Optare Rumours

“Optare rumours” is currently this blog’s 107th most popular search phrase. Its popularity has increased over the last couple of days upon news that Optare is ripe for take-over.

Life’s been nothing if turbulent at Optare. By recently considerably slimming down its activity considerably—up to half—and closing its Rotherham facility, Optare was reacting to the dire state of the UK bus manufacturing market. It may be that such a significant change wasn’t enough. It has recently hinted at further consolidation.

Now, Optare has announced it’s received a preliminary take-over approach from an as yet unnamed buyer.

Launch of Optare’s new image plus the Rapta integral double deck shell and Solo+ minibus, in November 2008. The first two are history and, who knows, the third may be also

It’s Optare’s 25th anniversary this month. What a complicated quarter of a century:

• Founded phoenix-like in 1985 from the remnants of the former BLMC-owned Charles H Roe bodybuilders that closed during the mid-1980s hiatus.


• A relationship soon developed with Wilts & Dorset, culminating in Optare’s most popular product, the Solo. There followed the Spectra, a sort of Mk 3 Metrobus, following the collapse of MCW.


• Optare joined United Bus, initially DAF Bus (with whom Optare had close connections) and Bova, and also Den Ousten and Danish Automobile Building (DAB).


• When United Bus failed, in 1993, Optare’s management bought the company. It later acquired Autobus with its strange-looking Nouvelle product.


• In 2000, North American Bus Industries (itself Hungarian owned) acquired Optare.


• When NABI hit troubled times in 2005, Optare’s management again bought the company.



Dynamically Driven was Darwen's launch strapline, used here for the first time in November 2007. Note the Cardiff Bus Olympus. Also present was a Preston Bus Esteem. Both have gone though, who knows, the Preston Bus name may return, depending upon the eventual buyer

• Meanwhile, in parallel, in 2007, the Darwen Group again rose phoenix-like following East Lancs entering administration. There followed redundancies and rebranding.


• Darwen Group’s owner set up Jamesstan Investments. Jamesstan bought Optare in March 2008. There followed redundancies at Optare. Four months later, there was a reverse take-over by smaller Darwen of larger Optare and the Darwen name was dropped in favour of Optare.


• In 2009, Optare consolidated operations at Blackburn in the light of poor double deck forward orders, shut its Rotherham site and began planning to scale its workforce back by half, including its large contract personnel.

Both former East Lancs and Optare products initially became available together. The Esteem single deck was dropped, as was the Alero minibus. The promised integral double deck Rapta project was abandoned in favour of the traditional East Lancs-designed Olympus body. At the same time, the Solo+ product was castigated by the operating industry. Plans for Optare to create an integral Olympus remain a possibility.