Arriva acquires patient transport specialist Ambuline to develop transport solutions business

European passenger transport group Arriva has announced it has acquired Birmingham-based specialist patient transport company Ambuline Limited (Ambuline) to expand Arriva’s position in social and healthcare passenger transport markets and build on the partnership the organisations have developed in securing non-emergency patient transport contracts.

Ambuline joins Arriva Transport Solutions which works with public sector organisations to identify and deliver innovative solutions to help fulfil their transport needs more efficiently, including special education needs transport, social care transport and patient transport.

Established in 1979, Ambuline employs some 240 people and today provides up to 1,000 patient journeys each day in the East Midlands, West Midlands, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Humberside for National Health Service (NHS) Trusts and other public sector organisations. Arriva has acquired 100 per cent of the Issued Share Capital of Ambuline Limited for an undisclosed sum.

Jonathan May, managing director of Arriva Transport Solutions, said: “Over the last year Arriva and Ambuline have worked together to respond to tenders to provide non-emergency patient transport services. Combining the specialist and clinical expertise of Ambuline with Arriva’s scale, geographic reach and fleet and logistics management expertise has proved successful in securing contracts.

“Bringing the Ambuline team, led by directors Paul Willets and Dennis Jones, into Arriva Transport Solutions cements that partnership. The recent contracts we secured together in the East Midlands effectively double the size of the Ambuline non-emergency patient transport business and firmly establish us in this important and growing market.”

Arriva Transport Solutions and Ambuline have recently been awarded a number of NHS contracts to deliver non-emergency patient transport services. These include contracts, starting in July, to provide about 500,000 patient journeys a year for NHS Trusts in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

To fulfil these contracts Arriva is investing £6 million in a fleet of more than 130 new ambulances and cars. The start of the contracts on 1 July 2012 will see 290 staff previously employed by the East Midlands Ambulance Service transfer to Ambuline under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE).

Operations will be overseen by two new Arriva control centres in Nottingham and Leicester, utilising state-of-the-art GPS satellite location systems linking the ambulances with Arriva’s patient transport booking system, to ensure patients get to and from appointments on time. Further innovations include internet and SMS text technology which will enable patients to confirm they are ready to be collected and “ring when ready” pick up services when appointments are completed.

Notes to editors

• Arriva is one of the largest providers of passenger transport in Europe, employing some 47,500 people and delivering more than 1.5 billion passenger journeys every year.
• We provide transport services including buses, trains, commuter coaches and waterbuses, and operate in 12 European countries: Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
• Arriva is part of Deutsche Bahn, one of the world’s leading passenger transport and logistics service providers. Headquartered in Sunderland, UK, Arriva is responsible for Deutsche Bahn's regional passenger transport services outside Germany.
• Arriva Transport Solutions Limited (ATSL) works with public sector organisations to identify and deliver innovative solutions to help fulfil their transport needs more efficiently, including special education needs transport, social care transport and patient transport.
• Ambuline is an expert provider of non-emergency patient transport and other specialist services including renal, high dependency and bariatric transport. The company holds Care Quality Commission accreditation and has operations from the West Midlands to the East Riding of Yorkshire. The Ambuline fleet consists of ambulance cars, patient transport ambulances and specialist high dependency ambulances.