TIME FOR GROWTH
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When Jublilee Coaches appeared on the scene it snapped up services and looked set to succeed, but London Country North East was watching its new competitor with interest.
• Jubilee Coaches of Stevenage, Hefts, looked set to be one of the success stories of the bus deregulation era. On 1 February 1988 it launched six commercial services in Stevenage, using a leased fleet of MCW Metroriders with the fleet name Road Hoppa. The previous day, drivers of the established operator London Country North East had begun a 10-day strike, giving an extra boost to the newcomer.
MORE CONTRACTS
In April 1988 Jubilee won two routes on tender to Hertfordshire County Council, which were previously operated by London Country North East. In August it gained more Hertfordshire contracts, and put 10 new buses into service — seven Leyland Lynxes and three Duple-bodied Leyland Tigers.
Yet, by the beginning of this year, it was talking of a purchase by London Country North East, and by the end of January the takeover was complete. LCNE had also begun moves to take over Sampsons of Hoddesdon, another formerly strong rival.
John Wilson, managing director of Sovereign Bus and Coach Co, one of two new operating companies formed out of LCNE, explains: "London Country North East had no land assets." "All the garages were leased." The Jubilee and Sampsons purchases gave Sovereign and County Bus and Coach, the other operating company, access to valuable freehold sites at Babbage Road, Stevenage, and Pindar Road, Hoddesdon.
Now Sovereign can move to build up the former Jubilee operating base to house both the Stevenage Bus and Road Hoppa fleets. Sovereign is retaining the Road Hoppa trading name along with Hertsrider, City Link, Stevenage Bus and its share in Green Line.
Jubilee's office staff and about 30 of its drivers have stayed on with the new owners. Sovereign is retaining 24 out of Jubilee's fleet of 35, which includes 12 of the 19 Metroriders, three of the seven Lynxes, four ex-Northampton Leyland Nationals and three Duple Tiger buses.
Wilson says some consolidation of services was planned to avoid wasteful competition between the old LCNE and Jubilee networks. And the Jubilee livery will be replaced by the new Sovereign colours of blue and cream.
"We shall be totally different from any other operator in the area," claims Wilson. "In St Albans we need to be distinguished from other companies, especially London Country North West." The colour scheme will also distinguish Sovereign from County Bus and Coach, which has adopted a cream livery with a dark green skirt and stripes above and below the windows. Among the vehicles to appear in County Bus and Coach colours will be the remaining ex-Jubilee Lynxes and some of the ex-Sampsons fleet.
Wilson sees the livery changes as important: "They should help to bring home to people that we are a new private company. Many people think we are still nationalised or even still part of London Transport."
OPERATING AREA
County Bus and Coach, under managing director Graham Willett has a larger operating area than Sovereign, with garages at Hertford, Grays arid Harlow. Willett retains his role as group engineering director for both companies, At Sovereign, Wilson's management team comprises operating manager Frank Cantle, commercial manager Phil Carter and fleet engineer John Joslin. The St Albans garage has been reduced to outstation status, and all engineering work has been concentrated at Hatfield. But the former Jubilee premises at Babbage Road provide space for expansion. The existing maintenance facilities there, with pits for two minibuses, were barely adequate for Jubilee's fleet of 35 and would have been stretched to cope with the 50 vehicles on the company's operating licence. But there is room for development and Sovereign plans to improve the site.
Besides the two operating companies, the secretarial and accounts department is now run as a separate company, Independent Management Services, which provides services to companies in the London Country Travel Group. Premier Travel, Cambridge, is also now managed as part of the London Country Travel Group, Meanwhile, Sovereign and County Bus and Coach plan to develop as independent companies, not competing directly, but with some services jointly operated. Nevertheless, they may put in competitive bids for county council contracts or to London Regional Transport. Both companies seek to grow, through expanding the market "and at the expense of our competitors".
All in all, it could be much more difficult for a local operator to set out to repeat Jubilee Coaches' rapid growth in the area, even if it avoided the pitfalls revealed by Jubilee's experience.
0 by Ian Yearsley