Independents’ Days

Continuing the short series on Cornish operations, following Omnibuses’ week-long visit to the Duchy. Third in series here

Independents’ Days

The transport landscape in Cornwall has changed considerably since deregulation. Of the 38 independents operating stage carriage services in 1983, only three now run local bus services. Although currently 20 independents run LBSs, virtually all are products of a deregulated environment.

We briefly looked at this sea-change in Part 16 of the series on deregulation. On the one hand, family-run firms struggle; on the other, niche markets have developed.

Changes in structures - Cornwall 1983-2006	1983	2006
NBC Subsidiaries	Western National	-
Large Groups	-	First Devon & Cornwall
Post Office	Yes	No
Independent Operators	38	20
Independents new to bus services since 1983	-	17
Community Transport	None known	7

So far as Cornwall’s two main independents are concerned, their niche has developed through or been strengthened by retrenchments on the part of once dominant First Devon & Cornwall. Truronian began in 1987, more-or-less in competition with the then Western National and the business now operates on routes and at times often untouched by First. In 1997, Newquay-based Western Greyhound began its operations, seeing sustained growth at First’s expense, and spreading widely.

On the other hand, family firms such as Grenville, Harvey and Fry’s have all gone, selling up or simply ceasing trading. Fry’s of Tintagel is a good example of a small entrepreneurial family business in rural Cornwall, operating in its time horse charabancs, several hotels, a butcher, slaughterhouse, petrol station and motor repair business. It operated coaches and a thin network of scattered and irregular bus services, including the daily (NSu) 2hr 25m Boscastle-Tintagel-Delabole-Launceston-Plymouth. Fry’s gave up local bus services in 1998 and ceased its petrol and repairs business two years later, the trading environment getting the better of a small family concern, with ageing proprietors.

Harvey’s of Mousehole operated a quaint blue Bedford and Bristol LHS in 1983, on its half-hourly Penzance-Newlyn-Mousehole service. This operated directly in competition with Western National’s own Bristol LHS-operated half-hourly service, and is one of those pre-deregulation anomalies where an independent and NBC subsidiary co-existed. Speaking to the proprietor that year, it was clear that even then there was some pessimism about the strength and viability of his service in the light of ever-increasing car ownership. Harvey eventually sold to Western National and it continued for a short while under Blue Bus but now it operates half-hourly only, with Mercedes minibuses.