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Julian Peddle (born November 1954) is an entrepreneur who has worked in the bus industry since the early 1980s, having owned or part-owned numerous bus companies. He spent 11 years as co-owner of
Stevensons of Uttoxeter Stevensons of Uttoxeter was a bus company that operated in Staffordshire from 1926 to 1997. History On 11 September 1926, John Stevenson commenced operating a bus service from Uttoxeter to Burton upon Trent based out of premises at Spath ju ...
between 1983 and 1994, having previously been its traffic manager. During the late 1990s and early 2000s he ran Status Group, a group of small bus companies spread across England which included BakerBus,
Choice Travel Midland, previously known as Choice Travel, was a bus company operating mostly in the Wolverhampton and Walsall areas of the West Midlands. Some services also operated in the Staffordshire and Shropshire area. History The company was originall ...
and MK Metro. He was a major shareholder in
Tellings-Golden Miller Tellings-Golden Miller is a charter coach operator in England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva twice previously, but once again has returned to family ownership. The company is now a subsidiary of Falcon Buses based in Byfleet, Surrey. History G ...
and Centrebus Holdings before their sale to
Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
.


Early life

Peddle was born in
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
but grew up in
Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...
studied transport management at
Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...
, working for various National Bus Company subsidiaries during holidays. He joined the co-ordination staff of
Staffordshire County Council Staffordshire County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includ ...
in 1978, and after 15 months moved north to become traffic manager at 29-vehicle independent bus and coach operator Mayne's of Manchester. This proved impractical, however, so in March 1980 he moved back to Staffordshire to become traffic manager at
Stevensons of Uttoxeter Stevensons of Uttoxeter was a bus company that operated in Staffordshire from 1926 to 1997. History On 11 September 1926, John Stevenson commenced operating a bus service from Uttoxeter to Burton upon Trent based out of premises at Spath ju ...
.


Current interests and operations


Centrebus Group

In 2000 Peddle purchased
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
based operator Lutonian in partnership with Chris Day of Red Rose Travel. Lutonian had in fact been taken over by
Arriva Shires & Essex Arriva Herts & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Arriva Colchester, Col ...
, but they had been forced to resell the company following a ruling by the
Monopolies & Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under ...
. The operation proved difficult to manage so the company was sold to
Centrebus Centrebus Limited, trading as Centrebus, is a bus company based in Leicester operating services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. Centrebus hold a 51% shareholding in High Peak Buses a ...
, a large independent formed in 2001 with its headquarters in
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
. Peddle was impressed by the running of Centrebus and bought part of the company, which then began to grow rapidly. The
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
depot of Sovereign Bus & Coach was bought in 2004, although it was sold on to Uno in 2008. The operations of MASS Engineering in
Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...
were taken over in 2005, while
Bowers Coaches Bowers Coaches was a bus company based in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, England. The company operated bus and coach services in Cheshire East, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester from 1952 until 2012. In its later years, it was a subsidiary of ...
was acquired in 2007. A further development came in 2008, when Centrebus teamed up with
Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
to form Centrebus Holdings. The new joint operation took over the
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
depot of
Stagecoach Yorkshire Stagecoach Yorkshire is a bus operator providing local and regional services across South Yorkshire and Derbyshire in England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered in Barnsley. The subsidiary was formed in 2005 follow ...
and local independent K-Line Travel. Centrebus had initially intended to buy K-Line, whose manager Russel Arden had previously run Edinburgh Transport during its time as a joint operation with Stevensons, while Arriva had wished to buy Stagecoach's operations in the town. Arriva took a 40% stake in the joint company, which paid around £3 million to buy the two companies and used the trading name Huddersfield Bus Company for the former Stagecoach operations. During 2008, Centrebus acquired the bus operations of Woods of Leicester, in 2019 Peddle purchased the remaining shareholdings of
D&G Bus D&G Bus is a bus operator based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates local and interurban bus services in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. D&G Bus is the largest bus operator in Cheshire ...
from David Reeves with the operations becoming part of Centrebus Group and managed from their offices in Leicester.


Select Bus Services

Peddle is a minority shareholder of Select Bus Services who provide local bus services around Staffordshire.


Former interests and operations


Stevensons of Uttoxeter

Peddle joined
Stevensons of Uttoxeter Stevensons of Uttoxeter was a bus company that operated in Staffordshire from 1926 to 1997. History On 11 September 1926, John Stevenson commenced operating a bus service from Uttoxeter to Burton upon Trent based out of premises at Spath ju ...
as traffic manager in March 1980 following a job offer from the company's co-owner David Stevenson. He bought half of Stevensons on the retirement of the company's other co-owner, George Stevenson, in 1983. When Peddle joined the company they owned 33 vehicles of which four were service buses. Under Peddle's co-ownership Stevensons expanded quickly, launching a network of tendered services around
Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Staffordshire borough of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. The town is from Burton upon Trent via the A50 and the A38, from Stafford via the A51 ...
which required no public subsidy. They also took over two small operators, Middleton's of
Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is north of Lichfield, southeast of Stafford, northeast of ...
and Erewash Travel Services, in the early 1980s; the latter was sold to
Nottingham City Transport Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is the major bus operator of the city of Nottingham, England. NCT operates extensively within Nottingham as well as beyond the city boundaries into Nottinghamshire county. Publicly owned, it is today the second ...
in 1988. In 1985 Peddle wrote a letter to the chief executive of his former employer Staffordshire County Council suggesting that he was interested in merging Stevensons with the heavily loss-making council-owned East Staffordshire operation based in
Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...
. The council's transport manager agreed to this and the two companies merged in October 1985, with the council owning 49% and Peddle and Stevenson the remaining 51%. It initially faced competition from Midland Fox, but this ceased in August 1987 when Stevensons bought 40% of the company following its privatisation, with Peddle being appointed to Fox's board. Stevensons took over two depots as part of the deal. Peddle credits the large numbers of
Daimler Fleetline The Daimler Fleetline (known as the Leyland Fleetline from circa 1975) is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis which was built between 1960 and 1983. It was the second of three bus models to have a marque name as well as an alphanumeric ...
double-deckers bought from
London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operation ...
with making this level of expansion possible, as they were cheap to buy and easy to run. In 1989 Midland Fox was acquired by Drawlane. Fox's managing director, David Martin, arranged to move Peddle to another Drawlane subsidiary, Manchester-based
Bee Line Buzz Company The North Western Road Car Company, commonly abbreviated to North Western, was a bus operator based in Aintree in Merseyside, running services in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. Following its sale from the National Bus ...
, for a year to reduce losses there. During this time, he reduced average losses from £90,000 to £3,000 per month. In January 1991 Bee Line's depot in
Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...
was closed by Drawlane. Two of its former managers asked Peddle to reopen it. Peddle paid for a subsidiary of Stevensons, called Pacer, to be formed to take this on. It ran until September 1992, when it was taken over by
Potteries Motor Traction First Potteries is a bus company based in Stoke-on-Trent operating services in North Staffordshire, England. It is a part of First Midlands and a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History The business began life in 1898 as a tram operator, the Pot ...
in exchange for Potteries' routes in
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
. In June 1994, following stiff competition with
West Midlands Travel National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is bus operator in the West Midlands of England. It is a subsidiary of Mobico Group (formerly National Express Group) and is the largest bus operator in the region, as well as one of the single largest in B ...
in the
Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...
, Staffordshire County Council announced it intended to sell its share in Stevensons. By this point Stevensons owned 270 buses and were the largest independent bus operator in the United Kingdom. Peddle did not want to buy the council's shares as this would have cost him £4.5 million, so he and David Stevenson instead agreed to sell the entire company to Drawlane's successor
British Bus British Bus was a bus group in the United Kingdom. It was sold to the Cowie Group in August 1996. History British Bus was founded in November 1992 when the Drawlane Transport Group split its bus interests from its National Express in the lead ...
.


Rhondda Buses

In December 1991, National Welsh collapsed. Stevensons, British Bus, Potteries and Peddle himself formed a consortium called Rhondda Buses to take over the former National Welsh depot at
Porth Porth () is a town and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach va ...
in February 1992. The company initially used the license of
Tellings-Golden Miller Tellings-Golden Miller is a charter coach operator in England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva twice previously, but once again has returned to family ownership. The company is now a subsidiary of Falcon Buses based in Byfleet, Surrey. History G ...
, a subsidiary of Midland Fox which owned the license of a defunct South Wales independent, CK Coaches. A second depot at Aberdare was also acquired but quickly sold on to Offa Demo, a company owned by Cynon Valley Travel which sold out to neighbouring
Red & White Services Red & White Services was a bus company operating in south east South Wales, Wales and Gloucestershire, England between 1929 and 1978. Red & White evolved into Red & White United Transport Ltd, formed in 1937, which owned bus and road freigh ...
after a year. Western Travel, owners Red & White, was later sold a minority stake in Rhondda Buses. Many of the players in the consortium were themselves sold to larger groups.
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 ...
took over Potteries;
Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
purchased Western Travel; and British Bus was taken over by the
Cowie Group Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational corporation, multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcy ...
in 1996. In December 1997, the entire company was taken over by Stagecoach, despite a rival bid from Badgerline's successor
FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...
depot. The operation was closed down in 1994 when
GRT Group GRT Group was a bus operating company in the United Kingdom from 1989 until 1995. It was formed when First Aberdeen, Grampian Regional Transport (GRT) was privatised. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Scotland. In ...
took over two large operators in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
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 ...
and
Midland Scottish Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operator formed in June 1985 as a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group, created from part of W. Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd. The company operated as Midland Scottish until 1991, when it was renamed ...
.


Tellings-Golden Miller

In 1993, British Bus wished to sell Tellings-Golden Miller (TGM), and because of Peddle's involvement with TGM during the Rhondda Buses venture its former owner Stephen Telling approached him with a view to reacquiring the company. Peddle agreed to fund the buyout and took a minority share in the company. He also provided the money for TGM's takeover of
Annfield Plain Annfield Plain is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated on a plateau between the towns of Stanley, to the north-east, and Consett, to the west. According to the 2001 census, Annfield Plain had a population of 3,569. By the tim ...
based Classic Coaches and smaller stakes in Burton's of Haverhill and The Linkline. TGM joined Peddle's Status Group on its formation in 1999, and he continued to own 28% of the company even after Status was broken up.Tellings Golden Miller: How TGM floated to expand
Supply Chain Digital
The company released 30% of its shares on the
Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market, Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in opera ...
in 2003, and quickly bought the remaining shares in Burton's and The Linkline, as well as acquiring the former operation. Peddle's share had reduced to just over 20% by April 2006 as much of the company had been released on AIM. He bought a further 50,000 shares in TGM in May 2006 and another 55,000 shares in October 2006. In December 2007,
Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
purchased TGM including Peddle's shares.


Milton Keynes and Status Group

In 1997, Peddle took over two former Cambus depots at
Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...
and
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
. These had been acquired along with the rest of Cambus by
Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
in 1995, but the
Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economi ...
had instructed Stagecoach to sell two depots to reduce its dominance in the region. They also stipulated that both depots must be sold to the same buyer. Peddle proved to be the only interested party and duly took over the operation in June 1997. The operations were quickly rebranded as MK Metro in Milton Keynes and Premier Buses in Huntingdon. He was unable to fund new vehicles for both, and sold Premier to Blazefield Holdings in 1998. MK Metro was owned by Peddle for nine years, during which time passenger numbers increased by 120% and the company became profitable. Between 1998 and 2003 alone ridership rose by 63% following the introduction of new buses and ticketing schemes. He sold the company to
Arriva Shires & Essex Arriva Herts & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Arriva Colchester, Col ...
in 2006, citing disagreement between authorities as a major factor.


Choice Travel

Following Stevensons' sale Peddle had set up a company called Metropolitan Omnibus to run on many former Stevensons routes in the West Midlands. In 1997 Metropolitan was taken over by
Choice Travel Midland, previously known as Choice Travel, was a bus company operating mostly in the Wolverhampton and Walsall areas of the West Midlands. Some services also operated in the Staffordshire and Shropshire area. History The company was originall ...
, who Peddle bought a small share in. He also bought minority shares in BakerBus and
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
-based Border Buses. All three of these companies joined Peddle's Status Bus & Coach on its formation in 1999, as did TGM and their subsidiaries Classic Coaches and Burton's, MK Metro and coach company The Londoners. The aim was to reduce costs by buying vehicles and supplies in bulk at cheaper costs while retaining local control. Few others agreed that this was practical and the group broke up, selling BakerBus to its management, Border Buses to Northern Blue and closing The Londoners altogether. In 2005 Choice Travel's managing director Tom Young wanted to retire, and with no obvious successor in the company, sold it to independent
D&G Bus D&G Bus is a bus operator based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates local and interurban bus services in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. D&G Bus is the largest bus operator in Cheshire ...
, based in nearby Adderley Green. In 2006 Peddle purchased a minority stake in D&G following the death of its co-founder Gerald Henderson. around the same time Peddle also bought a 30% stake in South Lancs Travel. Peddle's shareholding in South Lancs Travel was sold to
Rotala Rotala Limited is a company established in 2005, which owns a number of bus operators in England. It was listed on the Alternative Investment Market from 2005 until 2024. History In March 2005, Rotala was listed on the Alternative Investmen ...
in 2015. In December 2019, Peddle purchased the remaining 74% in D&G Bus.


Midland Classic

Peddle was a shareholder of
Burton-upon-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 7 ...
based bus company
Midland Classic Diamond East Midlands, formerly Midland Classic, is a bus company from Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. Since August 2022, the company is a subsidiary of Rotala. History Midland Classic Midland Classic was founded in July 2005 by Ja ...
until August 2022 when it was sold to
Rotala Rotala Limited is a company established in 2005, which owns a number of bus operators in England. It was listed on the Alternative Investment Market from 2005 until 2024. History In March 2005, Rotala was listed on the Alternative Investmen ...
Group


Preserved vehicles

Peddle owned preserved Leyland PD3 PAX466F with
lowbridge A lowbridge double-deck bus is a double-decker bus that has an asymmetric interior layout, enabling the overall height of the vehicle to be reduced compared to that of a conventional double-decker bus. The upper-deck gangway is offset to one sid ...
Massey Brothers Massey Brothers (Pemberton) Limited was a building and manufacturing company operating through much of the 20th century. It was formed in 1904 by the brothers William, Isaac and Thomas Massey, timber merchants and building contractors based in Pemb ...
bodywork, new to Bedwas & Machen UDC, later operated by
Rhymney Valley The Rhymney Valley () is one of the South Wales valleys, with the Rhymney River forming the border between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Between 1974 and 1996 a Rhymney Valley local government district also existed (on ...
, and preserved in the livery of Stevensons, with whom it operated during Peddle's time as manager.News
Cardiff Transport Preservation Group
PAX466F is now owned by the Cardiff Transport Preservation Group and has regained its original Bedwas & Machen UDC livery.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peddle, Julian Alumni of Loughborough University Living people People in bus transport 1954 births