The demise of Premiere

At 1700 on Friday the 25th of January, Premiere Travel of Nottingham ceased trading and entered administration. This was the result of a long, competitive campaign against Trent Barton on their core routes. Competition occurred over all or part of the Indigo, i4, Cotgrave Connection, Radcliffe Line, xprss, Skylink, 21, my15, Calverton Connection, Keyworth Connection, Rainbow one and the threes, with red routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 and also the redFlyer and local17. Another commercial route was the red9 (Nottingham-Ruddington-Loughborough), although this was not directly competitive. Wellglade Group (Trent Barton's parent company) orchestrated competitive attacks on the red2 and red4 through their Midland General subsidiary and these routes subsequently ceased operations. The red9 also saw competition from Wellglade subsidiary Kinchbus, but Premiere was victorious and the Kinchbus 9 was withdrawn, along with the two bargain bus operations. Now Premiere has folded, the Kinchbus 9 has been reintroduced, and Trent Barton has provided replacements for the red1 and red5 in the form of the 101 (Nottingham-Radcliffe) and extra buses between Long Eaton and Nottingham, which have not yet been branded. Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council sourced replacement services from Monday 28th January, as detailed below, and NCT have introduced the 47 and 47A to replace the red7. Details of replacement services are shown below, and both Nottinghamshire County Council and NCT and Trent Barton provided these details via the Internet, Facebook, Twitter and posters at bus stops. It is thought that Premiere folded due to taking out a four million pound loan to cover expansion and operating costs, but many routes were unsuccessful. The red2, red4 and redFlyer all folded, with the redFlyer said to be losing two thousand pounds a week before withdrawal, and the red3 had very few passengers on it. Fuel costs were increased both by multiple oil price rises and the use of thirsty diesel coaches on the red3 and red9. The local17 was also withdrawn at the very end of 2012, leaving many areas of Toton and Stapleford without a bus service until NCC stepped in with the 110. Personally I think Premiere's problem was they competed on low density, semi-rural routes like the red2, ignoring the higher passenger numbers on more city based services. Their success with the red5, and yourbus's on the y36 seem to demonstrate this, and indeed yourbus introduce a new Citylink service today, fast between Nottingham and Derby.

Replacement services:

2
Sherwood Business Park - Jackdale - Selston - Sherwood Business Park
Revised timetable
Lowes coaches

3.1
Keyworth - Willoughby - Keyworth
Existing timetable
Littles travel

3.2
Keyworth - Hickling - Keyworth
Existing timetable (one journey withdrawn)
Littles Travel & Sharpes of Nottingham

5
Oxton - Lowdham - Nottingham
Existing timetable
AOT Travel

6
Bingham - Calverton - Arnold - City Hospital
New services 46, 46B, 47, 47A
Nottingham City Transport

7.2, 7.3
Nottingham - Mapperley - Gedling/Carlton Valley - Netherfield
New services 72 and 73
Nottingham minibus

50
West Bridgford - Cotgrave - Owthorpe - Colston Bassett
Amended route
Sharpes of Nottingham

53
Cotgrave - The Cropwells - Bingham
No replacement

54
Newark - Farndon - East Bridgford - Bingham
Existing timetable
Stagecoach

55
Bingham - Bottesford
Existing timetable
Stagecoach

56A
Bingham - Orston
Existing timetable
Sharpes of Nottingham

56B
Whatton - Newark
Existing timetable
Sharpes of Nottingham

63
QMC - East Leake - Keyworth
Amended route
Paul S Winson Coaches

64
Lark Hill - Clifton - QMC - Nottingam
Revised timetable
Nottingham Community Transport

65
Nottingham - Thrumpton - Normanton on Soar
Existing timetable
Paul Winson Coaches

72
Mapperley - Gedling - Netherfield
Revised timetable
Nottingham Minibus

73
Mapperley - Gedling - Netherfield - Colwick
Revised timetable
Nottingham Minibus

73A
Netherfield - Carlton - Bakersfield - Carlton - Netherfield
Revised timetable
Nottingham Minibus

74
Netherfield - St Michael Avenue - Netherfield
Revised timetable
Nottingham Minibus

228
Hucknall - Bestwood Village - Bulwell
Existing timetable
Doyles

Red 1
Nottingham - Radcliffe - Bingham
New service 101
Trent Barton

Existing services: xprss, Radcliffe Line

Red 3
Nottingham - Tollerton - Keyworth

Existing services: Keyworth Connection

Red 5
New Sawley - Long Eaton - QMC - Nottingham
New service Long Eaton xprss

Existing services: Skylink

Red 7
Nottingham - Mapperley - Lambley/Arnold - Calverton
New services 46, 46B, 47, 47A
Nottingham City Transport

Red 8
Nottingham - City Hospital - Hucknall - Sherwood Business Park

Existing services: threes, Hucknall connect, Nottingham tram

Red 9
Nottingham - Bunny - Loughborough
New service 9
Kinchbus

S1
Clifton - Wilford Green - ASDA - West Bridgeford - Morrisons
Existing timetable
Silverdale

S2
Bingham - Gamston - West Bridgford - ASDA
Existing timetable
Silverdale

S3
Keyworth - Tollerton - Morrisons - West Bridgford - ASDA
Existing timetable
Silverdale

S4
Cropwell Bishop - Cotgrave - Gamston - ASDA
Existing timetable
Silverdale

S8
Calverton - Netherfield Morrisons
There is no replacement to this service.

S9
Southwell - Netherfield Morrisons
There is no replacement to this service.

S10
Sneinton - Colwick - Netherfield - Carlton
Existing timetable
Silverdale

S11
Netherfield - Carlton - St Anns
Existing timetable
Silverdale

S20
Top Valley Circular
Existing timetable
Silverdale

S21
Top Valley Circular
Existing timetable
Silverdale

S41
Bulwell - Snape Wood
There i s no replacement to this service.

S42
Top Valley - Bulwell
There is no replacement to this service.

As you can see, bus operators and councils have both stepped in and really helped speed up the transition from one operator to another. Now premiere has gone, lets see how Trent Barton copes with their newest competitor, yourbus, on the Citylink route. Expect a small series of blog posts regarding these replacement services over the next few weeks, as we see how the transition went on the ground.

Below is a Nottinghamshire county council Fiat Tucana bodied minibus operating service 110, a replacement for premiere's local17.