set rate per year, or in some cases a greater percent the newer the asset was. So quite legitimate, the vehicle didn't necessarily have to perform work. (hence why some stayed in sheds) It wouldn't surprise me if they had a handful built sat em in a shed, then when nearly depreciated, put them on the road .
Then about 10 years ago, the tax office decided to manage it themselves, no more set scales
Possibly that maybe why HPT stopped doing it? (those cc510s were the last ones to be in sheds weren't they?)
I'd argue that given their time in the industry, they were in a position to do this moreso than other operators of the day, plus I believe they had a fairly handsome property portfolio