History
OK Motor Service was founded in Evenwood, County Durham, by Wade Emmerson in 1912. The first route was from Evenwood to Bishop Auckland.
The original name was the Gaunless Valley Motor Services with the name OK coming from a consortium of operators who started to run from the area to the Great North Exhibition in Newcastle in the late 20s. The name OK was used and means just exactly what it says, the service was 'OK'.
The first garage was in Evenwood, with an office being opened within Bishop Auckland Town Hall during the early 1930s. The site of the main garage was acquired and developed during the 1930s in North Bondgate, Bishop Auckland DL14 7PG.
Further depot were opened at Heaton in Newcastle and two further depots were acquired with the business of F Lockey and Sons. This was their depot at St Helens Auckland, which became a central workshop for OK, and a smaller depot at Shotton Colliery.
During the early 1980s, the company replaced OK Motor Services name with OK Travel and introduced a simplified version of the eye catching livery of Dark Red, Light Red and Cream.
After deregulation, OK acquired two further depots, one at Gateshead to replace the Heaton depot. A brand new depot was built at Peterlee, which replaced the depot at Shotton Colliery.
OK Travel operated widely throughout the area with the majority of its services being in south Tyne & Wear and Durham. By 1994 it had 212 vehicles with an average age of about 11 years, and had bought 47 new vehicles in the preceding year.
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