NEW FANS OF FRANCHISING

摘要

Most of us dislike uncertainty, and that is especially true of organisations. Whether they be private companies, local authorities or anywhere in between, most provide services on which people rely, provide employment and make the best use of other people's money. This requires planning, often long-term. You can plan for good times and bad times, but the nightmare is trying to make plans when you have no idea what to expect. That is the world we live in now. It is why I predict we are about to see an incredible role reversal in the debate about bus regulation, with traditional opponents moving round the table to argue against the very positions they have each adopted for the past 35 years. Within a year, the bus industry will be crying out for regulation, while the public sector backs away from it as fast as it can. The seeds were being sown well before the pandemic. Just a few years ago, one was not welcome in the cosy gentlemen's clubs that the industry's trade bodies had become unless one accepted that deregulation was king. But that has started to soften, helped by several factors.