A Northern Irish bus company is receiving £26 million in funding to build electric and hydrogen buses.

Wrightbus built the world’s first hydrogen double-decker bus in 2020 and is now looking to export its zero-emission buses worldwide to Australia, Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

UK Export Finance is backing the Ballymena-based business, alongside Barclays – which aims to build 3,000 buses by 2024, making up 10% of the UK’s entire fleet.

The company is looking to grow its exports by 40% using the funding and create 300 new jobs.

Ben Werth, Wrightbus Chief Commercial Officer, said: “At Wrightbus, we are entering the next stage of our ambitious growth plan, significantly growing our export volume from our UK base and becoming one of the leading battery electric and hydrogen bus manufacturers in Europe. UKEF’s support will strongly help us on our future global growth path.”

Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, added: “I am proud the government is supporting British firms to go further, exporting their cutting-edge clean technology to new markets, cutting emissions and boosting jobs across the United Kingdom.”