Stagecoach in WarwickshireCompanies House extract company no 1556310
Midland Red (South) Limited is a bus operator in and around the county of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. It is a subsidiary of

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

History

In 1927, Stratford-on-Avon Motor Services commenced operating a service between

Stratford-on-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-wes ...

and

Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

. In June 1935,

Midland Red Midland RedCompanies House extract company no 82681
Midland Re ...

purchased Stratford Blue but continued to operate under its own identity until January 1971 when the National Bus Company integrated the Stratford Blue operation into Midland Red.Midland Red History
MidlandRed.net In September 1981, Midland Red South was formed with 163 buses operating from five depots in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and

. In December 1987, Midland Red South was sold in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

to Western Travel Group,Companies House extract company no 2041677
Stagecoach West Limited formerly Western Travel Limited which also owned Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus. During Western Travel ownership, Midland Red South opened a garage in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, and also revived the Statford Blue name. In 1993, Western Travel was sold to

who re-branded part of it as Stagecoach Midland Red. It set about simplifying the routes and improving the profitability of the operation, which included the closure of the depots in Coventry and Stratford in 1999. Upon national re-branding in 2000, Stagecoach Midland Red became Stagecoach in Warwickshire for operations from Leamington,

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...

and

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and Stagecoach in Banbury for operations in Banbury. For a long time Midland Red shared a management team with Stagecoach Oxford, but this was split in July 2002 with the Banbury operations becoming part of

Stagecoach in Oxfordshire Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the trading name of Thames Transit Ltd. It is a bus operator serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. Since 1997 has been a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, and since February 2021 it has been part of Stagecoac ...

. Meanwhile, Guide Friday, an operator of sight-seeing tours in Stratford had established a small number of local and tendered bus services in the town following Stagecoach's departure. This company was eventually purchased by

Ensignbus Ensignbus is a bus and coach operator and bus dealer based in Purfleet, Essex. History Ensignbus was formed in 1972 by Peter Newman, who remains involved today as chairman and his sons Ross and Steve as directors. Ensignbus commenced with a ...

, who rebranded the Stratford services by once again reviving the Stratford Blue fleetname. In February 2007, Stagecoach purchased the Stratford operation from Ensignbus, once again giving them a depot in the town. On 12 November 2007, Stagecoach in Warwickshire introduced the second

Stagecoach Goldline Stagecoach Gold is a luxury bus sub-brand used by various Stagecoach bus subsidiaries in the United Kingdom. Stagecoach Gold (originally Goldline) was launched in 2007 and was designed to attract more middle-class passengers to choose bus travel ...

service in the UK, on route 66 (renumbered G1) between

South Farm South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

and

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

, using

Optare Solo The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...

s. The '

Unibus The Unibus was the earliest of several computer bus and backplane designs used with PDP-11 and early VAX systems manufactured by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) of Maynard, Massachusetts. The Unibus was developed around 1969 by Gordon B ...

' brand is used for services operating predominantly between

and the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, mainly direct via the A46, although variations exist at weekends. In 2010 - Stagecoach in Warwickshire merged with Stagecoach East and Stagecoach in Northants to create

Stagecoach Midlands Stagecoach Midlands operates most bus routes in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire; the legal name for the company is Midland Red (South) Ltd.The company was previously split into ''Midland Red'' in Warwickshire and ''United Counties Omnibus'' ...

. The Warwickshire HQ was moved from Rugby to Northampton after a management restructure. However the legal name for the Warwickshire operations remains as Midland Red (South) Ltd. with the other Stagecoach Midlands operations maintaining the historic legal name of United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd..

Depots

Stagecoach in Warwickshire operate depots in

and

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

References

External links

Company website
{{Leicestershire buses, state=expanded Stagecoach Group bus operators in England Transport in Warwickshire

History

Depots

See also

References

External links