McGill’s Group, the bus operator owned by billionaire brothers Sandy and James Easdale, has returned to profit after a year of heavy investment. The group made a pre-tax profit of £6.03m in the year to 28 December 2025, compared with a loss of £730,000 the previous year.
Operating profit rose to £9.1m from £1.6m, while turnover increased to £117.9m from £104.8m. Chairman Ralph Roberts said the figures reflect “a more settled operating environment” and the payback from money spent on the business. The main driver was investment in recruitment and training after the Covid pandemic left the industry short of drivers. Roberts said staffing had returned to normal levels, allowing the company to meet rising passenger demand more consistently.
The results cap a five-year strategy in which the Easdales’ group has expanded through acquisitions while spending on its fleet, depots and staff. In 2025 alone it put more than £20m into 42 new electric buses and the charging infrastructure needed to run them. Average headcount rose by 109, or 8 per cent, to 1,469 employees from 1,360 in 2024, and the group bought private coach hire business Prentice Westwood. Roberts said the commitments improve the experience for passengers and prepare the business for the future.
Service measures also improved. McGill’s recorded 97 per cent overall satisfaction in the annual Your Bus Journey survey, placing it top of the UK operator table, and it ran 99.5 per cent of its scheduled mileage each day. The group operates depots in Greenock, Inchinnan, Johnstone, Dundee, Larbert, Balfron, Livingston, Aberdeen and Inverness, and its companies include Xplore Dundee, First Scotland East, Midland Bluebird and Big Bus Edinburgh.
Looking ahead, Roberts said the company would keep its focus on reliable services, support for employees and changes that encourage more people to travel by bus. He said the recruitment and training effort that followed the pandemic “is now delivering results”, and the accounts bear that out, with a loss turned into a profit of more than £6m in a single year. For the Easdale brothers, the turnaround strengthens a bus business that now stretches from Greenock and Inchinnan in the west to Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness. The new electric fleet, a larger workforce and the Prentice Westwood coach hire purchase leave the group with a broader base as it heads into its next phase of growth.
