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Centrebus

logo
A Centrebus Optare Olympus on Leicester service 54
Parent	Centrebus Group
Founded	13 March 2001
Headquarters	102 Cannock Street, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE4 9HR
Locale	North West, East Midlands, East of England
Service area	Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Essex Through its High Peak subsidiary; Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire.
Service type	Bus
Hubs	Leicester, Grantham, Dunstable, Stevenage, Corby
Operator	Centrebus Group
Web site	www.centrebus.co.uk

Centrebus is a privately owned company that operate a number of services around Leicester and Leicestershire, Grantham, Hertfordshire Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, mainly in areas where Arriva has scaled down its bus operations. Centrebus also competes with Arriva on some routes in Leicester, Luton and Stevenage. It also operates services in the High Peak Borough in Northern Derbyshire and surrounding areas through its High Peak subsidiary, which was rebranded from Bowers Coaches some time after being merged with the Dove Holes depot of Trent Barton. It is one of the fastest expanding private bus operators in the United Kingdom, having gained a presence in Derbyshire, Cheshire, Northamptonshire, and West Yorkshire, within 18 months.

History[link]

Centrebus was founded in March 2001, it was previously known as Anstey Buslines.

Expansion[link]

In 2007 Centrebus acquired Bowers Coaches, a local bus and coach operator in the High Peak borough of Derbyshire. This was one of the first acquisitions outside of the core Centrebus operating area around the South of the East Midlands. Bowers was established in 1952 and was family run up until the Centrebus takeover. Bowers operated services in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Derbyshire, mainly consisting of shorter local services. There was also an established coach division of the business, however this was cut back in favour of buses, changing the name to Bowers to coincide. In early 2010 buses appearing on the Bowers Macclesfield-Knutsford service were repainted to say 'Cheshire Connect operated by Centrebus' suggesting that the Bowers name could be phased out. In April 2012, all Bowers operations joined with the Dove Holes depot of Trent Barton, to make a new company High Peak.

At the beginning of 2008, Centrebus sold its St Albans operations to Uno.

In May 2008, the Centrebus shareholders, headed by director Julian Peddle, formed Centrebus Holdings, which Arriva has a 40% stake in. Centrebus Holdings does not own Centrebus, and was formed to take over K-Line and Stagecoach Huddersfield.

In September 2008, Centrebus took over all of Woods Coaches bus routes run within Leicester and Leicestershire. Woods also sold all of their Mercedes minibuses, Optare Solos and Dennis Darts to Centrebus.

On 22 and 23 August 2009 the assets and goodwill of Trustybus, with operations in Essex and Hertfordshire, passed to Centrebus, whose name replaced that of Trustybus.^[1]

During August 2009 Centrebus purchased a 20% share of Leicester based operator Thurmaston Bus. However this was sold to former Centrebus director Mark O'Mahony who purchased another 30% of the company in August 2010.^{[citation needed]}

On 2 August 2010 Centrebus took over the operations of Judges Mini Coaches in Corby, Northamptonshire. Operating routes: 16 Kettering – Raunds, 8 Corby – Kettering, 60 Welford – Northampton , 34 Kettering to Wellingborough, , 67 Gretton to Market Harborough via Corby, 90 Yardley to Central Milton Keynes via Cosgrove & Stony Stratford, 90A Wicken to Central Milton Keynes via Stony Stratford and W3 and W8 services which previously were operated by Stagecoach Midlands in Wellingborough.

Centrebus have gained six Optare Solo's which are owned by Northamptonshire County Council in a green Connect livery which were previously operated by Stagecoach Midlands and FirstGroup in Wellingborough.

On Monday 9 May 2011 Centrebus took over all of West End Travel bus fleet and services in Melton Mowbray and their Rural Rider services. On 3 October 2011 Centrebus took over Veolia Transport subsidiary Paul James Coaches operations in Melton Mowbray with both operations operating from the West End Travel depot.^{[citation needed]}

Centrebus took over the operations of Kimes Buses in Lincolnshire and Rutland. Kimes was founded in 1945 and operated a fleet of 23 vehicles at the time of the takeover. Its green and cream livery and the Kimes name were retained by Centrebus.^[2]

Operation[link]

The management team is headed by Peter Harvey, MD, ex-Arriva and co-founder. Julian Peddle and Dave Shelley joined the board during the expansion of Centrebus and it is expected that the groups growth plans will continue with this strong team at the helm. Many Centrebus managers came from Arriva's UK and European bus operations.

Centrebus Group is the holding company for the main Centrebus division and the High Peak division.

The company participates in the Plusbus scheme where train and bus tickets can be bought together at a saving.

Routes[link]

Gallery[link]

• 

  A Centrebus Plaxton Centro at a bus rally in 2007.

• 

  Centrebus' 827, a Volvo B10M/Northern Counties Palatine.

See also[link]

• List of bus operators of the United Kingdom

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Centrebus

• Centrebus website
• Centrebus Southern website
• Centrebus Midlands website
• Centrebus Grantham website
• High Peak website

v t e Centrebus Group Bus companies Centrebus (Leicestershire, Northampton, Corby, Lincolnshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire)  · Bowers (Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire) Centrebus Holdings (60%) K-Line  · The Huddersfield Bus Company (West Yorkshire)

v t e Major bus companies based in the East Midlands Derbyshire Arriva Derby · Bowers (part of Centrebus) · Hulleys of Baslow · Stagecoach in Chesterfield · Trent Barton Leicestershire Arriva Leicester · Centrebus · First in Leicester (part of First Midlands) · Kinchbus · Roberts Coaches Lincolnshire Delaine Buses · Centrebus Lincolnshire · Stagecoach in Lincolnshire · Kimes Buses Northamptonshire First in Northampton (as part of First Midlands)  · Stagecoach in Northants (as part of Stagecoach Midlands) · Centrebus Nottinghamshire Nottingham City Transport · Stagecoach in Lincolnshire · Stagecoach in Mansfield · Trent Barton · Premiere Travel · yourbus National Megabus · National Express