First Chester & The Wirral

First Chester & Wirral was a British bus operator operating in the Cheshire and Merseyside regions between February 1990 and January 2013. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

First Chester & The Wirral
Leyland Olympian in Chester in July 2007
ParentFirstGroup
FoundedJune 1995 (1995-06)
Ceased operation13 January 2013 (2013-01-13)
HeadquartersOldham
Service areaCheshire
Merseyside
Service typeBus operator
HubsChester
Birkenhead
Wrexham
Depots2
Fleet110 (January 2013)
WebsiteFirst Chester & The Wirral

History

In February 1990, the Chester, Ellesmere Port and Rock Ferry depots of Crosville Motor Services were sold by the Drawlane Group to Potteries Motor Traction with 150 buses.[1]

It was included in the sale of Potteries Motor Traction to Badgerline, which in June 1995 became part of FirstBus. The company was later split, with the original Potteries Motor Traction becoming First Staffordshire & South Cheshire and the north Cheshire and Wirral operations, First Chester & The Wirral.

On 19 June 2007, the ChesterBus municipal bus company was purchased from Chester City Council and integrated into the Chester depot.[2][3][4]

First Chester & The Wirral remained part of First Potteries until 2010, when the company was reorganised, with the Staffordshire operation reporting to First Midlands and the Chester & Wirral operations to First Manchester.[5]

On 12 November 2012, First Chester & Wirral was sold to Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire with 110 vehicles and 290 staff.[6][7] The sale was concluded on 13 January 2013[8] and is now operated as Stagecoach in Chester & Wirral.[9]

References
  1. PMT snaps up last of Crosville Commercial Motor 8 February 1990 page 29
  2. FirstGroup agree purchase of Chester City Transport First Chester & Wirral 19 June 2007
  3. FirstGroup agree purchase of Chester City Transport Archived 3 August 2014 at archive.today FirstGroup 19 June 2007
  4. First trumps Arriva with Chester Bus purchase Archived 12 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 20 June 2007
  5. "First splits Potteries bus operation between two other subsidiaries". Transport Xtra. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  6. £4.5 million bus buyout for Stagecoach in region Archived 11 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine Chester First 12 November 2012
  7. More First businesses sold to Stagecoach Archived 28 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 12 November 2012
  8. "Chester and Wirral". Stagecoach Bus. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  9. "Keeping You In The Loop" (PDF). Stagecoach Bus. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
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