Origins and early acquisitions {{Multiple image| FirstGroup originated within the
deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom in 1986, whereby private companies purchased nationalised and municipal bus operators. During September 1986, the
Somerset based services of the
Bristol Omnibus Company that were rebranded in 1985 as
Badgerline were purchased in a
management buyout. As Badgerline Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing other formerly nationalised bus companies in England and Wales. In January 1989,
Grampian Regional Transport, the bus operator in
Aberdeen owned by
Grampian Regional Council, was privatised in a management buyout led by its then general manager,
Moir Lockhead. As
GRT Bus Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland. During April 1995, FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland. The former
King Street Barracks site in
Aberdeen was selected as the headquarters. At the time of the merger, FirstBus had 5,600 buses, 4,000 of which came from Badgerline. In March 1998, FirstGroup purchased the 75.5% shares in Great Western Holdings that it did not already own and rebranded the franchises
First Great Western and
First North Western. In September 1998, FirstGroup made its first overseas foray when
New World First Bus commenced operating bus services in Hong Kong formerly operated by
China Motor Bus; the company held a 26% shareholding in the joint venture. During August 2003, FirstGroup purchased
GB Railways, which owned
Anglia Railways and
GB Railfreight and held 80% of the shares in
Hull Trains. Having not been shortlisted for the
Greater Anglia franchise, this outcome gave FirstGroup another chance to bid. However, it too was unsuccessful and the franchise was awarded to the rival transport company
National Express from April 2004, including the services operated by First Great Eastern. In November 2003, FirstGroup purchased a 90% shareholding in Irish coach operator
Aircoach. In February 2004, FirstGroup's joint venture with
Keolis commenced operating the
First TransPennine Express rail franchise, FirstGroup having a 55% shareholding in the venture. During April 2004, FirstGroup commenced operating the
First Great Western Link franchise, it also commenced the
First ScotRail franchise in October 2004. In December 2004, the remainder of
First North Western passed to
Northern Rail, some services having already been transferred to
Arriva Trains Wales and FirstTranspennine Express. During April 2006, FirstGroup commenced operating the
First Capital Connect franchise and a renewed
First Great Western franchise that had been expanded to include the
Thames Trains and
Wessex Trains franchises.
Prevost coach at
Toronto Coach Terminal in April 2009 In February 2007, FirstGroup agreed to buy the US-based firm
Laidlaw, an operator of inter-city coaches and
yellow school buses across North America, in exchange for £1.9 billion (US$3.7 billion). This also gave it a controlling stake in
Greyhound Lines, the largest bus operator in North America. The Greyhound name and the names of Canadian subsidiaries of
Greyhound Canada were retained, and all other Laidlaw-owned services in the United States and Canada were rebranded under the First or Greyhound names, except for
Voyageur Colonial and
Grey Goose in Canada. In January 2009,
DSBFirst, FirstGroup's joint venture with
Danish State Railways commenced operating the
Oresundtrain rail franchise from
Helsingør and
Nivå in Denmark along the
Kystbanen line and over the
Øresund Bridge to
Malmö,
Växjö,
Kalmar,
Karlskrona and
Gothenburg in Sweden. FirstGroup had a 25% shareholding in the Danish business and 20% in the Swedish business. During June 2009, FirstGroup made a takeover offer for fellow transport operator
National Express, which was struggling with debt at the time and was struggling to hold onto its
National Express East Coast rail franchise. This offer was rejected; a National Express spokesperson stated that it did not "consider it appropriate" at the time to discuss a takeover. FirstGroup believed that there was "significant industrial and commercial logic" for a merger, but National Express wished to focus on its own initiatives.
2010s In June 2010, FirstGroup sold its railfreight business
First GBRf to the
Eurotunnel Group in exchange for £31 million, ending the group's involvement in rail freight transport. In September 2010, former
London Underground managing director
Tim O'Toole, already a board member since May 2009 and chief operating officer and Deputy Chief Executive since June 2010, was announced as the successor to retiring group chief executive officer Moir Lockhead with effect from 31 March 2011. During September 2011, FirstGroup's German bus operations were sold to Marwyn European Transport. In December 2011,
DSBFirst ceased operating the Swedish part of the operation after difficulties encountered by Danish State Railways over
cross subsidies. in 2014 In July 2012,
First Travel Solutions provided bus and coach services for the
London 2012 Olympic Games as First Games Transport. This involved the provision of venue shuttle and park and ride services, services connecting the peripheral park and ride sites on the
M25 with the
Olympic Park and
Ebbsfleet, and a nationwide network of express coaches to the Olympic Park and the
Weymouth and Portland sailing venue. These services required around 900 vehicles in total, although some were sub-contracted. During June 2013, most of the
First London bus operations were sold to
Go-Ahead London,
Metroline and
Tower Transit. In April 2015, FirstGroup was unsuccessful in bidding for the
ScotRail franchise, which was run by
Abellio ScotRail until the end of that franchise in March 2022. During December 2015, FirstGroup was awarded the next
TransPennine Express franchise. The new franchise commenced on 1 April 2016 with a commitment to introduce new trains, routes and faster journey times. During October 2016, First Transit commenced operating the
A-train under contract to the
Denton County Transportation Authority, its first rail operation in the United States. In August 2017, FirstGroup's joint venture with
MTR Corporation commenced operating the
South Western franchise, the company holding a 70% shareholding in the
South Western Railway. In May 2019, FirstGroup announced its intention to sell its UK bus operations and that its US activities were to receive greater attention in the future. However, the only sales completed were parts of
First Greater Manchester to the
Go-Ahead Group and
Rotala.
2020s Wright StreetDeck Electroliner in
Norwich in October 2023 In May 2020, following pressure from Canadian
activist investor Coast Capital Savings, FirstGroup announced it has effectively reversed its previous strategy, opting to retain its UK bus operations and instead sell its assets in North America. In April 2021, FirstGroup agreed terms to sell the
First Student and
First Transit businesses to
EQT; the sale completed later in 2021. During October 2021, FirstGroup announced the sale of Greyhound Lines to
Flixbus, completing its stated divestments to focus on its core UK public transport businesses. In October 2021, the
open-access operator Lumo commenced operating services on the
East Coast Main Line. In June 2022, FirstGroup's board unanimously rejected a £1.2bn takeover proposal from US private equity firm
I Squared Capital; a spokesperson stated that the offer had undervalued the company. While talks between the two companies continued for a further two months, I Squared ultimately called off its efforts in August 2022. In February 2023, FirstGroup announced that subject to regulatory approval, it would purchase both the bus services and bus dealer operations of
Purfleet-based
Ensignbus. A year later in January 2024, FirstGroup purchased
York Pullman, followed by both Lakeside Group and Anderson Travel in October 2024. In December 2024, it purchased Grand Union's other approved operating rights from
London Paddington to
Carmarthen, which was followed by the FirstGroup announcing it has agreed terms to purchase
RATP Dev Transit London from
RATP Group, forming
First Bus London. In January 2025, the FirstGroup purchased Matthews Coach Hire. In May 2025, the
South Western Railway train operating company was transferred to the Department for Transport owned
South Western Railway, following a commitment to renationalising railway services by the Labour Government. In early 2026, the company purchased Hills Coaches of Wolverhampton, and, in April 2026, the company bought the family owned businesses, Eagle Coaches, based in
Bristol, and
Wilfreda Beehive. ==Operations==