First Midland Red Buses Limited

Midland Red West was the trading name of Midland Red West Limited, a bus operating company formed in 1986.

Unlike many other bus companies operating since deregulation of the bus industry in England and Wales, Midland Red West’s history and operations has been straightforward, while the company could be seen as one of the founding companies of the First Group.

Midland Red (West) Limited
Midland Red (West) Limited was one of 5 bus operating companies created when the National Bus Company’s (NBC) massive and famous Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited (MROC) subsidiary was split in 1981 in preparation for deregulation.

Based in Worcester, Midland Red (West) Limited's main areas of operation were Worcestershire, Herefordshire and parts of Shropshire and the West Midlands connurbation, including Birmingham. Birmingham was also served by the other companies formed from the break up of the MROC, while the Midland Red bus station located at the original Bull Ring Shopping Centre served as a terminus for all 5 former MROC companies opearting to/from Birmingham.

Midland Red West Limited
In 1986 Midland Red West Holdings Limited, a management buyout company created by Midland Red (West) Limited’s employees, was formed to purchase Midland Red (West) Limited from the NBC. This acquisition took place in December of that year and the now privatised company was renamed Midland Red West Limited.

Midland Red West Limited chose to keep the Midland Red West trading name because of the strength and recognition of the brand.

The livery of many of its vehicles though shortly changed from the NBC's poppy red to a deeper red and cream livery that was very well received. The company also sported a new logo of a Wyvern to replace the NBC’s ‘double N’ motif. Apart from being the name of an imaginary creature, the name Wyvern was also a portmanteau of the 2 major rivers which run through Herefordshire and Worcestershire; the Wye and Severn.

Purchase of the Bristol Omnibus Company
In 1987 Midland Red West Holdings Limited purchased the Bristol Omnibus Company (BOC) from the NBC. BOC at the time was operating urban services around the Bristol area under the City Line trading name, which was kept.

Badgerline Group
In 1988 Midland Red West Limited and Badgerline Limited (who operated rural services around the Bristol area under the Badgerline trading name) merged to form the Badgerline Group. The trading names of Midland Red West and Badgerline remained the same, as did vehicle livery though many of Midland Red West's Leyland Lynxes sported a badger motif on the rear sides of the vehicle.

The creation of the Badgerline Group managed to bring Bristol 'city' services (operated by the Bristol Omnibus Company under the City Line trading name) and Bristol 'rural' operations back under one group because in 1987 Midland Red West Limited purchased the Bristol Omnibus Company, while Badgerline Limited used to be part of the Bristol Omnibus Company (and operated under the Bristol Countrybus name) until it was bought out by its management in 1986. The Bristol Omnibus Company and Badgerline Limited were though still separate bus operating companies under the Badgerline Group.

Fleet
In 1990 Midland Red West Limited began to expand and modernise its fleet of full-size single deck buses by purchasing 50 Leyland Lynxes, which were put in to service at the firm's Digbeth depot, displacing all that depot's Nationals. 8 of these Lynxes shortly found their way to Redditch depot and 2 years later 5 of these 8 Redditch Lynxes ended up at Kidderminster depot, whiel Reddicth acquired 4 more from Digbeth.

In 1994 37 new Plaxton Verde-bodied Dennis Lances, which were now the Badgerline Group's standard full-size single deck bus, appeared at Digbeth depot, displacing the existing Leyland Lynxes to Kidderminster and Redditch depots.

FirstGroup
In 1995 the Badgerline Group merged with Grampian Regional Transport Limited (GRT) to create FirstBus which, because of other transport interests, renamed itself FirstGroup in 1998.

Now part of FirstGroup the registered name, Midland Red West Limited, changed to First Midland Red Buses Limited in 1999, while the trading name and livery of vehicles gradually changed over the years as part of a 4-step phased change rather than an instant 'overnight' change. These changes, which were also implemented with many of First's other bus operating companies, were:
 * Original livery and typeface remaining with just FirstBus transfers in the windows.
 * Original livery maintained, but the Midland Red West typeface then changed to mirror that of First, with the First logo appearing after the name. Transfers now gone.
 * Original livery maintained, but the Midland Red West name was now replaced by the First name, with the name Midland Red appearing on the side of the buses in very small fonts.
 * The Midland Red name now removed along with the inevitable livery change to its vehicles to the now common 'barbie' colour scheme.

The introduction of the First trading name brought to an end nearly 100 years of the name Midland/Midland Red/Midland Red West appearing on buses, though this famous name appeared on a repainted Enviro 300 and Leyland National to celebrate the centenary of the creation of Midland Red.

In conjunction with First Leicester and First Northampton, First Midland Red form First's First Midlands (also informally as First Wyvern, a name associated with Midland Red West Limited).

An irony of deregulation is that First Leicester is now in competition with Arriva Fox County, which was once Midland Red (East) Limited; one of the 5 companies formed with break up of MROC in 1981 along with Midland Red (West).