Bullocks Coaches

Bullocks Coaches (formerly known as R. Bullock & Co. Transport) is a Stockport bus company that runs a popular service between Piccadilly Gardens and Woodford seven days a week. They are named after Ralph Bullock, a local entrepreneur, and founder of the business. The buses are traditionally red and white, although newer buses also include bronze; and the Oxford Road Link is predominantly white. In August 2008, it was announced that the bus operations will be purchased by Stagecoach Group and eventually integrated into their Stagecoach Manchester bus company.

Early days

The company was founded by Ralph Bullock initially as a haulage firm in 1928, with milk deliveries being the early focus. At the weekend, the trucks turned into cloth-top charabancs for trips to the seaside. By the mid-1930s, the fleet included trucks and proper coaches, but the trucks were nationalised under the Transport Act 1947 during Atlee's Labour government, leaving only the coaches in the business. Ralph was fond of Foden coaches, and the majority of the fleet throughout the 1940s to 1960s were Fodens, of which two still survive to this day, the oldest from 1949 is still roadworthy, and is currently on loan to the Museum of Transport in Manchester.

Recent times

The firm remained small, with around 20 vehicles, until 1986, when deregulation of buses was introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government. The fleet now includes many buses as well as coaches, numbering around 75-80 vehicles in total.-

tagecoach Purchase

On July 18th 2008, the Manchester Evening News reported that Bullocks had entered into discussions with Stagecoach Group to purchase their commercial bus operations; this was confirmed by a statement from Stagecoach, but Bullocks declined to comment. If such a purchase is successful then it would remove the last remaining independent bus operator in Manchester and Stockportcite web
title = Bullocks in talks with Stagecoach - Business - Manchester Evening News
publisher = Manchester Evening News
date = 2008-07-18
author = Chris Barry
url = http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/business/s/1058740_bullocks_in_talks_with_stagecoach
accessdate = 2008-07-19] .

On 8th August 2008, a statement on the Stagecoach Manchester website confirmed that Stagecoach Group had exchanged contracts for the purchase of the commercial bus operations of Bullocks. These include the popular 157 service between Woodford and Manchester. Stagecoach will seek to operate the Bullocks services separately until regulatory clearance has been received for the purchase, this is the second purchase by Stagecoach Group in Greater Manchester, of a smaller independent operator in 2008, after the Mayne of Manchester commercial bus operations were purchased in January.cite web
title = Stagecoach Manchester - News - Stagecoach Announces Bullocks Acquisition
publisher = Stagecoach Manchester
date = 2008-08-08
url = http://www.stagecoachbus.com/manchester/news_5301.html
accessdate = 2008-08-11]

Vehicle types in use

* Leyland Olympian/Alexander R-Type
* Leyland Olympian/East Lancs E-Type
* Leyland Olympian/Northern Counties
* Scania N113DRB/East Lancs Cityzen
* Scania N94UD/East Lancs OmniDekka
* Scania OmniCity (Integral)
* Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine
* Volvo Olympian/East Lancs E-Type

References

*"Buses" magazine, January 1993: "Bullocks of Cheadle", Howard J. Piltz
*"Bus & Coach Preservation" magazine, February 2003: "Fabulous Foden, Bullock's survivors", Stephen Morris & Philip Lamb
*"The Foden News", c. 1953: "Mr R. Bullock of Cheadle".

External links

* [http://www.bullockscoaches.net/ Bullocks Coaches website]