In October 1985, Ensignbus purchased the London Pride Sightseeing open top bus tour business. Through links gained by selling open top buses to other operators around the world, Ensignbus expanded the concept to other cities setting up new tours. In January 1998, the open-top tour business was sold.
Starting in 1998 with an operation in Seville, in 1999, Ensignbus launched the City Sightseeing global sightseeing bus brand with a worldwide franchise model, and proceeded to rapidly expand into several cities. In May 2002 City Sightseeing bought out its main rival Guide Friday.
In November 2000, Ensignbus reacquired the London Pride Sightseeing business but sold it in 2001 to The Original Tour. In June 2004, Ensignbus purchased Bath Bus Company and transferred its City Sightseeing operations in Cardiff, Eastbourne, and Windsor to the company.
In February 2011, the Bath Bus Company business was sold to the RATP Group. In April 2011, Ensignbus sold City Sightseeing to Enrique Ybarra.
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London tendered services
As a result of deregulation in the mid-1980s Ensignbus expanded into tendered London Buses work in East London. Starting with one or two routes, Ensignbus gained a network of routes, using several second hand vehicles and batches of new vehicles:
8 1989-built Alexander bodied Leyland Olympian double-deckers
5 1989-built Northern Counties bodied Leyland Olympian double-deckers
16 1988-built MCW Metrobus double-deckers
In July 1989, it purchased the business of Frontrunner South East from Stagecoach East Midlands with route 248 and 252. In December 1990, Ensignbus sold its London tendered bus services to Hong Kong company Citybus with the Dagenham depot and 87 buses. It was rebranded as Ensign Citybus and then Capital Citybus.
Ensignbus briefly re-entered London tendered services on 7 February 1999, taking over route 324 (Hornchurch-Lakeside) and school service 648 (Romford-Thurrock College) from First Capital who had bought Capital Citybus on 8 July 1998, even later creating a night variant of route 324 numbered N324, which only lasted five nights, when the route was extended to Bluewater from Lakeside and Romford Market from Hornchurch on 16 March 1999. Ensignbus also created a school variant of the 324 numbered 623 between Hornchurch and Belhus on the same day that route 324 was taken over, however the service did not last long as it was withdrawn by 22 July 1999. Ensignbus later took over London tendered service route 348 (Romford-Lakeside) on 12 June 1999 from Eastern National after the route was re-introduced after being withdrawn and replaced by an extension of Eastern National route 351 to Lakeside, and Ensignbus extended route 348 to Gravesend via Bluewater, although this only lasted until 11 December 1999, when the route was withdrawn back to Lakeside. Routes 325 and 509 were later added before Ensignbus once again sold its London services on 11 December 1999, this time to Town & Country Buses.
Essex and Kent services
In 2004, Ensignbus commenced operating a 12-month rail replacement contract in Kent for South Eastern Trains while the Higham and Strood tunnels were closed to strengthening. To avoid being charged the £2 crossing fee for each empty bus on the Dartford Crossing, as well as making use of the dead running from its Purfleet depot, a bus route was introduced between Chafford Hundred and Gravesend via Lakeside and Bluewater Shopping Centres, being numbered as X80. Despite its infrequent timetable, the X80 proved successful and was kept going after the rail contract finished, albeit being cut back to run between Lakeside and Bluewater only.
In 2006, Ensignbus commenced operating services under contract to Thurrock Council and began operating services in Thurrock in competition with Arriva Southend. As at October 2016, it operated 16 routes. In April 2017, Ensign took over two further routes in Thurrock from Amber Coaches.
Ensignbus had combined all their separate routes X21, X31 and X81 running between Ongar, Shenfield and Lakeside Shopping Centre into one route numbered the X90 on February 18, 2019, between Brentwood and Lakeside Shopping Centre via Warley, Great Warley, North Ockendon, South Ockendon and Stifford. However, route X90 did not last long as the service was withdrawn on June 15, 2019, due to an unviable amount of passengers as at the time the Elizabeth line was not fully open, with the intended replacement being the already existing commercial 269 service operated by NIBS between Brentwood and Grays.
In June 2019, Jetlink X1, a night bus service between London Southend Airport and London Victoria via Lakeside Shopping Centre, Canning Town, and Embankment stations commenced. It was withdrawn after a few weeks due to Ensignbus being denied access to Southend Airport. It recommenced on 5 October 2019 but was withdrawn again in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
On 17 June 2019, Ensignbus' services in Brentwood were taken over by NIBS Buses.
Fleet
As of February 2023, Ensignbus operates 55 single and double deck buses, which are a combination of new and second-hand purchases. Fleet livery is light blue and silver. The fleet includes six Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini hybrid electric buses delivered in November 2012.
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