Diamond East Midlands, formerly Midland Classic, is a bus company from

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England. Since August 2022, the company is a subsidiary of

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History

Midland Classic

Midland Classic was founded in July 2005 by James Boddice with a pair of

London Central London Central is a bus company operating in South London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. History London Central commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Buse ...

AEC Routemaster The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...

s operating charter services. Boddice had a 69% shareholding with

D&G Bus D&G Bus is a local bus operator owned by Centrebus Group and is based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. History D&G Bus was formed by David Reeves and Gerald Henderson in April 1998 initially operating four buses on two routes ...

proprietor having David Reeves and

Julian Peddle Julian Peddle (born November 1954)Julian Henry Peddle
Company Check is an entrepreneur ...

each having 13% and John Mitchelson 5%. It later diversified into operating route services. In April 2016, Midland Classic entered talks with

Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bus ...

to purchase its Stanton Road,

garage and fleet. The deal took effect on 27 August 2016 with 30 buses and 80 staff transferring. All routes later transferred to the Wetmore Road garage, with the Stanton Road garage closing. During the

2021 Go North West strike The 2021 Go North West strike was a labour strike involving bus drivers working for Go North West, a bus operator in Greater Manchester, England, that lasted from 28 February to 18 May. The strike involved approximately 500 drivers unionised w ...

, Midland Classic was one of a number of bus operators who provided vehicles and drivers to operate services on behalf of

Go North West Go North West is a bus operator in Greater Manchester, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. History Go North West commenced operations on 2 June 2019 following the Go-Ahead Group's purchase of First Greater Manchester's Queens Roa ...

along with

Edwards Coaches Edwards Coaches is a family-owned coach company based in Llantrisant, near Pontypridd in South Wales. History In 1925 Edwards Coaches was founded by George Edwards. Over recent years, the company has expanded by acquiring several smaller loca ...

and

Selwyns Travel Selwyns Travel is a coach tour operator based in Runcorn, England. Selwyns Travel was founded in 1968 by Robert Alun Jones. It grew with the purchase of Yates Tours in 1979, the Manchester Airport division of Ambassador Coaches t/a Starline Tr ...

. In June 2022, Midland Classic underwent a fares revision which included a joint day-ticket with Select Bus Services and

Chaserider Chaserider is the brand name for bus services operated around Cannock and Staffordshire by D&G Bus a local bus operator owned by Centrebus who are based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. History During November 2020, Centrebus ...

. On 1 August 2022, Midland Classic took over routes 125 and 129, expanding its reach of services out to

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Coalville Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Tr ...

and

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

Diamond East Midlands

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Group acquired Midland Classic on 3 August 2022, for £2 million. The business is to be rebranded Diamond East Midlands, with buses from other Diamond operations being transferred into the fleet and a repaint programme for pre-existing Midland Classic vehicles soon to begin, and will be directly controlled from the group's headquarters in

Tividale Tividale is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands. It straddles the borders of the towns of Dudley, Tipton, Oldbury. History Tividale Park has been known as Derygate (Deer Gate) Park; it can be traced back as ...

by 30 November 2022.

Services

Diamond East Midlands are the main provider of services around

with services extending to

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de ...

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

East Midlands Airport East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () nort ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, Tamworth and other surrounding towns and villages. Services are also operated on behalf of

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a to ...

around

and

Castle Donington Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport. History The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another suggest ...

References

External links

{{Rotala Burton upon Trent Bus operators in Staffordshire Transport companies established in 2005 2005 establishments in England