MBE for buses boss a 'kick in the teeth' after redundancies

FORMER WORKER CLAIMS JOBS WERE CUT WHILE MILLIONS SPENT ON ELECTRIC FLEET

- By JOSHUA HARTLEY

(JOSEPH RAYNOR)

THE boss of Nottingham's bus network - who has just been awarded an MBE - has been criticised after staff were made redundant due to financial difficulties.

David Astill, who has been the managing director of Nottingham City Transport since 2021, received an MBE in the King's New Year's Honours List for his services to public transport.

The network he runs is highly rated and widely used, but following his honour a former employee has revealed that NCT was forced into making dozens of workers redundant in the autumn as financial pressures mounted.

Employees were told NCT's financial state had become "unsustainable" earlier this year after recording modest profits previously.

"The managing director, who doesn't seem like he could run a corner shop, is being given an MBE," a former staff member said.

The ex-worker, who claimed around 35 people had lost their jobs late last year, labelled the honour from the King "a kick in the teeth".