be confused with blue bird corporation an american manufacturer of buses alexander dennis enviro 300 on route 112 in manchester in july 2008 parent michael dunstan founded july 1988 ceased operation 3 march 2013 headquarters greengate service area greater manchester service type bus operator hubs middleton bus station depots 1 fleet 49 may 2012 website www.bluebirdbus.co.uk bluebird bus & coach was a bus operator based in greengate in chadderton greater manchester between july 1988 and march 2013 . contents 1 history 2 fleet 3 references 4 external links history edit bluebird bus & coach was formed in july 1988 1 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 was taken over 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 routes 181 182 402 410 and 411 . 2 in november 2008 bluebird was the first operator to run the bolton metroshuttle service 3 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 4 although their metroshuttle operation ended in march 2011 when the stockport metroshuttle service was taken over by stagecoach manchester . 5 on 7 november 2012 it was announced that stagecoach manchester had purchased the business although the deal was subject to clearance from the office of fair trading 1 6 7 8 and was approved on 22 february 2013 . 9 the purchase included bluebird s 40 vehicles 80 staff members and its lease on the depot at greengate and was completed on 3 march 2013 . 10 fleet edit as at may 2012 the fleet consisted of 49 buses . 11 references edit a b stagecoach group to make swoop for bluebird . manchester evening news . 7 november 2012 . retrieved 7 november 2012 . lidstone john g april 2009 . fleet in focus bluebird bus & coach . buses 649 55 . bolton metroshuttle takes off stockport s due by christmas . manchester buses . retrieved 29 january 2011 . gmita metroshuttle patronage and performance . gmita . retrieved 29 january 2011 . gmpte buses latest changes . gmpte . retrieved 14 february 2011 . acquisition of bus operations in north manchester . stagecoach group . 7 november 2012 . retrieved 7 november 2012 . stagecoach agrees 2m bluebird deal herald scotland 8 november 2012 stagecoach buys bluebird if oft agrees bus & coach professional 9 november 2012 anticipated acquisition by greater manchester buses south limited a wholly owned subsidiary of stagecoach plc of bluebird bus & coach pdf . office of fair trading . retrieved 27 february 2013 . manchesterbluebird . stagecoach bus . retrieved 27 february 2013 . fleet bluebird external links edit media related to bluebird at wikimedia commons company website v t e former bus companies of the united kingdom national associated motorways blazefield holdings british bus british coachways british electric traction fraser eagle grt group national bus company thomas tilling england v t e former bus companies operating in england north west england birkenhead transport blackburn transport blue bus and coach services bluebird bus and coach bu val buses chesterbus citibus tours crosville motor services finglands coachways first chester & the wirral glenvale transport gm buses lancashire united transport jpt maynes bus maytree travel mtl north western road car company 1923 north western road car company 1986 pennine blue red & white services ribble motor services speedwellbus transdev northern blue uk north yelloway motor services north east england black prince buses busways travel services durham travel services geldards coaches jolly bus leon motors mexborough and swinton traction company northern general 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vectis boro line maidstone brijan tours bygone buses cavendish motor services centra city clipper countryliner east kent road car company invictaway kent top travel maidstone & district maidstone corporation transport marchwood motorways moss motor tours portsmouth corporation transport shamrock buses southampton citybus southdown motor services thames transit thames valley traction tillingbourne bus company velvet yellow bus services greater london bexleybus birch brothers boro line london capital citybus capital logistics connex east thames buses first london grey green harris bus imperial buses london buslines london country bus services london country north east london country north west london country south east london country south west london easylink london electrobus company london forest london pride sightseeing london traveller mtl nsl buses thorpes travel london travel surrey westlink scotland v t e former bus companies operating in scotland scottish bus group central scottish clydeside scottish eastern scottish highland scottish kelvin central buses kelvin scottish lowland scottish midland scottish northern scottish western scottish other operators arriva scotland west a1 service dart buses first stop travel gibson s of moffat mckindless munro s of jedburgh oban and district scottish motor traction strathclyde buses western smt wales v t e former bus companies operating in wales companies crosville motor services islwyn borough transport national welsh omnibus services padarn bus red & white services rhondda transport company south wales transport western welsh retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title bluebird bus and coach & oldid 738380936 categories companies based in oldham boroughformer bus operators in englandmiddleton greater manchestertransport in greater manchester1988 establishments in england2013 disestablishments in englandchaddertonhidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu 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