East Lancashire Coachbuilders

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Ltd.
Company typePrivate
IndustryBus building
Founded27 October 1934 (1934-10-27)[1]
FounderWalter Smith
DefunctMarch 1, 2010 (2010-03-01)
FateDissolved after parent company Darwen Group performed a reverse takeover
SuccessorOptare
HeadquartersBlackburn, Lancashire, England
ProductsBus bodies
WebsiteOfficial website

East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a maker of bus bodies, They was founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.

History

East Lancashire Coachbuilders was founded in 1934 by Walter Smith at Brookhouse Mill in Blackburn.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, the company changed owners many times after Smith's death,

In 1988, it was sold to the Drawlane Transport Group (later called British Bus).

In 1994, East Lancashire Coachbuilders had moved to a new building on the Whitebirk Industrial Estate, they started making lots of single and double deck buses.[2]

In August 1996, British Bus was brought by the Cowie Group,[3][4] all orders by British Bus for buses with East Lancashire Coachbuilders bodywork was cancelled by Cowie. The company nearly went into administration but Blackburn Member of Parliament Jack Straw and chassis maker Dennis Specialist Vehicles helped East Lancashire Coachbuilders by sending Dennis Specialist Vehicles buses to be bodied.[2]

On 17 August 2007, East Lancashire Coachbuilders went into administration, the next day it was bought out from administration by the Darwen Group.[5][6] After the purchase, the Darwen Group changed the company name from East Lancashire Coachbuilders to Darwen East Lancs.[7][8][9]

In 2008, Jamesstan Investments, an investment company owned by the Darwen Group,[10] brought another bus maker called Optare.[10]

In June 2008, Optare did a £15.95 million reverse takeover and the names Darwen East Lancs and Darwen Group was changed to Optare.[11][12][13]

In 2011, all East Lancs bodies was stopped being made.

On 31 March 2012, the factory in Blackburn was closed.[14][15][16]

Products

Past

East Lancs had many different types of bodywork. They misspelled names on pupose, replacing the letter i with a letter y.

East Lancs (1934–2007)

Single-decker
Double-decker
Single-decker

Darwen Darwen East Lancs (2007–2008)

Single-decker
Double-decker
  • OmniDekka for Scania N94UD/N230UD/N270UD chassis

Optare (2008–2012)

Single-decker
Double-decker

Kinetec series

The Kinetec was made in 2006. They are low-floor bodies for MAN chassis. They have the Esteem/Olympus body but with MAN's own Lion's City design front and rear.

References

  1. ↑ "EAST LANCASHIRE COACHBUILDERS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "I'd hate to be run of the mill". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. 15 July 2003. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  3. ↑ Cowie Group plc and British Bus Group Limited: A report on the merger situation Competition Commission 31 October 1996
  4. ↑ Midland Red History: Timeline Menu MidlandRed.net
  5. ↑ "East Lancs acquired from administrators". Bus & Coach Professional. 23 August 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  6. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (22 August 2007). "Coach building firm buyout deal". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  7. ↑ Hewitt, Andrew (6 November 2007). "Bus firm bosses pledge to stay local". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  8. ↑ Briggs, Ben (27 October 2008). "Blackburn bus maker Optare moving to new site". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  9. ↑ Graham, James (29 October 2008). "New factory for Optare". TheBusinessDesk. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Investors". Optare. Archived from the original on 18 August 2008. Optare plc was formed following the acquisition of Jamesstan Investments Ltd by Darwen Holdings plc on 14 July 2008.
  11. ↑ Briggs, Ben (19 May 2008). "Blackburn-based coach builder is powering on". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  12. ↑ Briggs, Ben (27 June 2008). "Blackburn-based coach firm in £15.95m buyout". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  13. ↑ Feddy, Kevin (18 April 2010). "Darwen in £16m deal". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  14. ↑ Pye, Catherine (20 January 2012). "Blackburn's 80-year bus manufacturing era set to end as Optare moves to Yorkshire". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  15. ↑ "Gates at Blackburn finally close - new era for Optare". Optare. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  16. ↑ "Ashok Leyland's UK arm shuts down 3rd plant". 20 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2024.

Other websites

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