Leading express coach operator Scottish Citylink has signed a five-figure sponsorship agreement with Bell’s First Division title favourites St. Johnstone as part of a £1 million business investment programme.

The deal, announced today (Thursday, July 4th), comes at a time when the company has been boosted by a 25% rise in passenger numbers on its flagship Glasgow to Edinburgh route and a 10% increase on overall figures for the first six months of the year.

Citylink are now likely to move in excess of three million passengers during 2002 and managing director Neil Wood expects the company to record turnover figures in excess of £12.2 million for the year.

“Perth is one of the key development areas for Citylink in Scotland and we have boosted the number of services from there to both Glasgow and Edinburgh in response to consumer demand,” he added.

“This all comes at a time when we have experienced a terrific start to the year thanks to a combination of buoyant passenger revenue and tight control of direct and overhead costs.

“Research during the rail strike indicated that 20% of the people who switched to us when the trains were not available would continue to travel with Citylink and that has been fully supported by the new passenger numbers.

“Given that we have a £200,000 television advertising campaign just breaking and the fact we are using that medium again for the first time in ten years, we are confident we can continue to capitalise on our ability to move people at times and prices which fit their requirements.”

The Citylink service network connects 200 locations across Scotland with over 400 departures per day. The company currently employs 100 people.

Issued on behalf of Scottish Citylink by The BIG Partnership.

For more information, contact Kay Pullar on 0141 333 9585.