SiW Company History

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The company covers an area from Leicester in the North to Chipping Norton in the South, and from Northampton in the East to Evesham in the West, most vehicles being branded Stagecoach in Warwickshire because the company is one of the leading operators in the county. A coaching fleet is also maintained to provide Megabus services.

Midland Red (South) was formed in 1981, when the huge Midland Red Omnibus Company was broken down into five new operating companies in preparation for the privatisation of the National Bus Company. However, the original Midland Red company started out long before that, at the turn of the century, in Birmingham. In the 1910’s and 1920’s the company rapidly developed it’s operating territory into the surrounding Midland Counties. Over the years the company continued to expand it’s operations, with strategic take-overs of smaller firms such as the Stratford Blue Company in the 1960’s. Midland Red built it’s own buses from 1923 until 1970, when it became part of the National Bus Company. 1987 saw Midland Red (South) pass back into private ownership when it was purchased by the Western Travel Group. Then in 1993, the company became part of Stagecoach West, when the Western Travel Group was purchased by Stagecoach Holdings PLC.

A reorganisation within Stagecoach in around 2000 led to Midland Red (South) joining Thames Transit (Stagecoach Oxford) to form Stagecoach South Midlands with new trading names Stagecoach in Warwickshire and Stagecoach in Oxford. Due to its geographic location operational control of the Banbury depot was transferred to Stagecoach Oxford in November 2001, Stagecoach Oxford being renamed Stagecoach in Oxfordshire on 1st July 2002 as a consequence. The operations were then split into separate Oxfordshire and Warwickshire entities 1st March 2004 to allow closer local management of each half. Stagecoach in Warwickshire was however merged again, this time with most of the former United Counties operation from 1st August 2010 (which was part of Stagecoach East) to form Stagecoach Midlands.

Since becoming part of the Stagecoach Group there has been heavy investment in new buses. These include several specially designed to cater for those with impaired mobility, and for use on quality partnership "Showcase" projects involving Centro and Travel West Midlands.