Great Western Holdings was formed in December 1994 to bid for rail franchises in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
during the
Privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...
. Shares in the company were held by Richard George, Brian Scott and some other
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
managers (51%),
FirstBus
FirstGroup plc is a British Multinational corporation, multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.3i (24.5%).
Great Western Holdings bid for a number of rail franchises winning the Great Western and the Regional Railways North West franchises in 1996 and 1997.
In March 1998, FirstGroup bought out its partners to give it 100% ownership.FirstGroup Annual Report 31 March 1999