Stagecoach Manchester and Wigan

[Mayneway]

RE: Stagecoach Manchester

(22/08/2014 07:39)Owl Wrote:  Absolutely, totally agree with you. As someone who lives close to the depot, and has seen a lot of their buses, it was incredible how quickly they went from being a tidy operation, with a modern, well turned out fleet, to running some absolute wrecks. They also became PR obsessed, and seemed to concentrate on that at the expense of day to day operations. Who can forget the debacle of the facebook page, quickly taken down when people started to use it to complain about late running and missed services, or all the PR about the new depot in Middleton.

I also agree that it seemed to occur when they became obsessed with trying to drive competitors off routes. It is ironic that it was their success in putting Bluebird out of business that led to their own downfall, as Stagecoach were never going to give in to those tactics.

I won't go into details for obvious reasons but the person at the healm was power mad, and as you say image was everything but a lot of it was fake. It's very easy to buy Facebook friends and likes on eBay - but I'll say no more on that one

Technically Bluebird didn't go out of business. The owner had other business comittments that took him away from running things at Middleton and just like with Maynes several years earlier his children wernt interested in the bus business, although it's no secret the business wasn't running at its best it was bought as a going concern. Stagecoach didn't get Bluebird that cheap either where as JPT was handed to them on a plate.