GRT Group was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom from 1989 until 1995. It was formed when Grampian Regional Transport (GRT) was privatised. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Scotland. In April 1994, GRT Group was listed on the stock exchange, and in June 1995 merged with
Badgerline
Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a man ...
to form
FirstBus
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Grampian Regional Transport, the city bus operator in
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
, Scotland, in a
management buyout
A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...
. Motivation for the buyout was the 1988 announcement that the
Scottish Bus Group
The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland.
The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to ...
was to be privatised, sparking fears that GRT could be acquired by a larger group and asset stripped.
The buyout was achieved on 20 January 1989. General Manager
Moir Lockhead
Sir Moir Lockhead OBE DHC (born 25 April 1945 in County Durham, England) is an English businessman. He was Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of UK transport group FirstGroup. Originally a mechanical engineer, he left school ( West Cornforth S ...
, together with four other managers, took a 51% stake in the new company, with employees holding 33%, and
Aberdeen Asset Management
Aberdeen Asset Management plc was an international investment management group, managing assets for both institutions and private investors from offices around the world. Its head office was in Aberdeen, Scotland. The company was listed on the ...
and 3i the remaining 16%. At the time GRT had a fleet of 200 buses and 500 employees.Interview with Moir Lockhead ''Railway People'' 11 April 2006
GRT Group went on to purchase other bus operators in England and Scotland. In April 1994, it was listed on the Stock Exchange. In June 1995, GRT Group merged with
Badgerline
Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a man ...
to form
FirstBus
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Scottish Bus Group
The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland.
The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to ...
Northampton
Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
Leicester City Council
Leicester City Council is the local authority for the city of Leicester, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. Leicester has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1997 the council ...
Scottish Bus Group
The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland.
The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to ...
)
*
Lowland Scottish
Lowland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operator in south eastern Scotland and parts of Northern England. The company was formed in 1985 and operated under the identities Lowland Scottish, Lowland and First Lowland / First SMT, until 1999 whe ...
November 1994 (ex
Scottish Bus Group
The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland.
The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to ...
)
Midland Scottish, Eastern Counties, Scottish Motor Traction and Lowland Scottish, were regional companies, with operating territories stretching over large areas comprising town and interurban services. The Northampton and Leicester operations were town based networks, like Grampian.
Livery
As GRT Group, the company had developed a form of corporate livery dictated by an arrangement of a horizontal and diagonal bands over a base colour. The colour scheme of the bands were derived from colours representative of the subsidiary company, while the base colour was chosen as cream. Lowland Scottish, however, opted to use yellow for its base colour. The companies retained their own version of a company logo. Some companies developed an alternate livery with a gold band for the introduction of new buses.
With the formation of FirstBus, the former GRT companies retained its corporate livery, with the individual company logos replaced with the company name in a new standard corporate typeface, along with a stylised ''f'' symbol representing FirstBus.