Hulley's of Baslow (Defunct)

[AWK]

Digging around in the accounts on Companies House suggests that the Eades family retain ownership of the depot site, with Modeldart purchasing it by way of a mortgage. In the event of insolvency, it reverts to the Eades.

Still owned by the Eades Family Trust as far as I'm aware.

 

[Russel]

Why the hesitance to name Stagecoach here?

 

[chessie]

This is not reading good at all but I would like to note Hulleys ran bang on time for me today pretty much as per usual, I was on 170 then 55 to visit the parents. Outside of this thread there does appear to be nil knowledge amongst passengers of next week so please do share if you know anything

 

[psmith2023]

The only operator big enough as Mansfield can interwork the alfreton ones with 55s or extend the 1s to chesterfield

 

[tram21]

This is not reading good at all but I would like to note Hulleys ran bang on time for me today pretty much as per usual, I was on 170 then 55 to visit the parents. Outside of this thread there does appear to be nil knowledge amongst passengers of next week so please do share if you know anything

I had a mixed experience today. I tried to get the 63, which flew right past the New Beetwell Street stop with Not in Service on the blind, but it was actually in service (it tracked the whole route). That was a shame, but oh well! A 170 was cancelled this morning, much to the dismay of a very large group of passengers waiting for it- i have to day I'm surprised the route is still so well used. I had a better experience on the 55 and 170s I got on, and I will be sad to see the company go.

 

[zkyx02]

Both loaned buses (the L94 & streetlite) leave on Monday, having spoke to a staff member a lot of them are under the assumption that they won’t be operating from Tuesday

 

[chessie]

Both loaned buses (the L94 & streetlite) leave on Monday, having spoke to a staff member a lot of them are under the assumption that they won’t be operating from Tuesday

How sad if so!

 

[ALEMASTER]

I used the 257 on Thursday evening, a few minutes late but otherwise spot on. On Saturday morning a well loaded 272 was witnessed leaving Sheffield, that was running 8 minutes late but looking on the bustimes.org tracker it reached Castleton more or less on time. So not all bad!

 

[zkyx02]

How sad if so!

I will feel for the drivers, but for the company as a whole, I’ll be glad to see it go.

 

[Russel]

I will feel for the drivers, but for the company as a whole, I’ll be glad to see it go.

I do feel sympathy towards the drivers as redundancy is never good, but, given the proximity to Chesterfield/Sheffield/Belper all with bus depots ran by the likes of Stagecoach, First, Trent Barton etc, I doubt many will struggle to find new bus driving jobs that'll be more secure and possibly better paid.

 

[zkyx02]

I do feel sympathy towards the drivers as redundancy is never good, but, given the proximity to Chesterfield/Sheffield/Belper all with bus depots ran by the likes of Stagecoach, First, Trent Barton etc, I doubt many will struggle to find new bus driving jobs that'll be more secure and possibly better paid.

Well high peak are offering a 1k starting bonus (unsure of T&Cs) & aren’t on a bad rate…

 

[IamTrainsYT]

Unfortunately Hulleys is to close on Wednesday night, with new operators taking over the routes from Thursday.

(Announced by management today at 10:40)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Unfortunately Hulleys is to close on Wednesday night, with new operators taking over the routes from Thursday.

(Announced by management today at 10:40)

Sad but not unexpected. It definitely felt like a company on the last legs when I used it the other week

 

[Russel]

It's certainly a shame, it'll be odd not seeing Hulleys around Bakewell.

Has it been said who is taking over what?

 

[IamTrainsYT]

Has it been said who is taking over what?

Not as of yet

 

[BusesOfTheNW]

Unfortunately Hulleys is to close on Wednesday night, with new operators taking over the routes from Thursday.

(Announced by management today at 10:40)

Is there any physical evidence of this like a notice or something?

 

[IamTrainsYT]

Is there any physical evidence of this like a notice or something?

Yes, I’m not sharing it though as it is intended for staff and not the public.

 

[AWK]

Not as of yet

DCC expected to make contract awards for their contracted services later on today and will support those operators to submit short notice registrations to take effect from Thursday.

For the other (commercial) services I suspect there will be some gaps in provision until operators work out what they are able to cover and again work with DCC (and SYMCA) to support short notice registrations.

A sad day.

 

[syjunkie]

Wonder what will happen with the fleet

 

[AWK]

Wonder what will happen with the fleet

Receivers have been appointed. Vehicles on lease will go back, vehicles owned will be sold off to the highest bidder at auction most likely, along with any plant/machinery etc. I suspect most of the vehicles bar probably the newer Solos and E200s will be sold for scrap

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Mar 2025 ==

Yes, I’m not sharing it though as it is intended for staff and not the public.

Rightly so, I commend you for this!

 

[syjunkie]

Of course thoughts are with the staff at hulleys been told the news today

 

[Hyebone]

I will say I'll certainly miss the colourful and interesting vehicles around Chesterfield, they've been central to a lot of operations over the years. A real shame.

Attached is an assortment of my photos of their colourful fleet.

 

[SLC001]

104 years of operation. Very sad in so many ways. Thoughts are with the staff who have maintained some order of service to the end.
I hope the residents in the area get the services they need but I am not hopeful. Money and politics are against this and the area is not ideal bus operating territory to say the least.

 

[woodhouse122]

Shame that Hulleys end like this ,I've had a lot of good days out on their buses over the years ,not only in Derbyshire but also on trips to Manchester on their X57 Snake service, fingers crossed that their drivers and engineering staff that keep their fleet on the road

 

[Bletchleyite]

104 years of operation. Very sad in so many ways. Thoughts are with the staff who have maintained some order of service to the end.
I hope the residents in the area get the services they need but I am not hopeful. Money and politics are against this and the area is not ideal bus operating territory to say the least.

I particularly feel for the new driver who drove my bus the other week (even if he did miss my stop ) - he's just started a new job only to lose it again. I suppose at least bus drivers' jobs are reasonably easy to come by, but he'll probably be landed with a much longer commute to a depot. Hopefully he owns a car or it might not even be possible

 

[tram21]

On the staff notice, it says jobs will be transferred to the new operators, with staff choosing their operators in the next couple of days. Which is good news for them.

A very sad day, I have many fun experiences travelling with Hulleys, the best being a 3 hour trip on the 257c last Easter, where due to the Snake Pass being closed two amazing drivers took us on an amazing tour (diversion!) of most of the north peaks, with the efforts of the company to maintain operating the service highly commendable.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Mar 2025 ==

For the other (commercial) services I suspect there will be some gaps in provision until operators work out what they are able to cover and again work with DCC (and SYMCA) to support short notice registrations.

DCC knew that this day was coming at some point, and afaik they have been working hard to create contracts for these services too, many of which are more of a lifeline than the contracted services.

I wish all the staff all the best in their new jobs.

 

[SSmith2009]

I particularly feel for the new driver who drove my bus the other week (even if he did miss my stop ) - he's just started a new job only to lose it again. I suppose at least bus drivers' jobs are reasonably easy to come by, but he'll probably be landed with a much longer commute to a depot. Hopefully he owns a car or it might not even be possible

Hopefully the drivers are offered jobs with potential new operators - as they already know the routes and it keeps friendly faces for the regulars.

 

[AWK]

On the staff notice, it says jobs will be transferred to the new operators, with staff choosing their operators in the next couple of days. Which is good news for them.

A very sad day, I have many fun experiences travelling with Hulleys, the best being a 3 hour trip on the 257c last Easter, where due to the Snake Pass being closed two amazing drivers took us on an amazing tour (diversion!) of most of the north peaks, with the efforts of the company to maintain operating the service highly commendable.

Indeed, Hulleys have a very good group of staff, this is an awful time for them and I'm sure not reflective of their commitment to the cause.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Mar 2025 ==


DCC knew that this day was coming at some point, and afaik they have been working hard to create contracts for these services too, many of which are more of a lifeline than the contracted services.

I wish all the staff all the best in their new jobs.

As this is commercial mileage DCC won't be able to step in until it was confirmed the operator was closing - you can not issue contracts for mileage that is currently being commercially operated

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

It was almost three years to the day (25th March 2022) that I last travelled on Hulleys... is this photo almost too symbolic?



My views FWIW is that under the previous owners, there was a good operator that was trying to do the right thing in some rather thin operating territory. The odd new vehicle arrived but otherwise, it was judicious purchasing of secondhand vehicles that were then retained for a few years.

Sadly, the last few years were typified by a myriad of service introductions (with the X1 being the sorriest episode) and a constant churn of vehicles leading to an erosion in the service quality that had hitherto been present. Very sad to see.

Hopefully, all those affected will be able to obtain new jobs and won't be too adversely impacted.

 

[DunsBus]

Very similar echoes of the demise of Munro's of Jedburgh back in 2013.