Mayne Coaches is a coach operator with depots in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
. Administrators were appointed to the business, following an insolvency notice issued on 14 February 2022. Mayne Coaches now operates under the Go Goodwins Group of Eccles, Manchester.
History
The company was formed by Arthur Mayne before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, originally delivering furniture from its shop in
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, Manchester. In the 1920s Maynes branched out into coach excursions, running trips to the coast and to
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level. . They would later expand to operate trips to football matches and race meetings. By the start of the 1930s, the company had decided to concentrate on passenger transport and would continue to grow during the 1930s moving from
Beswick to its present headquarters in
Clayton.
Coach services ceased when the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
broke out and struggled to recover after the war ended, with the costs of fuel, labour and vehicles rising and passenger numbers dropped due to the increase of cars on the road. During the 1960s, the company received numerous take over offers from Manchester Corporation Transport. By resisting the offers, the company was able to grow steadily and would increase its services in the 1980s.
[
In 1982 Barry Cooper Coaches of ]Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
was purchased with 20 coaches by members of the Mayne family. Although this was originally a separate business to Mayne, the Mayne name and red and cream livery were soon adopted. In 1989 the coach operations in Manchester expanded into the Fairclough Street depot. In 1998 Barry Cooper Coaches was renamed Mayne Coaches, and moved to its present site.[
Over the years the company has grown from an initial purpose built coach in 1925 and new bus in 1929, with expansion coming through acquisition of local bus and coach operators, and through purchases of new buses and coaches. The company resisted numerous attempts at nationalisation due to a licensing agreement made in 1930 with Manchester Corporation regarding bus service provision.][
In January 2008 Mayne's bus division was sold to . The Ashton New Road bus depot was sold to supermarket chain ]Aldi
Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...
, which commenced demolition in December 2007. The bus fleet then briefly operated from the Fairclough Street coach depot, supplemented with temporary parking at the adjacent Manchester Velodrome
Manchester Velodrome is an indoor Olympic-standard cycle-racing track in Manchester, England, which opened in 1994. Part of the National Cycling Centre, the facility has been home to British Cycling since 1994, coinciding with the nations rise to ...
. After obtaining Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...
clearance on 10 January 2008, the sale of the fleet and registrations was completed on 21 January 2008.
The company remains as a coach operator, and was under the ownership of Stephen Mayne until he died in July 2012. The company now operates under the Go Goodwins Group LTD, Eccles, Manchester.
Former bus services
Bus services were operated by a separate legal entity, A Mayne & Son Ltd., mainly in East Manchester, with the majority of services running between Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...
and Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
via Ashton New Road.
Following the sale, the 37 bus fleet was transferred to 's Hyde Road depot and repainted into Stagecoach livery.
Fleet
As of September 2013, the fleet consisted of 51 coaches.Manchester Independents
North West Buses
Depots
Mayne Coaches operate out of depots in Clayton and Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayne and Son Ltd
Coach operators in England
Bus operators in Greater Manchester
Companies based in Manchester