Headquarters | London |
---|---|
Service area | Surrey and South East London |
Service type | Charter coaches and local bus services |
Depots | Byfleet, Surrey |
Fleet | Range of charter coaches and service buses |
Chief executive | Richard Telling |
Website | www.tellingsgoldenmiller.co.uk |
Tellings-Golden Miller [1] is a charter coach operator in England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva twice previously, but once again has returned to family ownership. [2] The company is now a subsidiary of Falcon Coaches based in Byfleet, Surrey.
Reputedly, Fred Varney founded the Golden Miller company with the winnings from a bet made on the horse Golden Miller, which won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in 1934.[ citation needed ]
In 1955 Golden Miller was sold to FG Wilder & Sons Limited of Feltham with two coaches and a booking office in Twickenham. In 1967 Wilder bought out Tourist Bus Service which had one vehicle and a stage carriage licence for route 601 between Feltham station and East Bedfont, which it had operated since 1955. In 1968 routes 602 (Feltham to Shepperton) and 603 (Feltham to Hanworth via Elmwood Avenue) were added.
In 1970 the route from Walton-on-Thames to Walton-on-Thames station was taken over from Walton-on-Thames Motor Co Limited and extended to Oatlands village as route 604. Route 605 was planned for the Claygate area but did not come into effect, and route 606 began in 1971 from Staines to Stanwell Moor and Stanwell village. [3]
In June 1985 Wilder sold Golden Miller to Tellings Coaches of Byfleet, a family-run concern which had been founded by Stephen Telling in 1972.[ citation needed ] Routes 601 and 603 were transferred to Fountain Coaches of Feltham from October 1985; these routes being combined as route 600 (East Bedfont to Hanworth via Feltham) in June 1986. The Golden Miller business continued to operate routes 602 and 606 [4] until about 1988.
In 1989 the company was taken over by Midland Fox. A small number of London Transport contracted routes were won by the company over the following two years. However, by 1993 Midland Fox had itself been acquired by British Bus and was no longer willing to operate TGM. Stephen Telling re-acquired the company with financial support from Julian Peddle, and also took over Classic Coaches. [5]
In 2003 the company was floated on the Alternative Investment Market. TGM operates coaches and maintains subsidiaries in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, Surrey and the North East of England, and operates services under the Classic Coaches, Excel Passenger Logistics, Flight Delay Services, Link Line Coaches, and OFJ Connections brands.
The company previously ran bus services in South West London and north west Surrey, inheriting some through acquisition of Capital Logistics. These services were sold to National Express in June 2005 and incorporated into its Travel London business. As part of the deal Tellings Golden Miller became a National Express contractor, running several coach routes out of its Cambridge and Portsmouth garages. [6] [7]
In June 2007 Tellings-Golden Miller re-entered the Surrey bus business with the purchase of Wiltax, New Haw with 20 buses from Rotala. [8] [9] In December 2007 Tellings-Golden Miller was purchased by Arriva. [10]
In April 2008, TGM acquired Excel Passenger Logistics based at Stansted Airport and its associated companies Excel Gatwick and Flight Delay Services based at Manchester Airport. [11] In April 2008, the Wiltax operations were scaled back with most routes passing to other operators. Some routes continued to be run by Wiltax, but from Tellings-Golden Miller's Heathrow depot. In September 2008, Wiltax' New Haw depot closed, with all operations transferred to TGM's Heathrow depot.
In February 2010 the Haverhill operations of Burton's Coaches, together with the name, were sold to Yellow Star Travel Services. The National Express services had been earlier transferred to the Stansted depot of Excel Passenger Logistics. Burton's ceased operating in May 2011. [12] In August 2010, TGM Group took over the Arriva Shires & Essex services from Harlow garage, with a Network Harlow identity for the local routes (similar to Network Colchester).
On 31 May 2014, Tellings-Golden Miller once again became a Transport for London contracted operator when it commenced operating route E10 from its Heathrow depot, the first route it has operated in London since the late 1990s. [13] [14] In January 2016, as part of a decision to consolidate all of Arriva's Transport for London routes, route E10 was transferred to Arriva London. [15] [16]
In March 2015, Network Colchester and Network Harlow operations were transferred to Arriva Southern Counties.[ citation needed ]
In December 2016, Tellings-Golden Miller once again became a family owned business, reverting to its own identity. [17]
The London Borough of Hounslow is a London borough in West London, England, forming part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller Middlesex council areas amalgamated under the London Government Act 1963. It is governed by Hounslow London Borough Council.
Feltham is a town in West London, England, 13 miles (21 km) from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party MPs since 1992. In 2011, the population of the combined census area of Feltham, Bedfont and Hanworth was 63,368.
Arriva Colchester is a bus company operating services around Colchester. It is a subsidiary of Arriva. The company was, until March 2015, part of the Tellings-Golden Miller company, which was owned by Arriva at the time, under the name of Network Colchester.
Feltham railway station serves Feltham in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It was opened on 22 August 1848 by the Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway.
Travel London was a bus company operating services in Greater London. It was a subsidiary of National Express before being sold in May 2009 to NedRailways. In October 2009, it was rebranded as Abellio London.
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Hatton including Hatton Cross is a small settlement and locality in the historic County of Middlesex and the London boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow, on the south-eastern edge of London Heathrow Airport and straddling the A30 road.
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Arriva Northumbria operates in Northumberland, using the "Arriva serving Northumbria" name. They are considered now to have merged with Arriva North East.
Travel Surrey was a bus company operating services in Surrey. It was a subsidiary of National Express before being sold in May 2009 to NedRailways. In October 2009, it was rebranded as Abellio Surrey.
Capital Logistics was a bus and coach operator in London.
London Buses route 465 is a joint Transport for London and Surrey County Council contracted bus route in London and Surrey, England. Running between Kingston and Dorking, it is operated by Quality Line. The route extends the furthest from London of all Transport for London routes.
The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London from public bodies to private companies.
Rotala plc LSE: ROL is an Alternative Investment Market listed company, established in 2005, which owns a number of bus operators in England.
Green Line route 724 is a bus service currently operated by Arriva Southern Counties as part of the Green Line Coaches network. It runs on an orbital route round the north and western outskirts of London between Harlow and Heathrow Terminal 5, and is partly funded by airport operator Heathrow Airport Holdings.
Abellio London is a bus company operating services in Greater London. A subsidiary of Abellio, it operates services under contract to Transport for London. Until September 2018, services were operated in Surrey under the Abellio Surrey brand.
Julian Peddle is an entrepreneur who has worked in the bus industry since the early 1980s, having owned or part-owned numerous bus companies. He spent 11 years as co-owner of Stevensons of Uttoxeter between 1983 and 1994, having previously been its traffic manager. During the late 1990s and early 2000s he ran Status Group, a group of small bus companies spread across England which included BakerBus, Choice Travel and MK Metro. He was a major shareholder in Tellings-Golden Miller and Centrebus Holdings before their sale to Arriva.
Returning to family ownership in 2016, Tellings Golden Miller is now run by Richard Telling, who has taken inspiration from his parents to focus on a simple notion – to provide the best luxury VIP coach service available in the UK today.
Media related to Tellings-Golden Miller at Wikimedia Commons