Between the wars
The first service, using a Ford Model T bus in brown and yellow livery, ran between the Royal Hotel, Stoughton and the Theatre Royal, Guildford, from January 1921. A very personal service, with extra trips run to pick up passengers who could not be accommodated in the small buses on the first run, led to success. Further bus chassis were bought, with YBS building the bodies themselves at their premises in Manor Road, with interior finishing by a local firm, J. Mussell and Son. A second service ran for a while between Guildford Park housing estate and the town centre, in competition with Aldershot and District Traction Company Ltd (A&D), and a Guildford to London service was run for a short period using a Chevrolet bus in a "Pullman" livery.
In 1924 the company expanded to four vehicles, a staff of seven, and larger premises in Worplesdon Road, which were further expanded in the 1930s with an impressive frontage added. A key figure in the company by this time was traffic manager Arthur Bowden, who also acted as signwriter, mechanic and handyman. By 1927, A&D were operating a high intensity Stoughton service with a flat fare of just one penny, with the clear intention of putting YBS out of business. The firm was at a low ebb but Hayter, fighting back in a "make or break" move, invested in 2 new Dennis 'G' buses for a route in 1928 from Guildford to Camberley, also in competition with A&D. That year a third Dennis bus enabled the start of a service from Guildford to Farnham via Compton, Puttenham and Seale. A third company, Safeguard was now competing for passengers in the same areas and, in 1928, the companies agreed a standard fares policy. By 1930, YBS had 5 modern Dennis buses in its fleet, to which two larger (32 seater) Dennis Lancet buses were added in 1933. Yellow Bus Services had weathered the storm. By 1935, the brand name "Yellow Bus Services" had been added to the vehicles and new Dennis Lancets delivered in 1936 carried a revised livery of creamy yellow with brown wings and flash, and bright yellow wheels. The fleet name now appeared in script within a hexagonal motif with the proprietor's name and telephone number, in gold and black.
In 1938, YBS produced an illustrated brochure, "A Yellow Bus Journey", extolling the beauty of the countryside between Guildford and Farnham and suggesting visits to the Watts Gallery and Watts Mortuary Chapel en route, or using the service as a stopping-off point for walks to Frensham Ponds, Crooksbury Hill, Waverley Abbey and other landmarks. This route alone, using 20 seat Dennis Pike buses, carried almost 25,000 passengers in just 3 months of that year.
The post-war period
At the end of the war, the buses were quickly repainted in the cream livery (one having escaped being repainted in grey) and the utility buses upgraded. Loadings were heavy in the immediate post-war period but, in the 1950s, there was a general decline in use of buses, which had its effect on YBS. An increasing number of services were given dispensation for single person operation. Sunday morning services on the Farnham route were withdrawn in 1951. Sydney Hayter died suddenly at the age of 58 in November that year. In 1953 Yellow Bus Services was incorporated as a limited company, with Hayter's widow as the principal director. The South-east Traffic Commissioners granted an application for Yellow Bus Services Ltd to take over the service of buses previously run in the name of Yellow Bus Services by the late Mr Sydney Hayter. By then, only the Farnham and Camberley services remained, together with excursions from the Stoughton base. A&D were pressing YBS to sell their services to them and, in 1954 YBS surrendered their licence to run the Camberley service, allowing A&D a monopoly on that route. In an attempt to increase revenue by diversification YBS built a petrol station on their premises in 1955; this aspect of business expanded over the following years to include car repairs, tyre, battery and accessory sales, together with a paraffin delivery service. The service station was staffed by off-duty drivers and other staff displaced from bus services by the reduction in route miles.
A model employer
Sydney Hayter was a model employer. For example, he had planned to provide his staff with housing but finances had never become adequate for this; however, he would take groups of his staff to Littlehampton on their day off, take them fishing in his boat, take them for a meal and provide tickets for a variety show. Sometimes a group would accompany Sydney to a football match at Wembley. All dealings within the company were on first-name terms (unusual at that time) and passengers, too, were on first name terms with the crews. A club room was provided at the bus garage, fitted with a TV and sporting facilities, and regular social events were organised. An annual outing to the coast was organised for staff and families (on two weekends, so that all could attend). The staff were offered the opportunity to join a union but, having such a benevolent employer, none chose to do so. This resulted in an incident in 1957 during the national bus strike (through which YBS continued to operate) when a Yellow Bus en route from Farnham was "held-up" by 20 militant union members from the Aldershot and District company, who prevented the driver from continuing, and deflated his vehicle's tyres.
Metrobus is a bus operator with routes in parts of Surrey, Kent, Sussex, and Greater London. Formed through a management buyout in 1983, Metrobus was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in September 1999.
Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group based in Bishopbriggs, Strathclyde, Scotland. It was formed in March 1985 from parts of Walter Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd and Central SMT, initially with six depots and a varied fleet of 381 vehicles.
Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire. The Metro brand has been used from the outset, and since the formal abolition of the WYPTE on 1 April 2014, it has been the public facing name of the organisation. The transport authority of West Yorkshire, responsible for setting transport policy, is the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. The WYCA is also responsible for delivery of transport policies.
First Stop Travel was a Scottish bus company, which operated primarily in Renfrewshire and southwest Glasgow. Its depot was located in Muriel Street, Barrhead. It was closed in 2008 after the Traffic Commissioner revoked its licence.
First Potteries is a bus company based in Stoke-on-Trent operating services in North Staffordshire, England. It is a part of First Midlands and a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway before being nationalised in 1969. In 1987, the company was re-privatised. In July 2005, it became a subsidiary of Go-Ahead Group.
Plymouth Citybus is a bus operator in Plymouth. It is a subsidiary of the Go South West sector of the Go-Ahead Group.
Aldershot & District Traction Company Limited was a major bus company operating services in East Hampshire, West Surrey and parts of adjoining counties for sixty years during the 20th century, from 1912 until 1972 when it became part of Alder Valley.
Stagecoach South is a bus operator providing services in South East England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach. It operates services in Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex with some routes extending into Brighton and Wiltshire. It operates 473 buses from eight depots.
The East Kent Road Car Company Ltd was a bus company formed in 1916 and based in Canterbury, Kent. The company operated bus and coach services in Kent. In 1993 it was one of the first companies to be acquired by the Stagecoach Group, which eventually rebranded the operation as Stagecoach in East Kent, and made it part of the Stagecoach South East bus division.
GHA Coaches was a bus and coach operator serving North East Wales, Cheshire, and Shropshire. It also operated bus services extending into Telford & Wrekin, Staffordshire, Gwynedd, and Merseyside.
Probus Management was a bus company in the West Midlands which was acquired by the Go-Ahead Group in March 2006.
Arriva Guildford & West Surrey was a bus operator based in Guildford, England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva. The company operated services in West Sussex and Surrey, as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division. Services that were run were primarily centred on hubs at Guildford, Woking and Cranleigh.
Busways Travel Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in Tyne and Wear, England. The company was purchased by the Stagecoach Group in July 1994.
Alder Valley was a bus operator in South East England.
Safeguard Coaches is a bus and coach operator based in Guildford.
Wilts & Dorset is a bus and coach operator providing services in South Dorset, South Wiltshire, and West Hampshire. It operates services under the morebus brand around Bournemouth and Poole and under the Salisbury Reds brand around Salisbury and Amesbury with. It is part of Go South Coast, a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
Tillingbourne Bus Company was a bus company based in Cranleigh, Surrey. The company operated bus and coach services in Surrey, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire from 1924 until 2001.
McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Scotland. The company headquarters are situated in Greenock. The company has grown to operate a network of routes covering much of Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire and Dundee. McGill's have several depots based in Greenock, Coatbridge, Inchinnan, Johnstone and Dundee. Another depot in Barrhead closed in March 2019.
Stagecoach Gold route 1 is a bus route in southern England that links Camberley and Frimley in Surrey and Farnborough and Aldershot in Hampshire. The service is run by Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey.
