Wallace Arnold was one of the UK's largest holiday motorcoach tour operators. It was founded in 1912 and was named after its founders Wallace Cunningham and Arnold Crowe. By 1980 it operated 290 coaches from its headquarters in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, and owned a subsidiary based in Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. When coach services were deregulated

Deregulation

Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...

 in October 1980, Wallace Arnold helped to form the British Coachways

British Coachways

British Coachways was a consortium of independent coach operating companies in the United Kingdom. Formed immediately after the deregulation of coach services in October 1980, it competed with the state-owned National Express Coaches and Scottish Bus Group on a range of long-distance routes...

 consortium to compete with the state-owned National Express Coaches. It left after a year and agreed to run a service from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to Torbay

Torbay

Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998...

 as a joint operation with National Express.

In 2005 Wallace Arnold merged with Shearings to become WA Shearings. In 2007 the Wallace Arnold name was dropped and now the company is known as Shearings Holidays. In recent years, Wallace Arnold standardised on Volvo B10M

Volvo B10M

The Volvo B10M is a popular mid-engined bus and coach chassis built by Volvo between 1978 and 2001. It was built as the successor of the B58 and was equipped with a 9.6-litre horizontally-mounted Volvo THD100/THD101/THD102/THD103/THD104/DH10A diesel engine mounted under the floor, near the middle...

 and Volvo B12M

Volvo B12M

The Volvo B12M is an underfloor-engined bus/coach chassis introduced by Volvo Buses in 2001 as a replacement for the Volvo B10M. It is available with a variety of bodies such as Van Hool, Sunsundegui Sideral and Plaxton Panther/Paragon. Large British users of the B12M include Wallace Arnold, Park's...

 Motorcoaches, mostly with Jonckheere

Jonckheere

Jonckheere is a motor coach and bus builder, founded in 1881 by Henri Jonckheere in Roeselare, Belgium. Presently, the company is known as VDL Jonckheere.-History:...

 and Plaxton

Plaxton

Plaxton is a builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough, England.-History:The Plaxton of today is the successor to a business founded in Scarborough in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton.-Beginnings:...

bodies.