The creation of what became FirstGroup is closely tied to the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. During April 1995, two acquisitive private bus operators, Badgerline and GRT Bus Group, merged to create FirstBus. The new company initially operated a fleet of 5,600 buses to provide services to numerous regions across England, Wales and Scotland. Throughout the late 1990s, FirstBus continued its policy of growth by acquisition. To this end, it acquired several former council owned operations and companies formerly owned by English, Welsh and Scottish nationalised operators.
In February 2007, FirstGroup agreed to buy the US-based bus operator Laidlaw, along with a controlling stake in Greyhound Lines, the largest bus operator in North America. During June 2009, FirstGroup made an unsuccessful takeover bid for rival transport operator National Express. In June 2010, FirstGroup sold its rail freight business First GBRf to the Eurotunnel Group, exiting the rail freight sector as a result. During October 2016, First Transit commenced operating the A-train, its first rail operation in the United States. In August 2017, FirstGroup's joint venture with MTR Corporation commenced operating the South Western franchise. In May 2020, FirstGroup announced it would retain its UK bus operations and sell off its activities in North America. During June 2022, FirstGroup rejected a £1.2bn takeover offer from US private equity company I Squared Capital.
FirstGroup originated within the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom in 1986, whereby private companies purchased nationalised and municipal bus operators.[5] During September 1986, the Somerset based services of the Bristol Omnibus Company that were rebranded in 1985 as Badgerline were purchased in a management buyout. As Badgerline Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing other formerly nationalised bus companies in England and Wales.[6]
In January 1989, Grampian Regional Transport, the bus operator in Aberdeen owned by Grampian Regional Council, was privatised in a management buyout led by its then general manager, Moir Lockhead.[7] As GRT Bus Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland.[8] During April 1995, FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland. The former King Street Barracks site in Aberdeen was selected as the headquarters.[9] At the time of the merger, FirstBus had 5,600 buses, 4,000 of which came from Badgerline.[8] Badgerline's Trevor Smallwood became chairman of FirstBus, while GRT head Moir Lockhead became deputy chairman and chief executive.[8]
In September 1998, FirstGroup made its first overseas foray when New World First Bus commenced operating bus services in Hong Kong formerly operated by China Motor Bus; the company held a 26% shareholding in the joint venture.[13] During May 2000, FirstGroup sold its shares to joint venture partner New World Development.[14] In September 1999, FirstGroup purchased Ryder Public Transport Services, a provider of school bus and contracted public bus transportation in the United States.[4] In May 2000, FirstGroup began operating the London Tramlink concession under contract to Transport for London.[15]
During August 2003, FirstGroup purchased GB Railways, which owned Anglia Railways and GB Railfreight and held 80% of the shares in Hull Trains.[16] Having not been shortlisted for the Greater Anglia franchise, this outcome gave FirstGroup another chance to bid. However, it too was unsuccessful and the franchise was awarded to the rival transport company National Express from April 2004, including the services operated by First Great Eastern.[17] In November 2003, FirstGroup purchased a 90% shareholding in Irish coach operator Aircoach.[18]
In February 2007, FirstGroup agreed to buy the US-based firm Laidlaw, an operator of inter-city coaches and yellow school buses across North America, in exchange for £1.9billion (US$3.7billion). This also gave it a controlling stake in Greyhound Lines, the largest bus operator in North America. The Greyhound name and the names of Canadian subsidiaries of Greyhound Canada were retained, and all other Laidlaw-owned services in the United States and Canada were rebranded under the First or Greyhound names, except for Voyageur Colonial and Grey Goose in Canada.[27]
During June 2009, FirstGroup made a takeover offer for fellow transport operator National Express, which was struggling with debt at the time and was struggling to hold onto its National Express East Coast rail franchise.[30][31] This offer was rejected; a National Express spokesperson stated that it did not "consider it appropriate" at the time to discuss a takeover. FirstGroup believed that there was "significant industrial and commercial logic" for a merger, but National Express wished to focus on its own initiatives.[32]
2010s
In June 2010, FirstGroup sold its railfreight business First GBRf to the Eurotunnel Group in exchange for £31million,[33][34] ending the group's involvement in rail freight transport.[35] In September 2010, former London Underground managing director Tim O'Toole, already a board member since May 2009 and chief operating officer and Deputy Chief Executive since June 2010, was announced as the successor to retiring group chief executive officer Moir Lockhead with effect from 31 March 2011.[36][37]
During September 2011, FirstGroup's German bus operations were sold to Marwyn European Transport.[38] In December 2011, DSBFirst ceased operating the Swedish part of the operation after difficulties encountered by Danish State Railways over cross subsidies.[39][40][41]
In April 2015, FirstGroup was unsuccessful in bidding for the ScotRail franchise, which was run by Abellio ScotRail until the end of that franchise in March 2022. During December 2015, FirstGroup was awarded the next TransPennine Express franchise.[44] The new franchise commenced on 1 April 2016 with a commitment to introduce new trains, routes and faster journey times.[44][45]
In May 2019, FirstGroup announced its intention to sell its UK bus operations and that its US activities were to receive greater attention in the future.[50] However, the only sales completed were parts of First Greater Manchester to the Go-Ahead Group and Rotala.[51][52]
In May 2020, FirstGroup announced it has effectively reversed its previous strategy, opting to retain its UK bus operations and instead sell its assets in North America.[53] In April 2021, FirstGroup agreed terms to sell the First Student and First Transit businesses to EQT; the sale completed later in 2021.[54][55][56]
During October 2021, FirstGroup announced the sale of Greyhound Lines to Flixbus, completing its stated divestments to focus on its core UK public transport businesses.[57] In October 2021, the open-access operatorLumo commenced operating services on the East Coast Main Line.[58][59]
In June 2022, FirstGroup's board unanimously rejected a £1.2bn takeover proposal from US private equity firm I Squared Capital; a spokesperson stated that the offer had undervalued the company.[60][61] While talks between the two companies continued for a further two months,[62] I Squared ultimately called off its efforts in August 2022.[63]
In February 2023, FirstGroup announced that subject to regulatory approval, it would purchase both the bus services and bus dealer operations of Purfleet-based Ensignbus.[64][65]
In January 2024, FirstGroup purchased York Pullman.[66] In October 2024, FirstGroup purchased both Lakeside Group and Anderson Travel.[67][68]
FirstGroup is Britain's largest bus operator, running more than 20% of all local bus services. A fleet of nearly 9,000 buses carries some 2.9million passengers a day in more than 40 major towns and cities. FirstGroup also runs passenger rail services in the UK. Passenger rail franchises consist of Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway and South Western Railway. It also runs two non-franchised open access passenger operations – Hull Trains and Lumo. FirstGroup operates tram services on the London Tramlink network carrying approximately 24 million passengers per year on behalf of Transport for London.[73]
FirstGroup owns and operates the Aircoach service in Dublin, linking Dublin Airport with the city centre, the south side of Dublin, Greystones and Bray as well as long-distance express services runs to Cork and Belfast.[74]
FirstGroup has always had a consistent brand and uses the First brand for most of its operations. FirstBus began to apply a standard corporate typeface to its fleet names in the late 1990s, introducing the stylized f logo depicting a road. A corporate white, pink and blue livery nicknamed "Barbie" was introduced to new buses, while further bus company acquisitions continued. Inherited bus fleets were initially left in their original colours with First fleet names, with the intention that the Barbie scheme would stand for a set service quality. Later older buses received a modified "Barbie 2" livery.[75]
As part of its corporate branding, First subsequently removed all local branding for its bus services, buses simply carried the 'First' brand, although each company still operated independently. In 2012, the group began to introduce a new purple, white and lilac 'Olympia' livery to its bus fleets, which also reinstated local branding.[76][77] In January 2014, the company rebranded its First Somerset & Avon operations in Bridgwater and Taunton as The Buses of Somerset, using a two-tone green livery.[78][79]
The FirstGroup's bus operations were rebranded again in December 2024, adopting a new logo that replaced the one used since the formation of FirstBus in April 1995 as well as the slogan of 'Moving the Everyday'.[80][81] This coincided with the introduction of a purple and grey livery, which had already begun to be rolled out onto the group's bus fleets.[82]
Hull Trains carries a predominantly blue livery, including white, pink and purple. This was also used by First Great Western until 20 September 2015, when the franchise was rebranded as Great Western Railway, with a new logo and dark green livery paying homage to the original Great Western Railway.[83]
London Tramlink operations are painted in white, green and blue as per Transport for London requirements. In Scotland, First ScotRail operated with a blue livery with white saltire markings on the carriage ends, as mandated by the Scottish Government's transport agency Transport Scotland.[84]
First Travel Solutions re-branded 2016 (formerly First Rail Support) which provides emergency and planned rail replacement transport to train operating companies using First and non-First Transport through its 24-hour control room in Clayton-le-moors Lancashire
Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. The company also operates transport services including trains abroad: in the Republic of Ireland, United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Germany, Bahrain, Morocco, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and South Korea, and long-distance coach services across Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.
In the railway system of Great Britain, a train operating company (TOC) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.
Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses and express coaches in the United Kingdom.
Transdev was an international public transport group based in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, and operating in several countries. Originally created as Société centrale pour l'équipement du territoire in 1955 and developing transportation activities since 1973, Transdev was a subsidiary Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, a French state-owned financial institution. On 3 March 2011, the group merged with Veolia Transport, one of its main competitors, into Veolia Transdev. During 2013, Veolia Transdev was renamed Transdev, recognising the planned withdrawal of Veolia Environnement from ownership of the group.
First North Western was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup that operated the North West Regional Railways franchise from March 1997 until December 2004.
Keolis is a French transportation company that operates public transport systems all over the world. It manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus, and funicular services. Based in Paris, France, the company is 70% owned by SNCF and 30% owned by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
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 management buyout. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Wales. In November 1993, Badgerline Group was listed on the stock exchange and, on 16 June 1995, it merged with the GRT Group to form FirstBus.
Leicester Citybus, trading as First Leicester, is a bus operator providing services in Leicester. FirstGroup own 100% of the company after purchasing Trentbartons 6% shareholding in 2023.
MTL Trust Holdings was an English bus, coach and train operator based in Liverpool, Merseyside. MTL was originally part of the MPTE. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the bus operations were divested into a new independent company, Merseyside Transport Limited (MTL). Merseyside PTA retained shareholding, but the company was purchased by its management and staff in a £5.9 million Employee Share Ownership Plan in 1993. On 17 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva for £85 million, with MTL's shareholding workers each receiving £13,500 in windfall gains from the sale.
Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail.
Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arriva's train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000. These were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with the take-over of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn, Arriva UK Trains also took over the running of those formerly overseen by DB Regio UK Limited.
First TransPennine Express Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), was a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operated the TransPennine Express franchise. It ran regional and inter-city rail services between the major cities and towns of Northern England and Scotland.
The Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) bus operations were the bus operating divisions of the passenger transport executives in the United Kingdom. In 1986 they underwent a process of deregulation and privatisation, forming some of the largest private bus companies in the UK outside London, with all being sold to their employees or management. Despite their relative size and lucrative operating areas, none of the companies survived beyond the late 1990s, with all falling into the hands of the major bus groups, who had their origins in privatised regional subsidiaries of the former National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group.
First West of England is a bus operator providing services in Bristol, Bath, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Wiltshire. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Western National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until the 1990s.
The United Kingdom has a number of intercity coach services.
Abellio is a Dutch public transport company that operates bus and rail services in Germany, and formerly also in Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It is wholly owned by the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).
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£4.8 billion (2023) [1] 
£95 million (2023) [1] 
