20 June 2008

UK Independent bus operators - Who's left?

Fascinating article in a recent Transit magazine in which it listed the largest of the UK's independent bus operators. They also detailed those which had recently sold out to the multi-nationals. I thought it would be a useful point of reference to reproduce the information below, though having tweaked it sufficiently to make it look a little more pointed.

Independents - Who's left?
  1. East London Bus Group, East & South-East London - 1,300 vehicles (Macquarie - Australian bank)
  2. Lothian Buses, Edinburgh - 600 vehicles (Council-owned)
  3. EYMS Group, Hull, Yorkshire, Manchester & Shropshire - 450 vehicles (NBC management buyout team)
  4. Nottingham City Transport, Nottingham - 360 vehicles (Council-owned, though Transdev has an 18% stake)
  5. Trent Barton, Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire - 330 vehicles (independently-owned)
  6. Rotala, Bristol, Surrey & West Midlands - 270 vehicles (AIM-listed)
  7. Cardiff Bus, Cardiff - 225 vehicles (Council-owned)
  8. Reading Buses, Reading & Newbury - 200 vehicles (Council-owned)
  9. Plymouth Citybus, Plymouth - 190 vehicles (Council-owned)
  10. Blackpool Transport, Blackpool - 170 buses & 75 trams (Council-owned)
  11. Centrebus, Derbyshire, Home Counties, Leicester, Lincolnshire & Yorkshire - 170 vehicles (independently-owned, though Yorkshire operation is a joint venture with Arriva)
  12. McKindless Bus Group, Glasgow & Wishaw - 160 vehicles (independently-owned)
  13. GHA Coaches, Cheshire & North Wales - 150 vehicles (independently-owned)
  14. West Coast Motors, Argyll & Bute, Glasgow - 140 vehicles (independently-owned)
  15. Anglian Bus & Coach, Norwich - 130 vehicles (independently-owned)
  16. TM Travel, South Yorkshire - 130 vehicles (independently-owned)
  17. Warrington Borough Transport, Warrington (Council-owned)
  18. D&G, Cheshire & Staffordshire - 120 vehicles (independently-owned)
  19. Hackney Community Transport, London & Yorkshire - 120 vehicles (independently-owned)
  20. Preston Bus, Preston - 120 vehicles (employee-owned)
  21. Thamesdown Transport, Swindon - 120 vehicles (Council-owned)
  22. Hedingham Omnibus, Essex & Suffolk - 110 vehicles (independently-owned)
  23. Rossendale, Rawtenstall - 100 vehicles (Council-owned)
  24. Ipswich Buses, Ipswich - 95 vehicles (Council-owned)
  25. Newport Transport, Newport - 90 vehicles (Council-owned)
  26. Western Greyhound, Cornwall - 90 vehicles (independently-owned)
  27. Bullocks of Cheadle, Manchester - 80 vehicles (independently-owned)
  28. Quality Line/Epsom Coaches, Epsom - 80 vehicles (independently-owned)
  29. Silcox Coaches, Pembrokeshire - 80 vehicles (independently-owned)
  30. Uno, Hatfield - 70 vehicles (independently-owned)
  31. Halton Transport, Widnes - 60 vehicles (Council-owned)
  32. McGills, Greenock - 60 vehicles (independently-owned)
  33. Fishwicks, Leyland - 55 vehicles (independently-owned)
  34. Eastbourne Buses, Eastbourne - 50 vehicles (Council-owned, though Keolis has a 20% stake)
  35. Islwyn Borough Transport, Blackwood - 45 vehicles (Council-owned)

Who's been sold?

2006
  • Blackburn Transport, Blackburn - 130 vehicles. Council-owned, sold to Transdev Blazefield
  • Docklands Minibuses, East London - 30 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to Go-Ahead
  • Shamrock Travel, Pontypridd - 120 vehicles. Family-owned, sold to Veolia Transport

2007
  • Blue Triangle, Rainham - 60 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to Go-Ahead
  • ChesterBus, Chester - 75 vehicles. Council-owned, sold to First
  • Cooks Coaches, Somerset - 65 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to Stagecoach
  • Hutchinson of Overtown, Wishaw - 30 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to First
  • Marchwood Motorways, Hampshire - Independently-owned, sold to Go-Ahead

2008
  • Go West Midlands, West Midlands - 134 vehicles. Sold by Go-Ahead to Rotala
  • Huntingdon & District, Cambridgeshire - 70 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to Stagecoach
  • K-Line, Huddersfield - 30 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to Centrebus
  • Maynes, Manchester - 40 vehicles. Independently-owned, bus operation sold to Stagecoach
  • Rapsons, Northern Scotland - 200 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to Stagecoach
  • Rennies of Dunfermline, Dunfermline - 50 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to Stagecoach
  • Tellings Golden Miller, East Anglia, Surrey & North-East - 200 vehicles. AIM-listed, sold to Arriva
  • Truronian, Truro - 70 vehicles. Independently-owned, sold to First
Perhaps the next to go will be the world's oldest Council-owned bus company, Eastbourne Buses, whose councillors have voted in favour of selling their 80% stake of the business. Go-Ahead's Brighton & Hove subsidiary and Stagecoach have both shown an interest.
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