Midland RedCompanies House extract company no 82681
Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited formerly Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited was a bus company that operated in

The Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...

from 1905 until 1981. It was one of the largest English bus companies, operating over a large area between

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...

in the south and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in the north, and from

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...

to the Welsh border. The company also manufactured buses.

History

Midland Red bus 5919 (RHA 919G), 23 August 1987

Chaserider bus at 2011 Wirral Bus %26 Tram Show

Origins

In 1899 the

British Electric Traction British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rento ...

(BET) company acquired the assets of the Birmingham General Omnibus Company, which had been formed three years earlier to acquire a number of horse bus operations in

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 ...

. When BET ordered new buses for Birmingham the next year, they were painted red to make them stand out. In 1902 BET acquired the City of Birmingham Tramways Company, which operated horse buses as well as trams.Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company (Midland Red)
Made in Birmingham The Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company (BMMO) was formed by local businessmen in November 1904 to operate motor bus services in Birmingham. When the directors failed to attract sufficient investors, BET acquired control of the new company, and in 1905 transferred its local horse bus operations to it. The company also acquired a motor bus company which had started in 1903. BMMO started operations under its own name in July 1905. However, the company experienced problems with its motor buses, and in 1907 reverted all its motor bus services to horse bus operation.Sixty Years of Midland Red
''

Commercial Motor ''Commercial Motor'' is a weekly magazine serving the road transport industry in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1905 by Edmund Dangerfield, it is notable for having been "the first journal to be devoted exclusively to the commercial vehicle e ...

'' 27 November 1964 In 1912 the company purchased some

Tilling-Stevens Tilling-Stevens was a British manufacturer of buses and other commercial vehicles, based in Maidstone, Kent. Originally established in 1897, it became a specialist in petrol-electric vehicles. It continued as an independent manufacturer until ...

petrol-electric buses. Further motor buses followed, and by June 1913 only 17 horse buses remained. The company adopted for its motor buses the red livery used by Birmingham General, and the buses carried the fleetname "Midland". They soon acquired the nickname Midland Red.

Expansion outside Birmingham

By 1912 the

Birmingham Corporation Tramways Birmingham Corporation Tramways operated a network of tramways in Birmingham from 1904 until 1953. It was the largest narrow-gauge tramway network in the UK, and was built to a gauge of . It was the fourth largest tramway network in the UK beh ...

had used its statutory powers to acquire the city's tramways which it did not already own, and wanted to consolidate the operation of bus and tram operations in the city. Since it was going to be difficult for BMMO to expand in the city, it reached agreement with the corporation to operate services from outside Birmingham into the city and transfer its services within the city to the corporation. The company then expanded outside Birmingham, and moved its headquarters to Bearwood in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider b ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the company took over BET operations in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

and elsewhere, and after the war opened depots in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

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 ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in th ...

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in th ...

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

. During the 1920s the tramways owned by BET 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 ...

were gradually replaced by Midland Red buses. In 1930, the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

and the London Midland & Scottish Railway together acquired 50% of the company. The few GWR bus services in the area were transferred to Midland Red.

Coach services

Midland Red started express coach services in 1921 with routes to

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

and

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craig ...

. Coach services expanded, and in 1934 Midland Red became a founder member of the

Associated Motorways Associated Motorways was a consortium of motor coach operators in the south and Midlands of England, which was active from 1934 to 1974. History Associated Motorways was formed as a result of the Road Traffic Act 1930, which encouraged ...

consortium. Coach services were heavily reduced during

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, but expanded again after the war. When the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

opened in 1959, Midland Red started non-stop express services between

and London, and later between

and London. For the service, the company developed Britain's first high-speed motor-coach. A fleet of ten, capable of speeds of up to , were built at the company's workshops at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family ...

. The opening of the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

enabled the operation of express services between Birmingham and Worcester.

Nationalisation

When the railways were nationalised forming in 1947 under the

Transport Act 1947 The Transport Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 49) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the Act, the railway network, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were nationalised and came under ...

, Midland Red became 50% state-owned. In 1968, BET sold its UK bus interests to the government, and on 1 January 1969 the company became the largest subsidiary of the National Bus Company (NBC). The livery was later changed from a deep red to the NBC corporate poppy red. In 1973 the garages (with the exception of

Digbeth Coach Station Birmingham Coach Station (formerly Digbeth Coach Station) is a major coach interchange in Digbeth, Birmingham, England offering services to destinations throughout the island of Great Britain and also to Belfast and Dublin. National Express, the ...

, Bearwood and Cradley Heath) and routes within the West Midlands county were transferred to the control of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, leaving Midland Red with country and local routes mainly in

, Herefordshire,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

, Nottinghamshire,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, Staffordshire,

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-Avo ...

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 ...

and express services.

Rebranding

From 1977 onwards, after extensive passenger research the company was rebranded into local area names under the Viable Network Project, something that was soon renamed as the Market Analysis Project and widely adopted throughout NBC and elsewhere in the bus industry. Each new network spawned a localised brand, as follows:

Breakup

Midland Red West bus 474 (JOX 474P), February 1990

On 6 September 1981, Midland Red was split into six new companies: * Midland Red East, renamed Midland Fox in January 1984:

, south

and east

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 C ...

(the Lancer and Leicester operations) * Midland Red North:

, south

, and northern West Midlands (the Chaserider, Hotspur, Mercian and Tellus operations) * Midland Red South:

and north

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, primaril ...

(the Avonbus, Hunter, Leamington & Warwick, Ridercross and Rugby operations) * Midland Red West

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

, Worcestershire, south and east quadrants of West Midlands (the Reddibus, Severnlink, Wanderward, Wayfarer and Wendaway operations) *Midland Red Express, later renamed Midland Red Coaches: central coach and express services division, became part of Midland Red West in 1984 *Midland Red Engineering, later renamed

Carlyle Works Carlyle Works was an English builder of bus and coach bodywork based in Edgbaston. History In 1920, the Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company established a bus repair facility on land adjoining Rotton Park Reservoir. It initially perfo ...

: central engineering workshops at Carlyle Road,

Privatisation

As part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, the companies were sold: *Midland Fox, formerly Midland Red East, was sold on 18 August 1987 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 o ...

. The operations of the

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-d ...

depot were purchased by Stevensons of Uttoxeter. Today all have been reunited as part of

Arriva Fox County Arriva Midlands East, is a bus company operating services in Leicestershire. It is a trading division of Arriva Midlands which is a subsidiary of Arriva plc which is itself owned by the government of Germany through Deutsche Bahn. History ...

.History – Midlands
Arriva It is a division of Arriva Midlands. *Midland Red North was sold on 27 January 1988 to the Drawlane Transport Group. It was included in the sale of Drawlane to

British Bus British Bus was a bus group in the United Kingdom. It was sold to the Cowie Group in August 1996. History British Bus was founded in November 1992 when the Drawlane Transport Group split its bus interests from its National Express in the lead ...

which in turn became part of the

Cowie Group Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Arriva Midlands. *Midland Red South was sold on 10 December 1987 to Western Travel Limited who also owned the Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company. Today it is part of Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Stagecoach in Warwickshire. Midland Red (South) Ltd. is the legal name for Stagecoach in Warwickshire. *Midland Red West was sold on 22 December 1986 in a

led by managing director Ken Mills to Midland West Holdings It who also took over Midland Red Coaches on the same date. Today it is part of First Midland Red but only has one surviving depot in Worcester. The Kidderminster and Redditch operations were sold to

Rotala Rotala plcCompanies House extract company no 5338907
Rot ...

while the company withdrew from operating in Hereford. *Carlyle Works, formerly Midland Red Engineering, was sold to Frontsource Limited, who also purchased the engineering divisions of an initial eight and later nine National Bus Companies. It closed in October 1991.Buyer sought for failed Carlyle
''Commercial Motor'' 22 October 1991

Bus manufacture

In 1912 the company bought its first

petrol-electric vehicles. Tilling-Stevens became the main supplier of bus chassis to the company which, under its Chief Engineer LG Wyndham Shire, adapted and developed the designs to its own requirements, finally designing a vehicle it intended to construct itself. Between 1923 and 1969, the BMMO built most of the buses it operated: up to 1940 these were called SOS (rumoured to stand for Superior Omnibus Specification), and some models were supplied to other bus companies associated within the

(BET) group, namely Trent, PMT and Northern General. After 1940, the vehicles were identified by the company's initials, BMMO, and supplied solely for the BMMO company's own use. Codes later used for buses were FEDD (Front Entrance Double Decker), REDD (Rear Entrance Double Decker), Coaches were initially classified "ONC", but later used a prefix of "C" – or "CM" for Motorway coaches. Single Decker models after the war were numbered S6, then S8 through S23, Double Decker models D1 through D10. The D10 was, in some opinions, the pinnacle of BMMO bus design – a double decker with front entrance/rear exit and an underfloor engine, but only two were produced. AD2, GD6 and LD8 were exceptions to the normal designation system – these codes referred to batches of respectively AEC, Guy and Leyland vehicles acquired when the manufacturing operation could not meet the heavy demand. Individual buses were numbered from (around) 2000 to 5900 – registrations (usually) incorporated the last three numbers of the serial, and a letter prefix of three letters ending in "HA" ( a Smethwick origin registration mark). This relationship did not apply to the limited number of buses gained as a result of acquisition of other operators. Bus manufacture, overhaul and accident repair was carried out at

, adjacent to the Rotton Park Reservoir in

, Birmingham. Nearby to the works was BMMO's head office, in Vernon Road, Edgbaston.

Historical list of Midland Red garages

Other short time-span garages (either owned or rented) included: Birmingham, Ladywood Road (Five Ways Inn yard);

, Sandy Lane; Cradley, (GWR station yard);

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 ...

, Mucklow Hill (GWR station yard);

, Bridge Street (Black Lion Yard); Kingswinford, The Portway;

, Frog Island; Leicester, Hastings Road; Leicester, Welford Road;

, Burgage Walk (ex NWMO&T Co); Nuneaton, Heath End Road; Nuneaton, the former Empire theatre;

Sedgley Sedgley is a town in the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, Sedgley is on the A459 road between Wolverhampt ...

, WDET Co depot;

, Abbey foregate (ex Allen Omnibus Co); Shrewsbury, Roushill;

, Co-operative Street; Wellington, Mansell Street.

Timeline

*1904: Formation of BMMO. *1905: First services. *1914–1920: Rapid spread of services outside Birmingham to 'Paint the Midlands Red'. *1920s: Development of long-distance coach routes using charabancs. *1923: First production run of BMMO buses, SOS 'S' type – one of the first British buses to have pneumatic tyres. *1927: 'QL' type bus produced, the first Midland Red bus design to have brakes on all wheels. *1930s: Development of petrol and diesel engines. Experimental rear-engined buses built. *1940s: Experiments with, and production of under-floor engined single-deck buses. *1950s: Experiments and developments of integral construction, independent front suspension, air suspension, rubber suspension, glass fibre construction and disc brakes. *1958: Introduction of the D9, a new half-cab double deck design incorporating most of the successful features developed in the 1950s. *1959: The introduction of the CM5T, a turbocharged coach capable of almost 100 mph, for non-stop motorway services. The Birmingham-London express coach service launched on 2 November – the same day that the M1 motorway was opened. CM5T designation indicated by 'M' high speed (Motorway) capability and by 'T' fitted with passenger toilet facilities. *1960: Appearance of the first of the two experimental D10 double-deckers, with under-floor engines. *1963: One of the country's first fully enclosed city centre bus stations was opened at Birmingham's Bull Ring Shopping Centrre, from which most Midland Red services in the City Centre departed. *1960s: Larger motorway coach introduced, the CM6T between 1963–6. Midland Red becomes the first British bus company to make wide-scale use of computers in compiling bus schedules and staff rosters. *1970s: Winding down of vehicle production. Last Midland Red built-bus (S23 single-decker no. 5991) produced in 1970. Split up of the operating area – West Midlands PTE take the West Midlands Metropolitan area garages. *1980s: Midland Red forcibly split into five operating companies and an engineering company. Leading to privatisation by buy-outs and substantial reduction in services. *1990s: Take over by the current conglomerate transport groups.

References

External links

*
Flickr galleryMidlandRed.netLarge collection of preserved Midland Red buses and coaches
Transport Museum, Wythall *

Black Country Living Museum The Black Country Living Museum (formerly the Black Country Museum) is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, West Midlands, England.