bodied
VDL SB120 in April 2007 bodied
Volvo B10M-50 in September 2008 Centrebus was founded in 2001, it was previously known as Anstey Buslines. In 2002, the businesses of inMotion,
Dunstable, Lutonian,
Luton and Centrebus,
Leicester merged to form the basis of the business today.
Former Operations In January 2004, Centrebus acquired the
St Albans operation of
Blazefield although in March 2008 it was sold to
Uno. During February 2005 operations commenced around
Grantham, following the closure of MASS Transit. In June 2007, Centrebus purchased
Bowers Coaches,which through a joint venture with
Wellglade Group became
High Peak Buses in 2012. based in
Chapel-en-le-Frith,
Derbyshire. Bowers operated services around
Cheshire, Derbyshire and
Greater Manchester. In April 2012 Centrebus transferred the business into a
joint venture with the Wellglade Group to form High Peak Buses with Bowers operations relocated to
Trent Barton's
Dove Holes depot. Centrebus shareholders formed
Centrebus Holdings in May 2008 with
Arriva taking a 40% shareholding. Centrebus Holdings was an independent company from the main business, but was managed by Centrebus on a day-to-day basis. In September 2013, Arriva bought out its partners with the
West Yorkshire operations rebranded as Yorkshire Tiger and the Hinckley operations as
Hinckley Bus. Despite the name, Centrebus Holdings has never had any shareholding in Centrebus, and was formed to take over
K-Line and
Stagecoach Huddersfield, and subsequently the
Hinckley operations of Arriva Midlands. In September 2008, Centrebus purchased the local bus operations of the Woods Coaches,
Leicestershire business. In August 2009, the business of
Trustybus, with operations in
Essex and
Hertfordshire, was acquired by Centrebus. In August 2010 Centrebus took over the operations of Judges Mini Coaches,
Corby with routes serving
Kettering,
Milton Keynes,
Welford,
Wellingborough,
Wicken and Yardley Gobion. In May 2011, Centrebus took over West End Travel of Melton Mowbray and its fleet of buses and services in
Melton Mowbray and Rural Rider services. In October 2011 Centrebus purchased Paul James Coaches,
Saxby from
Veolia Transport with 21 buses. In July 2011 Centrebus took over the business of
Kimes Buses,
Folkingham. Kimes was founded in 1945 and sold in January 1997 to its employees. It operated a fleet of 23 vehicles at the time of the takeover. Its green and cream livery and the Kimes name were retained by Centrebus. In August 2013 the depot was closed with operations transferred to Centrebus'
Grantham depot.
Network contraction In November 2012, Centrebus closed its
Harlow depot with most routes passing to Roadrunner Buses. The remaining routes moved to the
Stevenage depot, allowing the business to consolidate its East Hertfordshire operations on a single site. In June 2017, Centrebus closed its Saxby depot, citing rising costs and declining patronage with all services passing to either Leicester or Grantham depots. In October 2019, Centrebus closed its Corby depot, citing rising costs and declining patronage with services passing to other depots or operators. In May 2021, Stevenage Depot was closed by Centrebus with most services moved to Luton depot. some routes were transferred to Luton while others were transferred to other operators, with Trustybus, Richmonds, A2B Travel and Chiltern Automotive all taking on former Centrebus routes. ==Depots==