East Lancashire Coachbuilders

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group and performed a reverse takeover with Optare when its parent purchased the company in 2008 and its site and business was later closed in 2012.

"East Lancs" redirects here. For other uses, see East Lancs (disambiguation).

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Ltd.
TypePrivate
IndustryBus building
Founded27 October 1934 (1934-10-27)[1]
FounderWalter Smith
DefunctMarch 1, 2010 (2010-03-01)
FateDissolved after parent company Darwen Group performed a reverse takeover
SuccessorSwitch Mobility
HeadquartersBlackburn, Lancashire, England
ProductsBus bodies
Websitewww.elcb.co.uk

History
1987 high capacity East Lancs body on Scania K92 chassis: one of the last built to this flat-fronted style

In 1994 the company expanded into new premises and commenced a programme of development that resulted in a range of single and double deck buses which was the primary source of income for the company.

On 17 August 2007, the company went into administration but was saved and bought out by the Darwen Group the next day. It is thought that the problem was a direct consequence of changing to the Euro IV chassis, with a shortage of Scania chassis being a factor.[2] After the purchase, the Darwen Group rebranded the company as Darwen East Lancs.

In 2008, Jamesstan Investments, an investment company controlled by the Darwen Group, purchased another bus manufacturer, Optare. Later, in June 2008, a reverse takeover was performed, with the Darwen name disappearing in favour of Optare's.[3] This brings East Lancs name into the Optare Group, with an expanded range of vehicles.[4]

Production of all the original East Lancs bodies ceased by 2011, and the premises in Blackburn closed in 2012.[5]

Products
East Lancs Pyoneer bodied Volvo Olympian in 2009.

East Lancs has had many different styles of bodywork. They had a tradition of using cacography, mostly replacing a letter i with a letter y, which continued until the Esteem and Olympus series.

Low floor buses
Lolyne run by Transdev Yellow Buses

In the early 1990s, East Lancs developed buses for the low floor market with the style of the body being based on the former East Lancs Pyoneer.

Myllennium Facelift
Myllennium Vyking owned by Wilts & Dorset

In 1999, the buses received a front and interior overhaul with the style of the body being based on the new East Lancs Myllennium that was launched for the Millennium Dome routes.

Kinetec

The Kinetec was launched at the Euro Bus Expo 2006. They are designed as low-floor bodies for MAN chassis. They have the Esteem/Olympus body but with MAN's own Lion's City design front and rear. A double decker based on the Kinetec was built called the Kinetec+; however, it was a one-off order, and Kinetec buses were phased out with the new acquisition by Darwen Group in 2008.

Scania and Esteem product range
Scania OmniDekka in London, run by Transdev London

These buses are the last surviving variants of the original low floor series which became part of their own series. The Scania product range used the Myllennium styling but with Scania own front styling. Whereas the Esteem products used an original front, which developed into a new body entirely.

The Scania products were launched in 2004; however, the OmniTown was not as well received as the company hoped and was discontinued after Darwen took over ownership.

East Lancs Olympus, one of the last East Lancs badged products, this one run by Metroline

Both the Esteem and the Olympus (its double decker variant) were launched in 2006. An open top version of the Olympus, named East Lancs Visionaire was launched in summer 2007 with Arriva's The Original Tour.

Production of these buses continued under Darwen ownership.

British City Bus was the parent company that owned East Lancashire Coachbuilders. The company was dissolved after Darwen Group rescued East Lancs from administration in 2007.[4]

East Lancs Overseas was a subsidiary of East Lancashire Coachbuilders in charge of taking orders and exporting buses. It was dissolved after Darwen Group rescued East Lancs from administration in 2007. Darwen North West was a vehicle repair business in Blackburn, England, offering coach refurbishment, repair, maintenance, and conversion services.[5] It was originally a subsidiary of the bus manufacturer, called North West Bus & Coach Repairs which was renamed to Darwen North West after the acquisition of assets by Darwen Group. It was later dissolved in 2013.[3]

Logo of British City Bus
Logo of East Lancs Overseas
Logo of Darwen North West (Formally North West Bus & Coach Repairs)

References
  1. "EAST LANCASHIRE COACHBUILDERS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
  2. "ELC goes into administration". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007.
  3. "Bus Zone - Optare". www.buszone.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  4. "New factory for Optare | TheBusinessDesk.com". North West. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. "Blackburn's 80-year bus manufacturing era set to end as Optare moves to Yorkshire". Lancashire Telegraph. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
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