Arriva
 |
|
| Subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn | |
| Industry | Public transport |
| Founded | 1938 |
| Headquarters |
Sunderland England |
|
Key people
|
Manfred Rudhart (CEO) |
| Products | Bus, coach, ferry, train & trolleybus services |
| Revenue | €4.84 billion (December 2015) |
| €525 million (December 2015) | |
| Owner | Deutsche Bahn |
|
Number of employees
|
55,000 (December 2015) |
| Website | www.arriva.co.uk |
Arriva is a multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. It was established in 1938 as T Cowie and through a number of mergers and acquisitions was rebranded Arriva in 1997 and became a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn in 2010. Arriva operates bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus services in 14 countries across Europe. As at December 2015 it employed 55,000 people and operated 2.2 billion passenger journeys annually. It operates as three divisions: UK Bus, UK Rail and Mainland Europe.
The company was founded by TSK Cowie in Sunderland in 1938 as a second-hand motorcycle dealer trading as T Cowie Limited. In 1948 the business was re-launched by Tom Cowie, the founder's son, still selling motorcycles. T Cowie plc was floated in December 1964, and in 1965 it bought out the first of many car dealerships.
In 1972 it formed Cowie Contract Hire, which became the largest contract hire business in the UK. In 1980 T Cowie made its first foray into bus operations, buying the Grey-Green operation in London from the George Ewer Group.
In 1984 T Cowie plc acquired the Hanger Group, which included Interleasing, a large vehicle leasing business. Further leasing companies acquired were Marley Leasing, RoyScot Drive and Ringway Leasing. Following the retirement of Tom Cowie, the company was renamed Cowie Group plc in April 1994.
As part of the privatisation of London bus services, Cowie Group acquired the Leaside Buses and South London Transport business units in September 1994 and January 1995.
Cowie plc bought United Automobile Services and British Bus in July and August 1996, both of which had acquired a number of privatised bus companies. As a result of these transactions, in October 1996 Cowie Group was reclassified on the stock exchange from a motor dealer to a transport group.
...
Wikipedia