British Coachways was a consortium of independent coach operating companies in the United Kingdom. Formed immediately after the deregulation of coach services in October 1980, it competed with the state-owned National Express and Scottish Bus Group on a range of long-distance routes. Initially composed of six members, it varied in size and composition over its two years of operation to include a range of ten different companies.
The consortium attempted to draw passengers away from the established services by charging significantly lower fares than the existing operators. National Express and Scottish Bus Group responded by reducing fares to similar levels, reducing the appeal of British Coachways' services. In contrast to National Express, operators were given the choice of which vehicle type to operate, so a variety of types were used.
The consortium was not granted access to large facilities in major cities, such as Victoria Coach Station in London, and was forced to use less developed alternative sites. In October 1982 British Coachways was broken up and the brand name abandoned. All but one of its services ceased to operate. The sole survivor was the service between London and Bournemouth, which continued to be operated by former British Coachways member Excelsior Coaches until 1998.
History
Background and creation
Prior to 1980, the majority of long-distance coach services in the United Kingdom were operated by National Express Coaches (NEX), a subsidiary of the state-owned National Bus Company (NBC), which sourced its vehicles from other NBC subsidiaries. Coach services in Scotland, including routes between Scotland and England, were operated by the subsidiaries of the Scottish Bus Group (SBG), which was also state-owned. On 6 October 1980, the coach service market was deregulated by the Transport Act 1980.
To compete effectively with the large and well-recognised network operated by the state-owned companies, a group of established independent coach operators decided to form a consortium to run over a range of routes. The group initially comprised Wallace Arnold, based in Leeds; Grey-Green, operating from London; Shearings of Altrincham; Morris Bros of Swansea; Ellerman Bee Line, of Middlesbrough; and Park's Motor Group, based in Hamilton. The six companies owned a combined fleet of over 700 coaches. The consortium chose the name British Coachways to present a nationwide image, and a small number of coaches received a new livery of white, red and blue to advertise the venture.
Into service and problems
British Coachways began operation on the day that coach services were deregulated, 6 October 1980, on a network based around five service corridors linking London with major population centres. To make its services attractive to passengers, the consortium charged extremely low fares, including some that were less than half of the cheapest fare offered by the rival NEX or SBG service. This meant that profit margins were very low. In addition, the venture suffered from not being able to use recognised departure points in some major cities, most notably Victoria Coach Station in London and Digbeth Coach Station in Birmingham.
The lower fares were intended to draw passengers away from the established services. However, within weeks of British Coachways commencing operation National Express cut their fares to match those offered by the consortium, reducing the appeal of the new routes. In Scotland the change was equally dramatic. Prior to deregulation, the cheapest fare offered by SBG between London and Glasgow was £23. British Coachways undercut this with a £15 return fare, which was also hoped to attract more passengers away from British Rail's services between the two cities. By May 1981, the consortium had increased its fare to £17, while SBG was charging only £15 for the same journey. Additional competition on the corridor was provided by Cotters Tours, which introduced a more expensive high-quality service between London and Glasgow in December 1980.
Passenger numbers were reasonable in the first year of the venture, but low compared to those achieved by the established services. In May 1981, it was reported that British Coachways' London-Glasgow service was carrying around 1,500 passengers per week, while the competing SBG service managed around 4,000 passengers per week over the same period. Loadings on British Coachways services were around half the capacity provided in its first year, although there was considerable variation between routes and journeys. The venture broke even but made no profit at the end of the 1980/81 financial year.