East Lancashire Coachbuilders

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East Lancashire Coachbuilders Ltd.
Company typePrivate
IndustryBus building
Founded27 October 1934;89 years ago (1934-10-27) [1]
FounderWalter Smith
DefunctMarch 1, 2010 (2010-03-01)
FateDissolved after parent company Darwen Group performed a reverse takeover
Successor Optare
Headquarters Blackburn, Lancashire, England
ProductsBus bodies
Website Official website

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.

Contents

History

1987 high-capacity East Lancs body on Scania K92 chassis: one of the last built to this flat-fronted style D212MKK1.jpg
1987 high-capacity East Lancs body on Scania K92 chassis: one of the last built to this flat-fronted style

East Lancashire Coachbuilders was first founded by Walter Smith at Brookhouse Mill in Blackburn in 1934. The company would change hands multiple times after Smith's death between the 1960s and 1980s, eventually being sold to the Drawlane Transport Group (later renamed British Bus) in 1988. By 1994, the company had expanded into new premises on the Whitebirk Industrial Estate 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. [2]

In August 1996, British Bus was purchased by the Cowie Group, with all orders by British Bus companies for buses bodied by East Lancashire Coachbuilders subsequently cancelled at short notice by Cowie. The company avoided entering administration with both the intervention of Blackburn Member of Parliament Jack Straw as well as chassis manufacturer Dennis Specialist Vehicles supplying ten of their bus chassis for bodying, with payment for buying the chassis deferred until the buses were bodied and sold to operators. [2]

On 17 August 2007, East Lancashire Coachbuilders went into administration, however it would bought out from administration by the Darwen Group the next day. It was claimed by ELCB's sales director John Horn that entering administration was a direct consequence of a changeover to building on Euro IV chassis, as well as a delay in the certification of East Lancs double-decker bodies on Scania chassis intended for London as a result of failing the tilt test; a package of 17 redundancies followed in November 2006 as a result of overall low turnover. [3] [4] After the purchase, the Darwen Group rebranded the company as Darwen East Lancs. Speculation was raised that bus building could potentially move to Newcastle upon Tyne, where the Darwen Group was based, however it was confirmed in November 2007 that East Lancs would stay in Blackburn with a move to a new manufacturing site on the Walker Business Park. [5] [6] [7]

In 2008, Jamesstan Investments, an investment company controlled by the Darwen Group, purchased another bus manufacturer, Optare. Later, in June 2008, a £15.95 million reverse takeover was performed, with the Darwen name - and as a result, the East Lancs name - disappearing in favour of Optare. [8] [9] Production of all the original East Lancs bodies by Optare ceased by 2011, and the premises in Blackburn closed on 31 March 2012. [10]

Products

East Lancs Pyoneer bodied Volvo Olympian in 2009; these buses were also the last ever step-entrance double decker bus design to be produced when they were introduced in 1997. Arriva NW East Lancs Pyoneer 3365.jpg
East Lancs Pyoneer bodied Volvo Olympian in 2009; these buses were also the last ever step-entrance double decker bus design to be produced when they were introduced in 1997.

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.[ citation needed ]

Low floor buses

Lolyne run by Transdev Yellow Buses Transdev Yellow Buses 271.jpg
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 Wilts & Dorset 405.jpg
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.[ citation needed ]

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 Scania OmniDekka 447a.jpg
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 Metroline SEL762 LK07 BCZ.jpg
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.

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. [10] 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.

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volvo B7TL</span> Low-floor longitudinal double-decker bus chassis

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optare Visionaire</span> Open top double-decker bus body built by Optare

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Lancs Vyking</span> Low-floor double-deck bus body on Volvo B7L and B7TL chassis

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optare Esteem</span> Low-floor single-decker bus body

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optare Olympus</span> Double-decker bus

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwen Group</span> Former bus manufacturer

The Darwen Group was a bus manufacturer located in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company originated from the purchase of East Lancashire Coachbuilders who went into administration in August 2007. After a series of developments, in June 2008 Darwen performed a reverse takeover with the then bus manufacturer Optare, with the Darwen name disappearing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Lancs OmniDekka</span> Double-decker bus built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders / Darwen Grp / Optare

The East Lancs OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK market, introduced by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2003. Originally built on Scania N94UD chassis at Euro 3, and later Scania N230UD and N270UD at Euro 4 and Euro 5, the bodywork consists of a modified East Lancs Myllennium double decker, but with the standard front end cowl and windscreen replaced with that of Scania's own integral OmniCity. Through takeovers of East Lancs, production of the OmniDekka was latterly carried out by the Darwen Group and finally Optare before ceasing in 2011.

References

  1. ↑ "EAST LANCASHIRE COACHBUILDERS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
  2. 1 2 "I'd hate to be run of the mill". Lancashire Telegraph . Blackburn. 15 July 2003. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  3. ↑ "East Lancs acquired from administrators". Bus & Coach Professional. 23 August 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  4. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (22 August 2007). "Coach building firm buyout deal". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  5. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (6 November 2007). "Bus firm bosses pledge to stay local". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  6. ↑ Briggs, Ben (27 October 2008). "Blackburn bus maker Optare moving to new site". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  7. ↑ Graham, James (29 October 2008). "New factory for Optare". TheBusinessDesk. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  8. ↑ Briggs, Ben (19 May 2008). "Blackburn-based coach builder is powering on". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  9. ↑ Briggs, Ben (27 June 2008). "Blackburn-based coach firm in £15.95m buyout". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  10. 1 2 Pye, Catherine (20 January 2012). "Blackburn's 80-year bus manufacturing era set to end as Optare moves to Yorkshire". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
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