White Bus Services
 | |
 Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC at Guildford bus station in January 2019 | |
| Parent | Rowgate Group |
|---|---|
| Founded |
|
| Headquarters | Winkfield |
| Service area | Berkshire |
| Service type | Bus service |
| Destinations | Windsor, Woking, Guildford, Ascot, Staines, Frimley |
| Fleet | 55 (Jan 2020) |
| Chief executive | Simon Rowland |
| Website | www.whitebus.co.uk |
C.E. Jeatt & Sons Limited,[1] trading as White Bus Services (sometimes shortened to White Bus), is a bus operator based in Berkshire and runs bus and coach hire services within Windsor and Ascot.[2][3] It is part of the Rowgate Group.
History
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White Bus Services was founded by George Ackroyd in July 1922 in Winkfield as the Republic Bus Company, introducing a service linking Windsor and Ascot.[4] Ackroyd ran the business until selling it to William Rule Jeatt in 1930, renaming it as White Bus Services. The company would continue to be run by the Jeatt family for over 80 years, passing down to Cecil Jeatt, then in 1972 to his son Doug Jeatt.[5][6]
In 1932, a new service was introduced that skirted the edge of Windsor Great Park. By 1936 buses were running through the park itself and White Bus remains as the only operator to provide a public transport link into the park.[4][7]
The private hire side of the business became a separate company in 1955, despite continuing to share the same site, operating as Winkfield Coaches. The two companies were re-amalgamated in 1990.[6]
White Bus further expanded in 1987 when it acquired vehicles and contracted school services from A. Moore & Sons (trading as Imperial) in Windsor upon the company's closure.[6] This, alongside the introduction of free school transport for eligible pupils, has led to White Bus developing a network of school services in Windsor, Ascot, Maidenhead and Wokingham.[4]
In 2014, White Bus was awarded contracts to operate routes P1 and W1.[4]
Acquisition by Rowgate Group
White Bus Services was sold to Fernhill Travel of Bracknell in November 2016, which is managed by Rowgate Group's chairman, Simon Rowland.[3]
In 2017, following
In September 2018, White Bus won more contracts from Surrey County Council, mainly in the Woking area, taking over routes 437, 462/463 and two morning journeys on route 81 from Arriva Guildford & West Surrey. It also took over routes 48 and 500 from Dickson Travel of Frimley Green. Five more Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs joined the fleet, these being the 8.9m examples to Euro VI specification.[4][10] To celebrate their centenary anniversary, White Bus bought two 10.8 m variants of the same model which arrived in January 2020.[3]
In December 2022, White Bus announced they would not be participating in the government's £2 fixed price bus fare scheme.[11]
Commencing 26 August 2023, White Bus took over route 458 (running between Staines and Kingston upon Thames) from Diamond South East.[12]
From 4 December 2023, White Bus' route 446 was extended from Staines to Ashford Hospital, Heathrow Airport and Hatton Cross tube station, alongside an increased frequency to half-hourly throughout the core Woking-Staines section.[13]
In June 2023, the company was taken to an Employment Tribunal over the unlawful and unfair dismissal of a former employee. The former employee won the case in January 2024.[14][15]
Services
As of January 2023, White Bus Services runs 19 public services. The majority of the routes would start at Staines, Windsor or Woking and would terminate elsewhere within Berkshire or Surrey.[16]
Fleet
White Bus Services were known for its wide fleet of
The buses that are used for public routes are ADL, Volvo and Optare products.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Companies House extract company no 1184445 C.E. Jeatt & Sons Limited
- ^ "White Bus | Bushub". www.bushub.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b c "White Bus takes delivery of new Enviro200 models | Alexander Dennis". www.alexander-dennis.com. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Lyons, Mark (February 2021). "White Bus Services". BUSES. Key Publishing.
- ^ "Author pens the remarkable story". Windsor Express. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Bus Zone - White Bus Services". www.buszone.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ "How To Find Us". Windsor Great Park. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ "New Operator for Route 441 from 17th March 2018". Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ "Abellio Surrey maintain a commercial toehold in Surrey" Buses issue 749 August 2017 page 7
- ^ Team, routeone (12 December 2018). "White Bus Services' five Mistral-supplied E200s". routeone. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ "£2 Single Fare Cap Scheme". 29 December 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ Lyons, Mark (September 2023). "Operator changes for cross-border services". BUSES. Key Publishing.
- ^ "Changes to 446 from 4 December". White Bus. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ Lettice Bromovsky (12 January 2024). "Bus company manager wrongly sacked after filming colleague's Morecambe and Wise striptease". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ "Mr G Lovejoy v Rowgate Group Ltd and CE Jeatt & Sons Ltd: 3323008/2021". GOV.UK. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ "Bus Services | White bus". www.whitebus.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
