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 Yutong E9L in Loughborough in January 2026 | |
| Parent | Wellglade Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1972 as G.K. Kinch |
| Headquarters | Langley Mill |
| Service area | Derbyshire Leicestershire Nottinghamshire |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Routes | 9 including (Skylink Leicester-Derby |
| Hubs | Loughborough |
| Depots | 1 |
| Fleet | 41 (November 2025) |
| Operator | Wellglade Group |
| Website | www.kinchbus.co.uk |
Kinchbus, [1] formerly G.K. Kinch, is a bus operator in Loughborough, England. Since 1998 it has been a subsidiary of the Wellglade Group.
Kinchbus was founded in 1987 by former Leicester City Football Club director Gilbert Kinch trading as G.K. Kinch and based in Barrow Upon Soar. Before moving into local bus services, Kinch had operated coaches from nearby Mountsorrel since at least 1972. In the early 1990s Kinchbus began to expand with services around Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, including the purchase of Loughborough Bus and Coach from Midland Fox, giving the company its presence in Loughborough. In 1998 Kinchbus was sold to the Wellglade Group.
Since 2008 Kinchbus has operated the Skylink service between Derby and Loughborough. In April 2009, after the withdrawal of the Arriva Midlands service, it was extended into Leicester via the A6. [2]
In January 2013, Kinchbus reintroduced service 9 between Loughborough and Nottingham, following the collapse of Nottingham-based operator Premiere Travel. [3]
During September 2022, it was announced that current managing director Jeff Counsell will retire in February 2023 and will be succeeded by Tom Morgan who is the current commercial director for Kinchbus and fellow Wellglade Group subsidiary Trentbarton. [4]
Kinchbus are the main provider of bus services within the Loughborough area alongside services to Nottingham and Leicester running 7 days a week, Kinchbus also provide Skylink services between Leicester and Derby via East Midlands Airport.
In August 2022, Kinchbus announced that their long-established number 2 service between Loughborough and Leicester would be cut back to Sileby from 4 September 2022 as a result of driver shortages and lower passenger numbers. [5]
As part of a wider Wellglade Group post-COVID-19 pandemic review of services across the network, the Skylink Derby stopped serving Long Whatton and Diseworth from the 2nd of October 2022. [6]
As of 2026, the fleet consists of around 40 buses which includes Enviro200 MMCs, Optare Versas and Optare Solos.[ citation needed ] As a result of the frequency increase to Skylink (Leicester - Derby) in March 2024 a number of vehicles are currently on long-term loan from fellow Wellglade Group subsidiary trentbarton.
During 2025 a joint bid between Kinchbus and Charnwood Borough Council successfully applied for ZEBRA funding for 21 vehicles consisting of 11 Yutong E9L and 10 Yutong E12 the first of which entered service during January 2026 on the Sprint service around Loughborough University.
Kinchbus further invested in 18 low emissions diesel powered Enviro200MMC buses for Skylink Leicester-Derby which launched during August 2025.
Most buses wear a two-tone yellow and blue livery, split diagonally along the side of the bus, with the yellow in front. This livery was originally introduced in 2007, and was given a facelift in 2013 starting with the vehicles used on Kinchbus 9. Most of Kinchbus's services are route-branded, as in common with their sister company, Trentbarton. Skylink buses are the exception to branding on the standard livery as they bear their own dedicated livery. Due to a shortage of buses caused by the unreliability of certain types of buses already within the fleet, several buses are presently on loan to Kinchbus from Trentbarton; they wear a predominantly orange livery advertising both companies' Mango bus fare app.
Bus operators in the East Midlands | ||
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| Derbyshire |  | |
| Leicestershire | ||
| Lincolnshire | ||
| Northamptonshire | ||
| Nottinghamshire | ||
| National | ||
