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Private company

First Midlands

British bus operating company1

First Manchester, Midlands & South Yorkshire is an operating unit of FirstGroup operating in the English Midlands, Manchester and South Yorkshire. The unit was formed in 2008 with the merger of the management and administration of First Potteries, First Worcester and First Leicester. On 1 June 2020, First Midlands merged with First South Yorkshire.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Jun 1, 2020Founded1

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First Midland Red 67658
Photo: Kmb gu657 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

First Manchester, Midlands & South Yorkshire is an operating unit of FirstGroup operating in the English Midlands, Manchester and South Yorkshire. The unit was formed in 2008 with the merger of the management and administration of First Potteries, First Worcester and First Leicester. On 1 June 2020, First Midlands merged with First South Yorkshire. During a group restructure in 2022, Worcester moved from Midlands control to First West & Wales and Midlands & South Yorkshire integrated First Manchester.2

Products and brands

Former operations

The former operations in Cheshire (Birkenhead and Chester) are (as of April 2011) now part of First Manchester Ltd, which includes First Greater Manchester.

First Northampton

This bus company was originally a municipal one owned and operated by the town's borough council. In 1993 the council sold the company to the Grampian Regional Transport GRT Group, which became part of FirstGroup in 1995. Operations in Northampton finally ceased on 14 September 2013 after years of heavy losses. The legal entity of First Northampton ceased to trade with the Luton Airport shuttle having passed to First Essex's O licence some months previously.

First Worcester

First Worcester began life as Midland Red (West) Limited, one of five bus operating companies created when the National Bus Company's massive Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited subsidiary was split in 1981 in preparation for privatisation. It was created in September 1981 with a fleet of 183 vehicles and used the trading name Midland Red West.

In November 1985 the company introduced a fleet of 60 new minibuses to operate its urban network in Worcester as part of a new high-frequency service within the city. Similar but much smaller minibus services were launched for the Kidderminster and Stourport areas a year later. In December 1986 the company was sold by the NBC to Midland Red West Holdings Limited, a management buyout company created by Midland Red (West) Limited's employees. There was also a minor change in the company name, from Midland Red (West) Limited to Midland Red West Limited. The management buyout also took the 40-vehicle fleet of Midland Red Coaches, which was merged with the main operation.

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In 1988 Midland Red West Holdings Limited was acquired by Badgerline Holdings Limited (a management buyout company which had purchased Badgerline Limited from the NBC operating rural services around the Bristol area).

In 2008 the registered office of First Midland Red Buses Limited moved from Worcester to that used by First Leicester in Abbey Lane, Leicester. The operation was rebranded as First Worcester following the closure of Hereford depot in 2015.

During July 2022, First Group announced proposals for changes to their operating structure of UK bus operations. This saw the Worcester division move to a newly formed First Cymru and West of England operation.

Former Operations

Crewe depot was closed in November 2010,

Newcastle-Under-Lyme depot was closed 5 September 2015,

First Northampton operations around Northampton ceased in September 2013, most services were replaced by Stagecoach Midlands.

Kidderminster and Redditch operations were sold to Diamond Bus in 2013.

Hereford depot closed in September 2015.

Worcester Padmore Street was transferred to newly formed First West of England management division in 2022.

From Wikipedia’s article on First South Yorkshire & Midlands, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. Jun 1, 2020Founded Founded1

Sources

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