Kentish Bus
 | |
| Parent | National Bus Company(1986-88) Proudmutual (1988-94) British Bus(1994-96) Cowie Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 7 September 1986 |
| Headquarters | Northfleet |
| Service area | Kent Greater London |
| Service type | Bus operator |
| Depots | 4 |
| Fleet | 169 |
Kentish Bus[1]was a bus operator inSouth East EnglandandLondon.It was formed from the split ofLondon Country Bus Servicesin 1986 asLondon Country South East(LCSE) and operated a fleet of around 170 buses from four garages, with its headquarters located inNorthfleet,subsequently rebranding toKentish Busin 1987. Its former garages and operations now form part ofArriva Southern CountiesandArriva London.
Formation and early history
[edit]In the run-up toderegulation,London Country Bus Serviceswas broken into four smaller companies on 7 September 1986.[2][3]
London Country South East was the smallest of the four, with just 169 buses and garages inDartford,Dunton Green,NorthfleetandSwanley,with someLondon Regional Transportcontracts operated from the former National Travel garages inVictoriaandCatford,with the head office in an office in Dartford.
Bill Gunning, the former Traffic Manager of London Country Bus Services, became the new company's managing director. The company was renamed Kentish Bus & Coach in April 1987, and a new maroon and cream livery, loosely based on the colours of the erstwhile Colchester Corporation Transport, replaced the former London Country green.[3][4]The head office was relocated toNorthfleet.
1988-1994: Proudmutual
[edit]On 15 March 1988, Kentish Bus was sold to Proudmutual Limited,[5]themanagement buyoutwho already ownedNorthumbria Motor Services.[6][7][8][9][10]
The company expanded its London operations significantly with a series of contract wins and acquisitions. The largest win was of London routes22A,22Band55,taken fromLondon Foreston 20 January 1990 with 43 new dual-doorNorthern CountiesbodiedLeyland Olympianswere bought to operate the routes.[11]Outside of London, the competing operations of Northfleet-based Mini Metro were taken over in January 1990.[12]
In February 1992, Kentish Bus purchased seven contracted routes and 50 vehicles fromBoro'line.[13][14]These were initially operated from the former Boro'line garage inCrayford;the majority later moved to Dartford, although some also operated from the former London ForestAsh Grove garage,which was also used for routes22A, 22Band55.[3]
In early 1993, Kentish Bus gained work in the south-east London and ordered 65 new buses to cover the workings; this took the fleet size to 352, more than double its size in 1986.[3]One of the routes gained wasroute 19,for which the company leased refurbishedAEC RoutemastersfromLondon Regional Transport.Kentish Bus was the first operator other than a formerLondon Busessubsidiary, to win a contract for a Routemaster operated route, and introduced its maroon and cream livery in place of London red.[15][16]
By August 1993, Kentish Bus had become the largest independent operator of London contracts.[15]Further expansion came in November 1993, when two London contracts and six minor commercial routes, along with 23 buses, were taken over from Transcity Buses.[3]
1994-1997: British Bus and Cowie Group
[edit]
In July 1994, the fast-expandingBritish Busgroup purchased Proudmutual. British Bus already owned neighbouring operatorLondon & Country(successor toLondon Country South West), and in January 1995 London & Country's contracted operations atCroydon,WalworthandDunton Greengarages were split into a new company, Londonlinks, which was run from Kentish Bus' Northfleet garage.[17]
WhenMaidstone & Districtwas also acquired by British Bus in April 1995, the three companies were put under the control of a single holding company,Invictaway,which was based at Maidstone & District's head office inMaidstone.[17][18]A new livery of green and yellow was also introduced to Kentish Bus.[17]
On 1 August 1996, British Bus was purchased by theCowie Groupin a deal which brought three of the four segments ofLondon Country Bus Servicesback under common ownership.[8][19][20]
Rebranding and subsequent history
[edit]In November 1997, the Cowie Group was rebranded asArriva.[21]With that, the bus operations were rationalised as follows:
| Former Operation | Operations |
|---|---|
| Invictaway | Absorbed intoArriva Southern Counties |
| Dartford and Northfleet garages | Absorbed intoArriva Kent Thameside |
| Tunbridge Wells | Merged with the most of Maidstone & District's operation asArriva Kent & Sussex |
| LondonLinks (Croydon) | Merged with London & Country (London Country South West) to formArriva London. |
| Ash Grove garage | Closed down. |
References
[edit]- ^Companies House extract company no 2005566Arriva Kent Thameside Limited formerly Kentish Bus & Coach Company Limited formerly London Country Bus (South East) Limited
- ^Out on its ownCommercial Motor6 December 1986 page 54
- ^abcdeMcLachlan, Tom (1995).London Buses 1985-1995: Managing The Change.Venture Publications. pp. 98–99.ISBN1-898432-74-0.
- ^New name, new coloursCommercial Motor16 May 1987 page 20
- ^Companies House extract company no 2106786The Proudmutual Transport Group Limited formerly Proudmutual Limited
- ^London Country - three to goCommercial Motor12 November 1987 page 32
- ^HansardHouse of Commons 18 April 1988
- ^abAmpyx Web World - "London Country Bus Services"Accessed 9 March 2010.
- ^"Buses Online: Kentish Bus & Coach".Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2012.Retrieved9 March2010.
- ^History - South EastArriva
- ^Kentish invests in new routesCommercial Motor21 September 1989 page 22
- ^Metrobus sell offCommercial Motor11 January 1990 page 29
- ^Boro'line deal 'soon'Commercial Motor16 January 1992 page 16
- ^Talks continue on Maidstone saleCommercial Motor27 February 1992 page 18
- ^abBrown, Stewart J (September 1993).Buses in Britain.Capital Transport. pp. 160–161.ISBN1-85414-158-9.
- ^Blacker, Ken (2007).Routemaster: 1970–2005.Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. pp. 119, 120, 142, 165, 173.ISBN978-1-85414-303-7.
- ^abcMorris, Stephen (September 1996). "NBC since NBC: a history of the former NBC subsidiaries".Buses Focus:46.
- ^Serving the people of East Kent & West SussexArchived7 March 2014 at theWayback MachineM&D and East Kent Bus Club
- ^Cowie buys British Bus for £282mHerald Scotland1 August 1996
- ^Cowie Group plc and British Bus Group Limited: A report on the merger situation[usurped]Competition Commission 31 October 1996
- ^Bamber Forsyth unites CowieDesign Week23 October 1997
