The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a
state
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-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
.
The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the
Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to
Scottish Omnibuses
Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. (SOL) was a company set up by the British Transport Commission on 4 April 1949 to take over the bus and coach operations of Scottish Motor Traction (SMT) and its subsidiaries under the nationalisation provisions of the ...
after
nationalisation in 1948 under control of the
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...
.
Highland Omnibuses was added to the group in 1952.
A new holding company, Scottish Omnibuses Group (Holdings) was formed in 1961, and this was renamed Scottish Bus Group
[Companies House extract company no SC13181]
Scottish Bus Group Limited in 1963. Meanwhile, the group had come under control of the
Transport Holding Company in 1962 when the British Transport Commission was wound up. It went on to become part of the
Scottish Transport Group on 1 January 1969 along with
David MacBrayne. At the time it operated 4,700 buses.
Member companies
*Central S.M.T. Company Ltd.(branded as
Central Scottish from 1978)
*Highland Omnibuses Ltd.
[Companies House extract company no SC15912]
Highland Scottish Omnibuses Limited formerly Highland Omnibuses Limited(branded as
Highland Scottish from 1978)
*
Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.[Companies House extract company no SC26792]
Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Limited formerly Scottish Omnibuses Limited (branded as
Eastern Scottish from 1964)
*
W. Alexander & Sons (Fife) Ltd. (Fife)
[Companies House extract company no SC26126]
Fife Scottish Omnibuses Limited formerly W Alexander & Sons (Fife) Limited (branded as
Fife Scottish from 1978)
*
W. Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd.[Companies House extract company no SC16923]
Midland Bluebird Limited formerly Midland Scottish Omnibuses Limited formerly W Alexander & Sons (Midland) Limited (branded as
Midland Scottish from 1978)
*
W. Alexander & Sons (Northern) Ltd.[Companies House extract company no SC19039]
Bluebird Buses Limited formerly Bluebird Northern Limited formerly Northern Scottish Omnibuses Limited formerly W Alexander & Sons (Northern) Limited (branded as
Northern Scottish from 1978)
*
Western S.M.T. Company Ltd.[Companies House extract company no 131237]
Western Buses Limited formerly Western Scottish Buses Limited formerly Western Scottish Limited formerly Western SMT Company Limited (branded as
Western Scottish from 1978)
In 1970, SBG took over all the routes of
David MacBrayne.
In 1985, SBG was restructured as follows in preparation for
deregulation
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a r ...
:
*
Central Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
*
Clydeside Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
*
Eastern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.[
* Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.][
* Highland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.][
* Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
* Lowland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
* Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.][
* Northern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.][
*SBG Engineering Ltd.
* Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd.
* Strathtay Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.
* Western Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.][
In May 1988, it was decided to privatise the operating companies with this occurring in 1990/91. Central Scottish and Kelvin Scottish were merged as Kelvin Central Buses, while Clydeside Scottish was merged into Western Scottish so as to provide a healthier prospect for potential buyers, both companies ended up being sold as separate entities.
SBG Engineering had been formed to operate the central repair workshops inherited from six of the original seven operating subsidiaries (Alexander (Northern) not having had a separate engineering works). The company undertook heavy overhauls, refurbishment and accident repairs on behalf of the operating subsidiaries, and also offered these services commercially to other operators. Latterly it also owned a small fleet of rental buses. The Larbert works was transferred to Midland Scottish in 1988 and the rest of the company was dissolved in March 1990 as a prelude to privatisation. Edinburgh and Motherwell works were closed, while Inverness, Kilmarnock and Kirkcaldy works were transferred to Highland Scottish, Western Scottish and Fife Scottish respectivelyWorkshop shutdown]
''Commercial Motor'' 25 January 1990
The holding company, Scottish Bus Group Limited, was dissolved in 2006.[
]
References
External links
*
Flickr gallery
{{Authority control
Defunct companies of Scotland
Former bus operators in Scotland
Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom
1961 establishments in Scotland
1991 disestablishments in Scotland
British companies disestablished in 1991
British companies established in 1961