Woottens Luxury Travel was a coach operating company based in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was formed in 1999 by Michael Wootten, and between 2008 and 2011 operated local bus services under the name Tiger Line. The company became part of the Bowen Travel Group in 2011, and closed down after Bowen entered administration in 2012.

History

Woottens Luxury Travel was founded in April 1999 by father and son Nick and Michael Wootten with two coaches and a small depot in Princes Risborough. School contracts for both

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. Established in 1889, it is an elected body responsible for most strategic local government ...

and

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the east, Greater London ...

were won in the first year, and in August 1999 the company moved to a purpose-built depot in

Lye Green Lye Green is a hamlet (place), hamlet in the civil parish of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located north east of Chesham. Lycrome Road runs through the centre of the hamlet, from the A416 in the east to the B4505 in the west. The ...

, near

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

. In April 2007 the operations of Westways of High Wycombe, an operator established since 1990, were acquired, increasing the amount of day trip and brochure holiday work dramatically. Also in 2007, the company was shortlisted for the Route One Coach Operator of the Year award. The Tiger Line commercial bus operation was launched in July 2008.Woottens - A Brief History
(official site) A 75% stake in Woottens was acquired by the Bowen Travel Group in June 2011. Bowen Travel Group entered administration in October 2012 due to cashflow issues, and Woottens ceased operation.

Tiger Line

In July 2008 a new commercial bus route between

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

and

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

was launched by Woottens. The name ''Tiger Line'' was chosen for this service as the route, numbered T1, was operated with

Leyland Tiger The Leyland Tiger, also known as the B43, was a mid-engined bus and coach chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1981 and 1992. This name had previously been used for a front-engined bus built between 1927 and 1968. It replaced the Leyland L ...

single-deck buses. It initially operated hourly, with a two-hourly Saturday service operating as far as

Bovingdon Bovingdon is a village in Hertfordshire, England, south-west of Hemel Hempstead, and a civil parishes in England, civil parish within the local authority area of Dacorum. Situated close to the Buckinghamshire border, it forms the largest part ...

. The route provided new links from Chesham and

Great Missenden Great Missenden is a village and civil parish in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It adjoins the village of Little Kingshill, and is a mile from Lit ...

Stoke Mandeville Hospital Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital located on the parish borders of Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. It was established ...

and received praise from Buckinghamshire County Council's cabinet member for transport, Valerie Letheren. The route also serves the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. An extra early morning and late evening service was added from January 2009. In April 2009 the county council contract for routes 106 and 321 (

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

Princes Risborough Princes Risborough () is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England; it is located about south of Aylesbury and northwest of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through ...

) was won under the Tiger Line name, and was later supplemented by a commercial service, T3, operating over a similar route. These routes used

Leyland Olympian The Leyland Olympian is a 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus chassis that was manufactured by Leyland between 1980 and 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production. Construction The Olympian had the same chassis and running gear ...

s and were the first regular routes to use double-deckers. In August 2009 a new route T2 was introduced between

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and

, with one journey in each direction extending to Chesham in an attempt to win commuter traffic. This service operated in direct competition with an existing service operated by Arriva the Shires. The T1 was reduced in frequency at the same time. The T2 was improved to operate half hourly from January 2010. Further changes came in May 2010, with the T1 cut back to terminate at

Whelpley Hill Whelpley Hill is a hamlet in the parish of Ashley Green in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located to the east of Chesham, near the border with Hertfordshire and is the site of an Iron Age hillfort. Whelpley Hill has a village hall and a pub ...

and no longer serve Bovingdon and Hemel Hempstead. Two weeks later the T2 was improved once again to include an extra peak journey to Chesham.Tiger Line/Woottens News
/ref> In September 2009 a promotion was run with local radio station Mix 96 to name the Tiger Line mascot; the winning entry was read out on Mix's breakfast show. The name chosen was Roary the Tiger.Woottens Company News
/ref> New route T5, linking Amersham and Chesham to

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 ...

and Hatfield, was introduced in August 2010, but withdrawn in May 2011. The company's remaining services, including its school bus routes, were withdrawn in December 2011.

References

{{Defunct British Bus Companies Former bus operators in Buckinghamshire Former bus operators in Hertfordshire