Diamond Bus Ltd.,Companies House extract company no 2531054
The Diamond Bus Company Limited formerly Go West Midlands Limited formerly The Birmingham Coach Company Limited trading as Diamond West Midlands, is a bus operator in the West Midlands. It is a subsidiary of

Rotala Rotala plcCompanies House extract company no 5338907
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History

Bus at Worcester bus station, England - DSCF0732

Diamond West Midlands, Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse

Birmingham Coach Company & Diamond Bus

In 1984 Geoff Howle commenced a coach operation trading as the Birmingham Coach Company. Following deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, Howle applied to operate route 16 between Hamstead and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

in competition with West Midlands Travel.Diamond Bus Introduction
Reddibus Other services subsequently operated included service 120 (now service 12) between Dudley and Birmingham and service 50 between Birmingham and Druids Heath. Service 16 and 50 are still operated by successor Diamond Bus. Buses used were predominately Leyland Nationals. From 3rd January 2023, service 16 will be renumbered 16A. In 2000 Birmingham Coach Company was re-branded as Diamond Bus, replacing many of their existing

Leyland National The Leyland National is an integrally-constructed United Kingdom, British high-floor, step-floor single-decker bus manufactured in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industri ...

s, expanding their network in Birmingham and the Black Country. By 2003 Diamond Bus had become a

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

contractor and opened a depot 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 ...

Go West Midlands

In December 2005 the Go-Ahead Group purchased Diamond Bus and in February 2006

Probus Management :''This company originally traded as Pete's Travel, and has also traded as People's Express'' Probus Management was a bus company in the West Midlands which was acquired by the Go-Ahead Group in March 2006. History Probus Management commenced o ...

with over 100 vehicles and merged the two companies to form

Go West Midlands Go West MidlandsCompanies House extract company no 2490584
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Rotala Group

In March 2008

Go West Midlands Go West MidlandsCompanies House extract company no 2490584
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was sold to

Rotala Rotala plcCompanies House extract company no 5338907
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who also owned Central Connect and North Birmingham Busways. Rotala originally kept the Diamond business separate from Central ConnectCompanies House extract company no 3506681
Central Connect Limited formerly Zaks Bus & Coach Services Limited and Ludlows (purchased later), instead switching a number of routes between the three operators. From November 2011 Central Connect was re-branded as Blue Diamond.
Rotala

Red Diamond & Black Diamond

In July 2008 new buses were put into service in

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

on routes 57 and 58, branded as Red Diamond. Since then a number of routes in North Worcestershire have been re-branded as Red Diamond along with new routes in competition with

First Midland Red First Midland Red Buses,Companies House extract company no 1556327< ...

's in Redditch. At the same time new buses were allocated to a number of Black Country routes, branded as Black Diamond. First Midland Red subsequently sold both its Redditch and Kidderminster depots to Diamond Bus.

Diamond Staffordshire

The Diamond Staffordshire brand was introduced in late 2012 for the company's services around the Lichfield area. Following the purchase of

Central Buses Central Buses was a bus company based in Birmingham, England. History Central Buses was founded in September 2003 by 16-year-old Geoff Cross, in partnership with his father Peter. Blue Diamond bus (R401 XFL), 10 December 2011

Blue Diamond bus (R401 XFL), 10 December 2011

In 2008, upon takeover by

Rotala Rotala plcCompanies House extract company no 5338907
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, Diamond started to "localise" their operations. In the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ...

, this meant that the brand became Black Diamond with 20 new

Plaxton Centro The Plaxton Centro was a low entry single-decker bus bodywork designed by Bluebird Vehicles and manufactured by Plaxton.Wessex Bus Wessex Bus was a bus operator in the West of England that operated from June 2007 until September 2018. History In June 2007 the bus side of the South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach company was purchased by Rotala subsidiary Flights Hallmar ...

due to service cuts). These were new for routes 401, 402, 404, 404E and 404H. In 2009, Diamond launched eight more Plaxton Centro buses on route 9, these using Royale Black Diamond branding. Route 202 Halesowen - Bromsgrove and 4H Hayley Green - West Bromwich uses Royale Black Diamond buses. Most of the routes these buses were new for have since either had new buses (404E), withdrawn (404/H) or had older stock transferred to them (401/2) . In October 2010, Diamond bus branded 10

MCV Evolution The MCV Evolution (stylised as ''eVolution''; internal designation: MCV C102) is a low floor and low entry single-decker bus body built by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles. It was unveiled in 2003 as the successor to the MCV Stirling. The MCV ...

bodied

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

14.240s for the 404 Walsall – West Bromwich service under the branding Black Country Connection, the service operates every 6 to 8 minutes. These buses displaced the Black Diamond branded buses of which 2 were transferred to

Wessex Bus Wessex Bus was a bus operator in the West of England that operated from June 2007 until September 2018. History In June 2007 the bus side of the South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach company was purchased by Rotala subsidiary Flights Hallmar ...

and the rest have been cascaded to other routes, e.g. the 56 (which is now operated by

National Express West Midlands National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is a bus operator in the West Midlands that operates services in Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Solihull, as well as limited routes outside of the general area of Birmingham, s ...

as service 937). On 23 April 2017 the

Wednesfield Wednesfield is a town and historic village in the City of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, It is east-northeast of Wolverhampton city centre and about from Birmingham and is part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was historically wit ...

operations of

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 bu ...

were purchased with nine vehicles. On 28 July 2017, the business of Hanson's Local Buses that operated services in

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

and surrounding areas was purchased. Hanson's Local Buses was formed in the 1980s by Margaret Hanson as a coach operator. Following deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, Hansons diversified into operating bus services.About Hanson's
Hanson's Local Buses

Blue Diamond

Blue Diamond was formed from the merger of

Zak's Buses Diamond Bus Ltd.,Companies House extract company no 2531054

, North Birmingham Busways and Birmingham Motor Traction. In January 2008 Ludlows,

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and fro ...

was purchased. Originally branded Central Connect, in November 2011 it was rebranded as Blue Diamond. Blue Diamond, Red Diamond and Black Diamond branding have since been replaced by the simpler Diamond fleetname.

Signature

Central Connect bus (BV10 ZJU), Showbus 2010

On 7 June 2010, Central Connect launched the Signature brand with two

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

routes that were taken over from

, the S2 (S2/S2A/S2C) and S3 were operated with

Optare Solo SR 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 with leather seating and on-board WiFi. On 26 July 2010, the Signature brand took over route 82 from National Express Coventry but following a more direct route between

and

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the 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 city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

using

Mercedes-Benz Citaro The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia ...

s and service S4 (taken over from Grosvenor) using

s, again both feature leather seating and free on-board WiFi. In 2019, service 82 was lost to Johnson's of Henley-in-Arden who subsequently linked the service to their existing service X20 providing a direct service between

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 ...

. On 27 March 2011, the Signature brand expanded again with the addition of route 30

Acocks Green Acocks Green is an area and ward of southeast Birmingham, England. It is named after the Acock family, who built a large house there in 1370. Acocks Green is one of four wards making up Yardley formal district. It is occasionally spelled "Aco ...

which was withdrawn by

. This route is now operated by LandFlight as the A12. When Central Connect was rebranded as 'Blue Diamond' in late 2011, the Solihull Signature brand was retained. Following loss of many contracts and reorganisation of bus routes in the Solihull area, the Signature brand was dropped in 2019. In August 2021, the Diamond 32 service was withdrawn as the coordinated timetables on selected routes operated by Diamond and NXWM came to an end. However, on 5 December 2021, the partnership was resumed along with service 32.

Diamond Worcestershire

Red Diamond bus 406 in Broad Street - geograph

In early 2013 Red Diamond was rebranded as Diamond Worcestershire. In a working partnership with Worcestershire County Council, a new fleet of Red Diamond bus services were introduced to operate in

. These buses are mainly Diamond owned Wright Eclipse bodied Volvo B7RLEs but there have been several re-painted

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor seco ...

s in operation. From 22 January 2007, Diamond were forced to withdraw their evening services on routes 57 and 58 in

, which were under contract to Worcestershire County Council, due to persistent vandalism and violence on the routes. The company told the council that they would no longer risk operating in the evenings. A month later on 25 February 2007, Diamond also withdrew the evening services on route 246 between Redditch and

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Eves ...

due to low passenger numbers. On 8 June 2008, the company introduced 57A and 58A journeys alongside their existing 57 and 58 routes, the new journeys would serve the Alexandra Hospital, after

First Midland Red First Midland Red Buses,Companies House extract company no 1556327< ...

withdrew links to the hospital. The operations in Redditch were rebranded as Red Diamond in July 2008 to coincide with the launch of six new buses, with a livery designed to be similar to what was used on

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

buses. By September 2008 a further six new buses were in operation, along with 10 older buses in the new livery. From 31 August 2008, Diamond Bus stepped up their operation of commercial and non-commercial services in Redditch significantly, to the point where they operated more buses in Redditch than main rival First Midland Red. In February 2009, Red Diamond won Worcestershire County Council contracts to operate a number of services around Droitwich and Redditch starting in April 2009, these are routes 19 to Meadows Estate, 20 to Westlands, 20A to New Chawston, 137 to Dunhampstead, 140/141 to Bromsgrove and 157 to The Ridings. In addition to this, extra daytime journeys are to be provided on Redditch services 50, 64 and 70. The company will also once again operate evening services in Redditch on routes 55A, 56A, 57 and 58. Service 64 between Bromsgrove and Birmingham will also be renumbered to 144 and re-routed to follow the same numbered service operated by First. Droitwich residents were unhappy about the changes, showing concern about losing the known and respected drivers from the local routes, however, Diamond Bus entered into an agreement with the former operator of the routes, allowing them to continue operating with the same drivers, while Diamond Bus provide the buses and uniforms. In 2010, amid much criticism of the poor performance of the existing buses from Worcestershire County Council and passengers, Diamond brought nine

s for services 362, 363 and 382. In January 2013 Red Diamond purchased First Midlands's

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...

and Redditch depots and re-branded the operations as Diamond Worcestershire.

Acquisitions

After

Rotala Rotala plcCompanies House extract company no 5338907
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purchased Diamond Bus in 2008, the Diamond Bus operation was expanded to include the operations of four companies operating in the same region which were already owned by Rotala. It took many of the Arriva Midland routes such as 36 Walsall to Alumwell and 28E from Wolverhampton to Willenhall in April 2017.

Birmingham Motor Traction

Birmingham Motor Traction operated a number of services in

with a varied fleet of buses, mostly

s in a dark blue and white livery, although many buses ran in dealer all-white. They operated a number of services under contract to the

West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2016. The organisation operated under the name Centro f ...

. It was purchased by Rotala in 2007.

Central Buses

Central Buses was a bus company based in

, England. In February 2018, Central Buses was purchased by Rotala with its 23 services and 31 buses merged into Diamond. Operations ceased at the conclusion of services on 24 February 2018."Central Buses bows out in style" ''Buses'' issue 757 April 2018 page 10

Hanson's

Hanson's was a family-owned bus company operating services in the West Midlands and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. Hanson's Local Buses was formed in the 1980s by Margaret Hanson as a coach operator. Following deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, Hanson's diversified into operating bus services. In July 2017 it was purchased by

Rotala Rotala plcCompanies House extract company no 5338907
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. Routes: 14-Brierley Hill To Fatherless Barn-Service was integrated into NXWMs 28 service from Stourbridge To Halesowen via Merry Hill in 2018. 20/21-Oldbury To Bearwood 24 Merry Hill To Foxyards-Service was subsequently taken over by NXWM in 2019 but Foxyards was withdrawn on this service. 55 Cape Hill To Brandhall-Service was withdrawn in 2019 and integrated with NXWM 54/A services.

Ludlows

Ludlows operated a number of services in

. It operated a varied fleet of around 20 white buses, all of which were low-floor. It was purchased by Rotala in 2007 In January 2009, Diamond announced that the Ludlows operation was to be integrated with the Diamond operations, with all routes and vehicles moving to the Tividale depot and running under the Diamond brand.

North Birmingham Busways

North Birmingham Busways was a small bus operator established in the mid-1990s, and based near Erdington. Its services operated throughout North Birmingham, using, in the main, a distinctive livery of green and cream. In addition to bus services, the company also offered PCV training. On 18 June 2007 it was purchased by Rotala. On 20 August 2007 the bus service operations and vehicles transferred to Rotala's Central Connect subsidiary.

Zak's

Zak's Bus and Coach Services was founded in Great Barr by Kevin Fazakarley in 1978. In October 2006 the business was purchased by Rotala subsidiary Flights Hallmark, and although the original plan was to transfer the assets and operations to Flights Hallmark, contract issues necessitated the continuation of the Zak's legal entity, the company being renamed Central Connect Limited in April 2007. Rotala relocated the operation to Flights Hallmark's

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

depot, merging with an existing West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive contracted service previously awarded to Flights. The Aston depot has since closed with all operations being moved to other Diamond Bus depots across the West Midlands.

Claribel Coaches

In January 2022, the purchase of Claribel Coaches of Birmingham was announced allowing the current owners to focus on the associated Birmingham International Coaches business. Diamond confirmed that the Claribels name would not be retained and all services and buses would be operated under the Diamond Bus name from April 2022. A number of routes, however, were transferred to

due to the expiration of the tenders operated on behalf of TfWM.

Johnsons Excelbus

In April 2022, the bus operations of Johnsons Coaches, which operates under the Excelbus brand, were purchased. All bus operations will operate under the Diamond Bus brand from 29 May 2022 and will be operated from Redditch depot. The private hire and coach operations are not included in the deal and will continue to trade as Johnsons Coaches. Some Johnsons routes were started early "to assist Johnsons with some of their current operational difficulties". Following loss of contracts in September 2022, a number of services operated by Johnsons were lost to other operators, chiefly Stagecoach.

References

External links

*
Company website
{{Rotala Bus operators in the West Midlands (county) Bus operators in Worcestershire Rotala