United Counties Omnibus
Encyclopedia
United Counties Omnibus is an English bus company, operating in Northamptonshire
, Bedfordshire
, and parts of surrounding counties. It was established in 1921 as the United Counties Omnibus & Road Transport Co Ltd, and from 1933 has been named the United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd. The company's trading name was simply United Counties until 1987, and after being purchased by the Stagecoach Group
was Stagecoach United Counties until 1999, before finally disappearing. United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd is now just the legal identity of the Stagecoach subsidiaries which are trading as Stagecoach in Northants
and Stagecoach in Bedford
Since 2010 it has been renamed Stagecoach Midlands and the Bedford based services given to the Peterborough and Cambridge based Stagecoach East.
United Counties Omnibus was originally established as part of the privately owned Tillings
organisation. From 1948 to 1987 it was a state owned nationalised company operating as a subsidiary first under the British Transport Commission
, then within the Transport Holding Company
in the 1960s, and finally under the National Bus Company (NBC). In 1987 as part of the privatisation of the NBC, it became one of the few ex-NBC companies to be bought directly by Stagecoach.
. At this time, the previous livery of blue and white with red wheels was replaced by the standard Tilling livery (green with a cream band) and retained until replaced by National Bus Company green (and always with a white band) in 1972. In September 1933, the company's name was changed to its present title, United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd.
In 1933, the company operated 154 buses on services throughout Northamptonshire, with some services terminating just over adjacent county boundaries, plus special services to seaside places and Whipsnade Zoo during the summer. In December 1933, services around Aylesbury
were acquired from the Aylesbury Omnibus Company. The company continued to expand, by buying out smaller bus and coach operators. The garage at Stony Stratford
operated by a fellow Tillings company, Eastern National
was transferred to United Counties. The company built new depots in several towns, a new headquarters, with major engineering workshops in Bedford Road, Northampton
and a central covered bus station at Derngate, Northampton, thus putting it into a good shape to withstand the rigours of wartime operation.
The company entered the long-distance coach service market in 1933, when it bought Allchin & Sons of Northampton, which ran coach services to London, Bournemouth
, Torquay
and several Midlands cities. In 1934, it acquired a route between Oxford and London
from its fellow Tillings subsidiary, Eastern Counties. In 1934, it was one of the founders of the Associated Motorways
consortium, to which it transferred its Bournemouth and Torquay routes.
.
The new regime resulted in a major expansion of the company's area of operations. In 1952 Eastern National's operations in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, North Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire, with some 250 vehicles, were transferred to United Counties. This practically doubled the size of the company. At the same time the Oxford to London service was transferred to South Midland.
In 1969 United Counties took over Birch Brothers
giving it another express service into London besides its Nottingham –Leicester- London route. In 1970 they took over Luton Corporation buses. There followed a period when the company was under severe pressure in coping with the maintenance of the Luton combined fleet and had to forgo its duty to deal with recovery of fellow National Bus Company subsidiaries’ coaches broken down on its allocated and very busy section of the M1 for a while.
Towards the end of the 1970s, better relationships were negotiated with county councils and the Milton Keynes Development Corporation
. The company was then able to make strides in greatly improving its maintenance facilities with major work at Northampton depot, Wellingborough, Bedford, Milton Keynes (including a 100 vehicle Winterhill depot on a green field site) and Luton.
Successive governments changed the structure of the state-owned bus sector: in 1962, the company was passed to the state-owned Transport Holding Company
, then in 1969 to the state-owned National Bus Company.
government embarked on a programme of deregulation
and privatisation of bus services. To make them more marketable, the larger subsidiaries of the National Bus Company were split up. United Counties was split up operationally from 1985, and three separate companies were formed:
United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd retained the rest (almost its original pre-1952 area plus Bedford, Biggleswade and Huntingdon)
In 1987 Luton & District Transport was sold to its management.. Milton Keynes Citybus was also sold to its management.
In November 1987 the rump United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd was purchased direct from National Bus Company by Stagecoach
, one of only three companies it bought direct.
, Stagecoach had to sell the Huntingdon operations in 1997., but in 2008 Stagecoach reacquired the Huntingdon operations, now Stagecoach in the Fens
, part of Stagecoach in Cambridgeshire. The remaining part of Stagecoach United Counties became Stagecoach East
in 2000, trading as Stagecoach in Northants
and Stagecoach in Bedford
with the legal company name remaining as United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd. In 2010, the company was split with the Bedford depot merging with Stagecoach in Cambridgeshire to form a new Stagecoach East
and the Northamptonshire depots merging with Stagecoach Warwickshire to form Stagecoach Midlands. However the trading names and the legal titles remain as before.
LDT was bought in 1994 by British Bus Group, itself bought in 1996 by T. Cowie (renamed Arriva
in 1997). LDT's name was changed to Arriva the Shires in 1998, part of Arriva Shires & Essex
.
Milton Keynes Citybus was acquired by Cambus (a privatised part of Eastern Counties), which was itself sold to Stagecoach in 1996. However, after the inquiry by the Office of Fair Trading, Stagecoach had to sell both the Milton Keynes & Huntingdon depot operations in 1997. The buyer was Julian Peddle
, who formed Premier Buses and MK Metro
. Peddle soon passed the Huntingdon depot operations to Blazefield and eventually sold MK Metro to Arriva in 2006. An OFT inquiry allowed MK Metro to pass to Arriva who initially ran it as a separate operation but have since started to brand buses as Arriva vehicles. Blazefield sold the Huntingdon & District operation to Cavalier Travel who sold that operation to Stagecoach in 2008. Another OFT inquiry eventually ruled in favour of Stagecoach and the operation is now managed from Cambridge.
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, and parts of surrounding counties. It was established in 1921 as the United Counties Omnibus & Road Transport Co Ltd, and from 1933 has been named the United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd. The company's trading name was simply United Counties until 1987, and after being purchased by the Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
was Stagecoach United Counties until 1999, before finally disappearing. United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd is now just the legal identity of the Stagecoach subsidiaries which are trading as Stagecoach in Northants
Stagecoach in Northants
Stagecoach Northants is the name for most bus routes operated by Stagecoach Midlands in Northamptonshire. The legal name for the company is United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd...
and Stagecoach in Bedford
Stagecoach in Bedford
Stagecoach in Bedford is the sector of the Stagecoach Group that operates buses in Bedford, Bedfordshire and is currently a trading name of the United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd-Background:...
Since 2010 it has been renamed Stagecoach Midlands and the Bedford based services given to the Peterborough and Cambridge based Stagecoach East.
United Counties Omnibus was originally established as part of the privately owned Tillings
Thomas Tilling
Thomas Tilling Ltd, later known with its subsidiary companies as the Tilling Group, was one of the two huge groups which controlled almost all the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between the wars and until nationalisation in 1948....
organisation. From 1948 to 1987 it was a state owned nationalised company operating as a subsidiary first under the British Transport Commission
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...
, then within the Transport Holding Company
Transport Holding Company
The Transport Holding Company was a British Government owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transport Commission ; it came into existence on 1 January...
in the 1960s, and finally under the National Bus Company (NBC). In 1987 as part of the privatisation of the NBC, it became one of the few ex-NBC companies to be bought directly by Stagecoach.
Early history
The company was incorporated, on 1 September 1921, as United Counties Omnibus & Road Transport Co Ltd, to acquire the assets of the Wellingborough Motor Omnibus Co Ltd, which began in 1913. The majority shareholder was TillingsThomas Tilling
Thomas Tilling Ltd, later known with its subsidiary companies as the Tilling Group, was one of the two huge groups which controlled almost all the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between the wars and until nationalisation in 1948....
. At this time, the previous livery of blue and white with red wheels was replaced by the standard Tilling livery (green with a cream band) and retained until replaced by National Bus Company green (and always with a white band) in 1972. In September 1933, the company's name was changed to its present title, United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd.
In 1933, the company operated 154 buses on services throughout Northamptonshire, with some services terminating just over adjacent county boundaries, plus special services to seaside places and Whipsnade Zoo during the summer. In December 1933, services around Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
were acquired from the Aylesbury Omnibus Company. The company continued to expand, by buying out smaller bus and coach operators. The garage at Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes and is a civil parish with a town council within the Borough of Milton Keynes. It is in the north west corner of Milton Keynes, bordering Northamptonshire and separated from it by the River Great Ouse...
operated by a fellow Tillings company, Eastern National
Eastern National Omnibus Company
Eastern National was a bus operating company in south east England from 1929 to the 1990s.-Early history:Eastern National Omnibus Company Ltd started in 1929 as a joint venture between the London and North Eastern Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the National Omnibus &...
was transferred to United Counties. The company built new depots in several towns, a new headquarters, with major engineering workshops in Bedford Road, Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
and a central covered bus station at Derngate, Northampton, thus putting it into a good shape to withstand the rigours of wartime operation.
The company entered the long-distance coach service market in 1933, when it bought Allchin & Sons of Northampton, which ran coach services to London, Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
and several Midlands cities. In 1934, it acquired a route between Oxford and London
Oxford to London coach route
The Oxford to London coach route is an express coach route between Oxford and London along the M40 motorway. The Oxford Tube, which is operated by Stagecoach runs 5 coaches an hour via Lewknor, Hillingdon in west London, Shepherd's Bush and terminates in Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria...
from its fellow Tillings subsidiary, Eastern Counties. In 1934, it was one of the founders of the Associated Motorways
Associated Motorways
Associated Motorways was a consortium of motor coach operators in the south and Midlands of England, which was active from 1934 to 1974.- History :...
consortium, to which it transferred its Bournemouth and Torquay routes.
Nationalisation
In 1948 the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the government. United Counties therefore became a state-owned company, under the control of the British Transport CommissionBritish Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...
.
The new regime resulted in a major expansion of the company's area of operations. In 1952 Eastern National's operations in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, North Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire, with some 250 vehicles, were transferred to United Counties. This practically doubled the size of the company. At the same time the Oxford to London service was transferred to South Midland.
In 1969 United Counties took over Birch Brothers
Birch Brothers
- History :William Birch started running horse-drawn cabs in London in 1837. After his death in 1846 his widow, Elizabeth, contitook over the business and in 1847 extended it to include the running of omnibuses, operating a service between Pimlico and Mansion House. The company was divided between...
giving it another express service into London besides its Nottingham –Leicester- London route. In 1970 they took over Luton Corporation buses. There followed a period when the company was under severe pressure in coping with the maintenance of the Luton combined fleet and had to forgo its duty to deal with recovery of fellow National Bus Company subsidiaries’ coaches broken down on its allocated and very busy section of the M1 for a while.
Towards the end of the 1970s, better relationships were negotiated with county councils and the Milton Keynes Development Corporation
Milton Keynes Development Corporation
Milton Keynes Development Corporation was established on 23 January 1967 to provide the vision and execution of a "new city", Milton Keynes, that would be the modern interpretation of the Garden city movement concepts first expressed by Ebenezer Howard 60 years earlier...
. The company was then able to make strides in greatly improving its maintenance facilities with major work at Northampton depot, Wellingborough, Bedford, Milton Keynes (including a 100 vehicle Winterhill depot on a green field site) and Luton.
Successive governments changed the structure of the state-owned bus sector: in 1962, the company was passed to the state-owned Transport Holding Company
Transport Holding Company
The Transport Holding Company was a British Government owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transport Commission ; it came into existence on 1 January...
, then in 1969 to the state-owned National Bus Company.
Privatisation
In 1980 the new ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
government embarked on a programme of deregulation
Bus deregulation
Bus deregulation in Great Britain came into force on 26 October 1986, as part of the Transport Act 1985.The 'Buses' White Paper was the basis of the Transport Act 1985, which provided for the deregulation of local bus services in the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland and...
and privatisation of bus services. To make them more marketable, the larger subsidiaries of the National Bus Company were split up. United Counties was split up operationally from 1985, and three separate companies were formed:
- Luton and District Transport Company Ltd (Aylesbury, Hitchin and Luton garages)
- Milton Keynes Citybus Ltd (Milton Keynes depot)
- United Counties Engineering Ltd (The central workshops part of the head office site)
United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd retained the rest (almost its original pre-1952 area plus Bedford, Biggleswade and Huntingdon)
In 1987 Luton & District Transport was sold to its management.. Milton Keynes Citybus was also sold to its management.
In November 1987 the rump United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd was purchased direct from National Bus Company by Stagecoach
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
, one of only three companies it bought direct.
Subsequent history
Stagecoach retained the name Stagecoach United Counties until 1999. After an inquiry by the Office of Fair TradingOffice of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
, Stagecoach had to sell the Huntingdon operations in 1997., but in 2008 Stagecoach reacquired the Huntingdon operations, now Stagecoach in the Fens
Stagecoach in The Fens
Stagecoach in Huntingdonshire is the trading name of Stagecoach in The Fens Limited, which runs services throughout Huntingdon, the Fens and surrounding areas...
, part of Stagecoach in Cambridgeshire. The remaining part of Stagecoach United Counties became Stagecoach East
Stagecoach East
Stagecoach East is the divisional name for the bus operations of the Stagecoach Group in eastern England.From 1999 until August 2010 the division had two trading names:*Stagecoach in Bedford which covers Stagecoach services in Bedford & Bedfordshire...
in 2000, trading as Stagecoach in Northants
Stagecoach in Northants
Stagecoach Northants is the name for most bus routes operated by Stagecoach Midlands in Northamptonshire. The legal name for the company is United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd...
and Stagecoach in Bedford
Stagecoach in Bedford
Stagecoach in Bedford is the sector of the Stagecoach Group that operates buses in Bedford, Bedfordshire and is currently a trading name of the United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd-Background:...
with the legal company name remaining as United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd. In 2010, the company was split with the Bedford depot merging with Stagecoach in Cambridgeshire to form a new Stagecoach East
Stagecoach East
Stagecoach East is the divisional name for the bus operations of the Stagecoach Group in eastern England.From 1999 until August 2010 the division had two trading names:*Stagecoach in Bedford which covers Stagecoach services in Bedford & Bedfordshire...
and the Northamptonshire depots merging with Stagecoach Warwickshire to form Stagecoach Midlands. However the trading names and the legal titles remain as before.
LDT was bought in 1994 by British Bus Group, itself bought in 1996 by T. Cowie (renamed Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
in 1997). LDT's name was changed to Arriva the Shires in 1998, part of Arriva Shires & Essex
Arriva Shires & Essex
Arriva Shires & Essex is a division of Arriva, with operations in Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and London. It is one of many private operators of London Buses. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester...
.
Milton Keynes Citybus was acquired by Cambus (a privatised part of Eastern Counties), which was itself sold to Stagecoach in 1996. However, after the inquiry by the Office of Fair Trading, Stagecoach had to sell both the Milton Keynes & Huntingdon depot operations in 1997. The buyer was Julian Peddle
Julian Peddle
Julian Peddle is an entrepreneur who has worked in the bus industry since the early 1980s, having owned or part-owned numerous bus companies. He spent 11 years as co-owner of Stevensons of Uttoxeter between 1983 and 1994, having previously been its traffic manager...
, who formed Premier Buses and MK Metro
MK Metro
MK Metro was the main bus operator in Milton Keynes in the English county of Buckinghamshire. In February 2006, it was purchased by Arriva Shires & Essex...
. Peddle soon passed the Huntingdon depot operations to Blazefield and eventually sold MK Metro to Arriva in 2006. An OFT inquiry allowed MK Metro to pass to Arriva who initially ran it as a separate operation but have since started to brand buses as Arriva vehicles. Blazefield sold the Huntingdon & District operation to Cavalier Travel who sold that operation to Stagecoach in 2008. Another OFT inquiry eventually ruled in favour of Stagecoach and the operation is now managed from Cambridge.
Further reading
- An Illustrated History of United Counties Omnibus Company Limited (in 17 parts) by Roger M Warwick MCIT. Volumes include ISBN 0 9505980 1 1; ISBN 0 9505980 2 X; ISBN 0 9505980 3 8; ISBN 0 9505980 4 6;ISBN 0 9505980 6 2; ISBN 0 9510847 0 4; ISBN 0 9510847 1 2;ISBN 0 9510847 3 9; ISBN 9780 9510847 4 8.