Glossopdale Bus Company
Encyclopedia
Glossopdale Bus Company was a bus company in Glossop
, Derbyshire
, England
from 1991 until sale in 1999.
.The founder of the business, David Whyatt, secured start-up funding from the Prince's Trust, which allowed the purchase of the first bus.
The business was awarded a contract by Derbyshire County Council in October 1992 to operate the 361 service between Glossop and Stockport, and in the same month won the BBC Radio 4 / Radio Times Enterprise 92 award for best small business in the UK. In 1995, Glossopdale took over the operations of Tame Valley Motor Services, founded by the late Patrick Keeley, and commenced services in Greater Manchester, with the 375 service between Tameside Hospital and Bosden Farm.
A subsidiary operation, Galloway Bus Company, was established in 1995 with grant assistance from the Scottish Office. A two-hourly service was launched between the towns of Port William and Kirkudbright, but operated only for a few months and was not able to generate sufficient travel to become self-funding.
In 1996 the company became one of the launch customers for the ill-fated Marshall Minibus, an early low floor midi-sized vehicle designed and built by Marshall of Cambridge. The four vehicles owned by Glossopdale had an appalling performance record, often all four being out of service due to various mechanical and structural defects. This created a heavy burden for such a small operator. Eventually Glossopdale sued Marshall in the High Court, with the manufacturer admitting defeat shortly before the hearing was due. Marshall re-purchased the vehicles and compensated Glossopdale for its ordeal.
A further takeover was completed in 1996 with the acquisition of the contracts of Checkmate of Mossley, owned by the late Sam Tandy. This added the 352 service between Denshaw and Ashton to the Glossopdale network.
By 1998 the company was operating a fleet of twenty five buses and employed forty five people. The officers of the company were: David Whyatt (b.1965) Managing Director, Robert Farrell (1950–2007) Finance Director, Jack Hampson (b.1953) Director and General Manager.
In 1999 the company was sold to Stagecoach Manchester and its operations were absorbed into their network. Glossopdale Bus Company can be seen as the pre-cursor to Speedwellbus
which was created by Jack Hampson and David Whyatt several years afterwards.
Glossop
Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from 1991 until sale in 1999.
History
Glossopdale Bus Company began operations in 1991, with a one vehicle, two route service around GlossopGlossop
Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...
.The founder of the business, David Whyatt, secured start-up funding from the Prince's Trust, which allowed the purchase of the first bus.
The business was awarded a contract by Derbyshire County Council in October 1992 to operate the 361 service between Glossop and Stockport, and in the same month won the BBC Radio 4 / Radio Times Enterprise 92 award for best small business in the UK. In 1995, Glossopdale took over the operations of Tame Valley Motor Services, founded by the late Patrick Keeley, and commenced services in Greater Manchester, with the 375 service between Tameside Hospital and Bosden Farm.
A subsidiary operation, Galloway Bus Company, was established in 1995 with grant assistance from the Scottish Office. A two-hourly service was launched between the towns of Port William and Kirkudbright, but operated only for a few months and was not able to generate sufficient travel to become self-funding.
In 1996 the company became one of the launch customers for the ill-fated Marshall Minibus, an early low floor midi-sized vehicle designed and built by Marshall of Cambridge. The four vehicles owned by Glossopdale had an appalling performance record, often all four being out of service due to various mechanical and structural defects. This created a heavy burden for such a small operator. Eventually Glossopdale sued Marshall in the High Court, with the manufacturer admitting defeat shortly before the hearing was due. Marshall re-purchased the vehicles and compensated Glossopdale for its ordeal.
A further takeover was completed in 1996 with the acquisition of the contracts of Checkmate of Mossley, owned by the late Sam Tandy. This added the 352 service between Denshaw and Ashton to the Glossopdale network.
By 1998 the company was operating a fleet of twenty five buses and employed forty five people. The officers of the company were: David Whyatt (b.1965) Managing Director, Robert Farrell (1950–2007) Finance Director, Jack Hampson (b.1953) Director and General Manager.
In 1999 the company was sold to Stagecoach Manchester and its operations were absorbed into their network. Glossopdale Bus Company can be seen as the pre-cursor to Speedwellbus
Speedwellbus
Speedwellbus is a bus operator based in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. It operates a fleet of 25 buses on commercial and contracted services. Operations commenced in 2002 with a service between Glossop and Tintwistle, and were expanded with the addition of contracts from Derbyshire County...
which was created by Jack Hampson and David Whyatt several years afterwards.