The Big Lemon is a bus and coach operator in Brighton, East Sussex,

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and Bath. It is registered as a Community Interest Company.

History

The Big Lemon was founded by Tom Druitt in 2007. After gaining an operator licence, the first public transport route was launched on 1 September 2007. Route 42X originally operated from

Brighton Station Brighton railway station is the southern terminus of the Brighton Main Line in England, and the principal station serving the city of Brighton, East Sussex. It is from via . The station is managed by Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates ...

to Falmer Station, with hopes to expand the operation with more routes. After lower than expected passenger numbers, and competition from

Brighton & Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and ...

, the company scaled down the level of service, re-launching it in January 2008, and to reconsider its operating model. From 7 to 29 January 2008, the service operated on a reduced frequency, ending once the original route registration expired after the mandated period. Route 42/42A/N42 was The Big Lemon's first public bus service, originating from its service 42X. Service 42 operated from Churchill Square to Sussex University via Lewes Road. During the evenings the route number changed to 42A and served West Street. It would later be renumbered N42. The N42 charged higher fares as it operated from 00:00 – 04:00. In 2011 the company renumbered routes 42A and N42 to 42. Route 43 ran from September 2010 - January 2011, focusing on student trade and operating from Old Steine during the day and

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

during the evening up to

Brighton University The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieve ...

Falmer Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles (8 km) north-east of the former. It is also the site of Brighton & Hove Albion's Falmer ...

campus. Route 44 was introduced at the same time as route 43 in September 2010, operating from Churchill Square to

Saltdean Saltdean is a coastal village in the city of Brighton and Hove, with part (known as East Saltdean) outside the city boundary in Lewes district. Saltdean is approximately east of central Brighton, west of Newhaven, and south of Lewes. It is ...

. In September 2012 The Big Lemon successfully tendered to operate route 52 between

Brighton Marina Brighton Marina is an artificial marina situated in Brighton, England. It features a working harbour and residential housing alongside a variety of leisure, retail and commercial activities. The construction of the marina itself took place bet ...

and

Woodingdean Woodingdean is an eastern suburb of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, separated from the main part of the city by downland and the Brighton Racecourse. The name Woodingdean came from Woodendean (i.e. wooded valley) Farm which was situ ...

which also goes to

Ovingdean Ovingdean is a small, formerly agricultural, village in the east of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. Overview It was absorbed into the administrative borough of Brighton, East Sussex, England in 1928, and now forms part of the city of ...

under contract to Brighton & Hove City Council. On 17 March 2017, it was announced that

Norman Baker Norman John Baker (born 26 July 1957) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes in East Sussex from the 1997 general election until his defeat in 2015. In May 2010 he was appointed ...

, the former

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

MP and

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

for the Department for Transport, had been appointed managing director of the Big Lemon. On 17 September 2017 , The Big Lemon took over routes 16, between

Portslade Portslade is a western suburb of the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Portslade Village, the original settlement a mile inland to the north, was built up in the 16th century. The arrival of the railway from Brighton in 1840 encouraged rapid de ...

and

Hangleton Hangleton is a residential suburb of Hove, part of the English city and coastal resort of Brighton and Hove. The area was developed in the 1930s after it was incorporated into the borough of Hove, but has ancient origins: its parish church was ...

, 47, between

Brighton station Brighton railway station is the southern terminus of the Brighton Main Line in England, and the principal station serving the city of Brighton, East Sussex. It is from via . The station is managed by Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates ...

and East Saltdean, 56, between Knoll estate and

Patcham Patcham () is an area of the city of Brighton & Hove, about north of the city centre. It is bounded by the A27 (Brighton bypass) to the north, Hollingbury to the east and southeast, Withdean to the south and the Brighton Main Line to the west. ...

, 57, between

and East Saltdean and 66 which goes in a circular route around

and

. Additionally, one saturday morning journey on Brighton & Hove's route 21A, from Goldstone Valley to Brighton Marina, has been operated by the Big Lemon since 16th September 2018. From 29 April 2019, Route 66 was withdrawn and incorporated into route 47, and Route 56 was replaced with an extension to Routes 47 and 52.

Seaford & District

The Big Lemon had partnered up with Lewes-based Seaford and District to create a coach company called "Brighton Horizon Coaches" on 4 August 2020. Together they had set up a fleet of 11 coaches. Five months later, on the 9th of January 2021, Seaford and District was acquired by The Big Lemon, with Ryan Wrotny taking over management of the company. David Mulpeter, the company's Managing Director, was said to be taking his first steps into retirement following 10 and a half years running the company since its founding in 2010. The operating licences, however, will remain separate.

Expansion into the West of England

In September 2022, following the closure of the

HCT Group HCT Group was a social enterprise providing transport services and community services in several areas of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1982 as Hackney Community Transport in the London Borough of Hackney, to provide transport services f ...

in Bristol, The Big Lemon announced that they would be operating services in the city supported by subsidy from the

West of England Combined Authority The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is a combined authority within the West of England area, consisting of the local authorities of Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset. The combined authority is led by the ...

. On 30 September 2022, the traffic commissioner approved the licence for The Big Lemon to operate bus services in Bristol. The Big Lemon's four Bristol routes (505, 506, 515 & 516) commenced operations on Monday 3rd October 2022 initially using a batch of Enviro 200s previously operated by Bristol Community Transport as well as four

Optare Solo The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...

s transferred from the company's Brighton operations. On 28 November 2022, The Big Lemon started operating services 11, 12 and 20 in Bath following these routes withdrawal by

First West of England First West of EnglandCompanies House extract company no 25088
...

in October. Their routes in Bath are operated using 3 hired-in

Wright StreetLite The Wright StreetLite is a low-floor midibus introduced by Wrightbus in 2010. It was originally available in only one body style (wheel forward) before the door forward and StreetLite Max variants were introduced in 2011 and 2012 respectively. ...

s and an electric Higer Steed transferred from the company's operations in Brighton.

Services

As of January 2021, The Big Lemon operate 14 services (7 in Brighton, 4 in Bristol, 3 in Bath). Additionally, they operate shuttle buses for Brighton Metropolitan College and Legal & General Coaches ran on biodiesel that was refined from waste cooking oil until 2017.Biodiesel from Waste Cooking Oil
The Big Lemon Buses run on diesel and batteries charged via mix of solar power and the main grid.

Fleet

As of April 2020, The Big Lemon has a fleet of 19 vehicles, including 3 minibuses and 16 regular buses. The minibuses don't operate regular bus routes, rather operating on the

Legal & General Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

and Brighton Metropolitan College shuttles.

References

External links

*
Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Lemon Bus operators in Brighton and Hove Bus operators in Bristol Bus operators in East Sussex Transport in Brighton and Hove Transport in East Sussex British companies established in 2007