Borders Buses

Borders Buses, previously known as Perryman's Buses, is a bus company operating services across Edinburgh and the Lothians, Cumbria, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. It is a subsidiary of West Coast Motors.[1][2]

Borders Buses
An Alexander Dennis Enviro 200, branded in the company's corporate livery, at North Bridge in Edinburgh.
ParentWest Coast Motors
Founded1972 (49 years ago)
HeadquartersRamparts Business Park
North Road
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Service area
Service typeBus and coach
Depots3
Managing DirectorColin Robert Craig
Websitewww.bordersbuses.co.uk

History

Perryman's Buses began in 1972, operating as a taxi service in the village of Burnmouth in the Scottish Borders.[3] Following expansion over the next four decades, Perryman's moved to larger premises at Ramparts Business Park in Berwick-upon-Tweed, in 2002.

Following the closure of Munro's of Jedburgh in July 2013, Perryman's was awarded a contract, valued at £10.4 million, from Scottish Borders Council, to operate a number of routes in Northumberland, Midlothian and the Scottish Borders.[4][5]

This expansion saw the opening of a second depot, in the village of St. Boswells, near Melrose, and created a total of 27 jobs. The new operation required additional vehicles, with 12 high-specification Optare Versa vehicles being delivered in September 2013 – the company's largest ever vehicle order at the time.[6][7][8]

In February 2016, Perryman's Buses of Berwick-upon-Tweed was purchased by West Coast Motors. The sale included 45 vehicles, and both depots at Berwick-upon-Tweed and St. Boswells.[9][10]

Later in the same year, Perryman's also took over several services from First Scotland East. The remainder of First's operations in the Scottish Borders, including the depot at Galashiels, as well as outstations at Hawick, Kelso and Peebles, was sold to West Coast Motors in March 2017, before being rebranded as Borders Buses in July 2017.[11][12][13]

Further expansion in the Scottish Borders over the next few years saw the company acquire routes from BARC Coach Hire in January 2018,[14] and Buskers in September 2019.[15]

The company has recently seen significant investment in vehicles, as well as real-time service information, and ticketing systems. In April 2019, three bike-friendly Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC vehicles were introduced on to route X62 – representing an investment of about £750,000. The launch of these new vehicles coincided with the launch of full contactless payment acceptance across the Borders Buses network.[16][17]

Subsequently, ten bike-friendly Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMC vehicles were delivered towards the end of 2019, with a further ten being delivered in February 2020, at a cost of £3.25 million. These vehicles currently operate on routes 253, X62 and X95, and feature free WiFi, audio-visual next stop announcements, leather seats, tables and charging points.[18][19]

In March 2020, it was announced that Borders Buses was granted a five-year contract, valued at £4 million, to commercially operate the remaining Scottish Borders Council core bus network – including the operation of routes 51, 52, 60, 67 and 68. As well as this, the company will work in partnership with Scottish Borders Council to improve bus stops, the provision of real-time information, and bus priority measures.[20][21]

Fleet and operations

The Borders Buses fleet consists mainly of vehicles manufactured by Alexander Dennis and Optare.

As of June 2020, Borders Buses operate from three depots:

Livery and branding

In July 2017, following the sale of Perryman's Buses to West Coast Motors, the business was rebranded as Borders Buses. This saw the introduction of a new cream and red corporate livery, featuring a blue stripe along the length of the vehicle, as well as a new logo. Some vehicles operating on key routes have received route-specific branding, based on the corporate livery.[22][23][24] Prior to rebranding, vehicles wore the white Perryman's Buses livery, which featured a red and blue stripe along the length of the vehicle.

See also

References
  1. "Borders Buses Ltd". Companies House. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  2. "Craig of Campbeltown Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  3. "Perryman's Buses taken over by West Coast Motors". The Berwickshire News. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  4. Paterson, Kenny (20 June 2013). "Bus jobs boost... but Munro's misses out". The Southern Reporter. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  5. "Tender losses force Munro's closure". Bus and Coach Professional. 10 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  6. "Perryman's bus contract boost". Coach and Bus Week. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  7. "Borders Bus Company gears up for future after securing £1.7m Bank of Scotland deal". Lloyds Banking Group. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  8. "Optare completes delivery of Perryman's Buses largest ever order". Optare. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  9. "West Coast Motors buys Perryman's of Berwick-upon-Tweed". Coach and Bus Week. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  10. "Perryman's Buses taken over by West Coast Motors". The Berwickshire News. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  11. Knox, David (15 July 2016). "Perryman's set to take over threatened Borders bus routes". Border Telegraph. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  12. Peat, Chris (10 March 2017). "First to sell Borders operations". Bus and Coach Buyer. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  13. "Takeover deal secures future of Borders bus routes". The Southern Reporter. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  14. "Borders Buses to take on six new routes". Peeblesshire News. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  15. "New bus routes from Monday". Borders Buses. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  16. "Borders Buses invests in active travel with bike-friendly Enviro400". Alexander Dennis. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  17. "Borders Buses invests in bikes on board". routeone. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  18. Jackson, Peter (24 December 2019). "Border Buses invests £3.25m in bike-friendly buses". Coach and Bus Week. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  19. Dalton, Alastair (27 November 2019). "First Scottish 'bike bus' route launched from Berwick to Edinburgh". The Scotsman. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  20. Kelly, Paul (12 March 2020). "Firm signs £4m deal with council to help run bus services in Borders". The Southern Reporter. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  21. Knox, David (11 March 2020). "Council offloads key routes in new £4 million Borders Buses deal". Peeblesshire News. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  22. "Two become one on the Borders". Bus and Coach Buyer. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  23. "Borders Buses to formally merge with Perryman's". Coach and Bus Week (1299). 11 July 2017. p. 11.
  24. "End of road for Perryman's name as bus firm merges Borders subsidiaries". The Southern Reporter. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
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