in
Beverley in the 1960s East Yorkshire
AEC Renown in
Woodmansey in 1979 East Yorkshire originated in two companies, Lee & Beaulah (set up by Ernest John Lee) and Hull & District Motor Services (set up by H. A. Harvey). In October 1926,
British Electric Traction purchased the two companies and incorporated a new company,
East Yorkshire Motor Services Ltd, which remains the legal name of the company. In 1968, the British Electric Traction group was sold to the
Transport Holding Company, which in turn became the
National Bus Company in the following year. Until 1972, the company's livery was dark blue with a primrose band, with a white relief band also applied to the roofline of buses. Shortly after East Yorkshire was brought under National Bus Company ownership, the primrose band was changed to white and buses were given NBC corporate fleet names. This proved to be short-lived, with the adapted livery being replaced by the standard "poppy" red in October 1973.
Deregulation In 1987, following the
deregulation of bus services, East Yorkshire's fleet, which had since dropped to 200 vehicles and shared management with
Lincolnshire Road Car, started to grow again. The company was sold in a management buyout, which was led by seven managers. In the same year, the company acquired former
United Automobile Services depots in
Pickering and
Scarborough, with operations rebranded Scarborough & District. Following the management buyout, East Yorkshire began to expand, acquiring many independent operators in the local area, including Connor & Graham, Cottingham Mini Coaches and Primrose Valley Coaches. The Hardwick's of Scarborough fleet was purchased from
Wallace Arnold – this being Wallace Arnold's last bus company. At the time of privatisation, the livery was silver and blue, with some vehicles branded in the National Bus Company's "poppy" red livery or silver, blue and red minibus livery. The "poppy" red buses were subsequently rebranded into a red and grey livery. In
Kingston upon Hull, a number of
AEC Routemaster double-deck vehicles entered service in traditional East Yorkshire livery to compete with
Kingston upon Hull City Transport. The company also suffered competition from Appleby's of Conisholme in
Bridlington, Hull and
Scarborough, prior to the competitor's sale to the Bowen Transport Group in December 2000. In 1992, the company completed their first out-of-area acquisition with
Finglands Coachways, with further purchases that year including Hull-based Metro Citybus, as well as Rhodes Coaches and Thornton Dale Coaches. By the turn of the decade, the company had made a significant number of acquisitions: Connor & Graham of
Easington (1993), Hart Coaches of
Stockton-on-Tees (1995), former
GM Buses coaching arm Charterplan (1996), Hollings Coaches of
North Shields (1996), former
Busways Travel Services coach operator Armstrong Galley (1997), and former KHCT coaching subsidiary Kingstonian Travel Services (1997). In January 2004, the company proceeded with a second out-of-area acquisition, with the purchase of
Whittle Coach & Bus of Kidderminster. In December 2014, the coach operation was sold to
Johnsons Coach & Bus Travel. In the same month, the company commenced commercial operation of the Moors Explorer ME1 service, which replaced the former
Moorsbus M13 and M14 services. The service operates on Sunday and bank holidays between May and August, running between
Hessle, Hull,
Beverley and
Danby via
Malton and
Pickering – closely following the route of the former services. In May 2015, East Yorkshire Motor Services was the first operator in the
United Kingdom to take delivery of the
MCV EvoSeti. Following further deliveries in January 2017 and September 2017, an additional eighteen vehicles were added to the fleet. In May 2018, the company's
Hornsea depot was closed, with the depot's 27 drivers and engineers offered roles elsewhere in the company. The following year, it was announced that the company's Beverley depot was to be closed, with operations relocated to Hull.
EYMS Group acquisitions Finglands Coachways Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied
Volvo B9TL at
Manchester Piccadilly Gardens bus station The company's first out-of-area expansion was in early 1992, following the purchase of
Finglands Coachways of
Rusholme. In August 2013,
FirstGroup announced that subject to regulatory approval by the
Office of Fair Trading, it had agreed to purchase the bus operations of Finglands Coachways. The sale included the lease of the company's depot in Rusholme, as well as routes, and approximately 100 members of staff – but no vehicles. In October 2013, East Yorkshire Motor Services sold the Finglands Coachways coach charter business to
Bullocks Coaches.
Whittle Bus & Coach Whittle Bus & Coach of
Kidderminster was acquired by East Yorkshire Motor Services in January 2004. This was the second major out-of-area acquisition for the company, following the
management buyout in February 1987. The business operated a total of 50 vehicles at the time of purchase, running bus services in rural
Shropshire and
Worcestershire. Following the sale, the company's
National Express contracted services were transferred to other operators, with local bus services withdrawn in January 2015.
Go-Ahead Group ownership in August 2023 In June 2018, East Yorkshire Motor Services was acquired by the
Go-Ahead Group, bringing an end to 30 years of family ownership. Following the acquisition, the company was organised to run as a standalone company within
Go North East. In October 2018, the company invested a total of £1 million in new
Ticketer smart ticket machines, which have the ability to accept
contactless and
mobile payments. In March 2019, a new livery and corporate branding was announced. Under the changes, the trading name for the company was changed to
East Yorkshire, with a new typeface and logo design, with the white rose of
Yorkshire replacing the letter O and forming part of the logo. The new corporate branding was launched at an event at
KCOM Stadium, with two vehicles displayed in the new livery. In June 2022, it was announced that East Yorkshire was to be split from Go North East, becoming a separate company of the Go-Ahead Group. Following the departure of Martijn Gilbert at Go North East in August 2022, Ben Gilligan, who previously served as East Yorkshire's Area Director since the company's takeover, was promoted to the company's Managing Director. Gilligan departed East Yorkshire in January 2026 to become the managing director of Go North East amid a group reorganisation, with
Go North West operations director Matt Ashton filling the role on an interim basis; former
Stagecoach Yorkshire,
Southern Vectis and
Bluestar MD Matt Kitchin is to fill the role from summer 2026. East Yorkshire was handed responsibility for four North and West Yorkshire-based coach companies acquired by the Go-Ahead Group in May 2024, taking on 200 staff members and 140 vehicles from these companies, whose operations are to be retained as separate subsidiaries of East Yorkshire. These companies were Compass Royston of
Middlesbrough, Esk Valley Coaches of
Whitby, Fourway Coaches of
Leeds and Procters Coaches of
Leeming Bar. A fifth company, Morse Coaches of
Sheriff Hutton, was acquired and placed under East Yorkshire's management in December 2025. ==Operations==