History
The company was formed in 1988 when Tom Dunstan, a former Greater Manchester PTE area manager, bought a small coach company called Bluebird of Middleton. Tom Dunstan died in 2004 and the company is now run by his son Michael. The first route operated was commercial service 112, which was followed by a number of contracted routes. In 2006 and 2007, Bluebird expanded its operating area to Oldham introducing buses on the 181, 182, 402, 410 and 411 routes.
In November 2008, Bluebird was the first operator to run the Bolton Metroshuttle service before being replaced by Maytree Travel in January 2010, although the company would resume running a Metroshuttle service later that year, when they took the operation of the Stockport Metroshuttle service from Swan's Travel, although their Metroshuttle operation ended in March 2011, when the Stockport Metroshuttle service was taken over by Stagecoach Manchester.
On 7 November 2012, it was announced that Stagecoach Manchester had agreed to acquire the business and assets of Bluebird for £2m, although the deal is subject to clearance from the Office of Fair Trading and if approved, should be completed in the first quarter of 2013. The purchase will include Bluebird's 40 vehicles, 80 staff members and its depot at Greengate.
Read more about this topic: Bluebird Bus And Coach
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