History
Origins
FirstGroup originated from the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom in 1986, whereby private companies purchased nationalised and municipal bus operators.[4] In September 1986 the Somerset based services of the Bristol Omnibus Company that were rebranded in 1985 as Badgerline were purchased in a management buyout. As Badgerline Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing other formerly nationalised bus companies in England and Wales.[5]
In January 1989, Grampian Regional Transport, the bus operator in Aberdeen owned by Grampian Regional Council, was privatised in a management buyout led by its then general manager, Moir Lockhead.[6] As GRT Bus Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland.[7] In April 1995, FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland. The former King Street Barracks site in Aberdeen was selected as the headquarters.[8] At the time of the merger, FirstBus had 5,600 buses, 4,000 of which came from Badgerline.[9] Badgerline's Trevor Smallwood became chairman of FirstBus, while GRT head Moir Lockhead became deputy chairman and chief executive.[9]
Expansion
FirstBus continued the policy of growth by acquisition acquiring former council owned operations and companies formerly owned by English, Welsh and Scottish nationalised operators. FirstBus went on to acquire larger urban metropolitan operators by taking advantage of the privatisation of the PTE bus operations and the privatisation of London bus services. FirstBus acquired GM Buses North in Manchester and Strathclyde Buses in Glasgow in 1996, Mainline in South Yorkshire and CentreWest in London in 1997, and Capital Citybus in London in 1998.[9]
The company was renamed FirstGroup in December 1997[2] after the company moved into railways in February 1996 with the privatisation of British Rail, through a 24.5% shareholding in Great Western Holdings that won the Great Western and North Western franchises, and a 100% shareholding in First Great Eastern that ran the Great Eastern franchise from January 1997. In March 1998, FirstGroup purchased the 75.5% shares in Great Western Holdings it did not already own and rebranded the franchises First Great Western and First North Western.[10][11][12]
In September 1998, FirstGroup made its first overseas foray when New World First Bus commenced operating bus services in Hong Kong formerly operated by China Motor Bus. FirstGroup had a 26% shareholding in the joint venture.[13] In May 2000 FirstGroup sold its shares to joint venture partner New World Development.[14] In September 1999, FirstGroup purchased Ryder Public Transport Services, a provider of school bus and contracted public bus transportation in the United States.[15] In May 2000, FirstGroup began operating the London Tramlink concession under contract to Transport for London.[16]
In August 2003, FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned Anglia Railways and GB Railfreight and held 80% of the shares in Hull Trains.[17] Having not been shortlisted for the Greater Anglia franchise, this gave FirstGroup another chance to bid. However, it was unsuccessful and the franchise was awarded to National Express from April 2004, including the services operated by First Great Eastern.[18] In November 2003, FirstGroup purchased a 90% shareholding in Irish coach operator Aircoach.[19]
In February 2004, FirstGroup's joint venture with Keolis commenced operating the First TransPennine Express rail franchise, FirstGroup having a 55% shareholding.[20][21] In April 2004, FirstGroup commenced operating the First Great Western Link franchise[22] and in October 2004 the First ScotRail franchise.[23] In December 2004, the remainder of First North Western passed to Northern Rail, some services having already been transferred to Arriva Trains Wales and FirstTranspennine Express.[24]
In April 2006, FirstGroup commenced operating the First Capital Connect franchise[25] and a renewed First Great Western franchise that had been expanded to include the Thames Trains and Wessex Trains franchises.[26][27]
In February 2007, FirstGroup agreed to buy the US-based firm Laidlaw, an operator of inter-city coaches and yellow school buses across North America, for £1.9 billion (US$3.7 billion). This also gave it a controlling stake in Greyhound Lines, the largest bus operator in North America. The Greyhound name and the names of Canadian subsidiaries of Greyhound Canada were retained, and all other Laidlaw-owned services in the United States and Canada were rebranded under the First or Greyhound names, except for Voyageur Colonial and Grey Goose in Canada.[28] In January 2009, DSBFirst, FirstGroup's joint venture with Danish State Railways commenced operating the Oresundtrain rail franchise from Helsingør and Nivå in Denmark along the Kystbanen line and over the Øresund Bridge to Malmö, Växjö, Kalmar, Karlskrona and Gothenburg in Sweden. FirstGroup had a 25% shareholding in the Danish business and 20% in the Swedish business.[29] By March 2011 this was 30%.[30]
In June 2009, FirstGroup made a takeover offer for fellow transport operator National Express, which was struggling with debt at the time and was struggling to hold onto its National Express East Coast rail franchise. This was rejected, National Express which said it did not "consider it appropriate" at the time to discuss a takeover. FirstGroup believed that there was "significant industrial and commercial logic" for a merger, but National Express wished to focus on its own initiatives.[31]
Recent years
In June 2010, FirstGroup sold its railfreight business First GBRf to the Eurotunnel Group for £31 million,[32][33] ending the group's involvement in rail freight transport.[34] In September 2010, former London Underground managing director Tim O'Toole, already a board member since May 2009 and chief operating officer and Deputy Chief Executive since June 2010, was announced as the successor to retiring group chief executive officer Moir Lockhead with effect from 31 March 2011.[35][36]
In September 2011, FirstGroup's German bus operations were sold to Marwyn European Transport.[37] In December 2011, DSBFirst ceased operating the Swedish part of the operation after difficulties encountered by Danish State Railways over cross subsidies.[38][39][40]
In July 2012, First Travel Solutions provided bus and coach services for the London 2012 Olympic Games as First Games Transport. This involved the provision of venue shuttle and park and ride services, services connecting the peripheral park and ride sites on the M25 with the Olympic Park and Ebbsfleet, and a nationwide network of express coaches to the Olympic Park and the Weymouth and Portland sailing venue. The services required around 900 vehicles in total, although some were sub-contracted.[41] In June 2013, most of the First London bus operations were sold to Go-Ahead London, Metroline and Tower Transit.[42] In April 2015 FirstGroup was unsuccessful in bidding for the ScotRail franchise, which is now run by Abellio ScotRail. In December 2015, FirstGroup was awarded the next TransPennine Express franchise.[43] The new franchise commenced on 1 April 2016 with a commitment to introduce new trains, routes and faster journey times.[43]
In October 2016, First Transit commenced operating the A-train under contract to the Denton County Transportation Authority, its first rail operation in the United States.[44][45] In August 2017 FirstGroup's joint venture with MTR Corporation commenced operating the South Western franchise, FirstGroup having a 70% shareholding in South Western Railway.[46]
In May 2019, FirstGroup announced it would sell its UK bus operations.[47] The only sales completed were parts of First Greater Manchester to the Go-Ahead Group and Rotala.[48][49] In May 2020, FirstGroup announced it would retain its UK bus operations and sell its North American assets instead.[50]
In April 2021, FirstGroup agreed terms to sell the First Student and First Transit businesses to EQT Partners. The sale completed later in 2021.[51][52][53]
In October 2021, FirstGroup announced the sale of Greyhound Lines to FlixMobility, completing its stated strategy to focus on its leading UK public transport businesses.[54] In October 2021, Lumo commenced operating services on the East Coast Main Line.[55]
In June 2022, FirstGroup rejected a £1.2bn takeover proposal from a US private equity bidder.[56]
In February 2023, FirstGroup announced that subject to regulatory approval, it would purchase both the bus services and bus dealer operations of Purfleet-based Ensignbus.[57][58]
Corporate branding and liveries
FirstGroup has always had a consistent brand and uses the First brand for most of its operations. FirstBus began to apply a standard corporate typeface to its fleet names in the late 1990s, introducing the stylized f logo depicting a road. A corporate white, pink and blue livery nicknamed "Barbie" was introduced to new buses, while further bus company acquisitions continued. Inherited bus fleets were initially left in their original colours with First fleet names, with the intention that the Barbie scheme would stand for a set service quality. Later older buses received a modified "Barbie 2" livery.[61]
As part of its corporate branding, First subsequently removed all local branding for its bus services, buses simply carried the 'First' brand, although each company still operated independently. In 2012, the group began to introduce a new purple, white and lilac livery to its bus fleets, which also reinstated local branding.[62][63] In January 2014, the company rebranded its First Somerset & Avon operations in Bridgwater and Taunton as The Buses of Somerset, using a two-tone green livery.[64][65]
Hull Trains carries a predominantly blue livery, including white, pink and purple. This was also used by First Great Western until 20 September 2015, when the franchise was rebranded as Great Western Railway, with a new logo and dark green livery paying homage to the original Great Western Railway.[66]
London Tramlink operations are painted in white, green and blue as per Transport for London requirements. In Scotland, First ScotRail operated with a blue livery with white saltire markings on the carriage ends, as mandated by the Scottish Government's transport agency Transport Scotland.[67]
Current operating businesses
Current operating businesses include:[68]
Bus and coach
United Kingdom
Scotland
First Aberdeen (formerly First Grampian)
- First Aberdeen Coach Hire (formerly Grampian Executive)
First Glasgow (formerly First Kelvin and First Greater Glasgow)
England
First Berkshire & The Thames Valley (formerly First Beeline)
First Eastern Counties
First Essex (formerly First Eastern National, First Thamesway)
First Greater Manchester
First Hampshire & Dorset
First South Yorkshire & Midlands consists of:
First Potteries Scania Omnicity in Stoke on Trent (January 2020
First South West (formerly First Devon & Cornwall)
First West of England (formerly First Bristol & First Somerset & Avon)
First West Yorkshire consists of:
Wales
First Cymru
Other operations
First Northern Ireland
First Travel Solutions re-branded 2016 (Formally First Rail Support) which provides emergency and planned rail replacement transport to train operating companies using First and non-First Transport through its 24-hour control room in Simonstone, Lancashire
Ireland
Rail
United Kingdom
£4,591.1 million (2022)[1]
£122.8 million (2022)[1]
