Hulley's of Baslow (Defunct)

[Killingworth]

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.

Great for enthusiasts pictures but a warning sign that a once smart and proud company was going off the rails with these here today gone tomorrow multi liveried vehicles.

 

[Hyebone]

Great for enthusiasts pictures but a warning sign that a once smart and proud company was going off the rails with these here today gone tomorrow multi liveried vehicles.

They seemed to be going uphill in recent times; obtaining Go Coach and painting many vehicles into a new standard livery. What happened?

 

[BusesOfTheNW]

I may have misinterpreted the document but from looking on companies house it seems that Hulleys are £1.5 million in debt

 

[duncombec]

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

Very true, but I think what @tram21 was alluding to was that the local authority was prepared for this should it happen, as it has.

I understand a number of local authorities have background plans they could roll out in case of an operator ceasing to be, such as which operators could help at short notice - especially in cases where that can be as urgent as requiring someone to take children home if the operator fails at lunchtime. It wouldn't surprise me at all if a failure of the business as a whole went right to the top of the list (if it wasn't there already), with red flashing lights and "EMERGENCY" next to it when Derbyshire CC decided to retender the contracts. Something along the lines of "Here's what we can tender for, and just in case X happens, what could you offer, and how quickly?".

 

[tram21]

I may have misinterpreted the document but from looking on companies house it seems that Hulleys are £1.5 million in debt

I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[psmith2023]

Wouldn't suprise me if stagecoach takes the 55 on but at every 2 hours just extend a 1 from Mansfield same trip times as a 53 to Sheffield

 

[tram21]

Wouldn't suprise me if stagecoach takes the 55 on but at every 2 hours just extend a 1 from Mansfield same trip times as a 53 to Sheffield

They previously had it and Hulleys took it over. I can definitely see them taking it, along with the 170 and 63 (under a large subsidy).

The rest I'm not too sure.

 

[AWK]

I may have misinterpreted the document but from looking on companies house it seems that Hulleys are £1.5 million in debt

I suspect we will see over the coming weeks and months the true extent of this. I wouldn't be surprised to see that figure increase somewhat.

 

[Omnidekkalover]

R.I.P Hulleys of Baslow you will be missed

 

[tram21]

Very true, but I think what @tram21 was alluding to was that the local authority was prepared for this should it happen, as it has.

Yes that's what I was saying. From what I've heard all routes will be under emergency contract temporarily, then will become commercial in the future

 

[AWK]

They previously had it and Hulleys took it over. I can definitely see them taking it, along with the 170 and 63 (under a large subsidy).

The rest I'm not too sure.

63 is being tendered at the moment by DCC so we should know today/tomorrow who will be operating that.

I would put Stagecoach down as favourite to take on the 170 commercially, possibly using the same BSIP funding Hulleys had to add in an evening service. If done right, the 170 under Stagecoach has huge potential to link in with the Peak Sightseer work and bring in good sums during the tourist season that would keep it going in the quieter winter months. Again, look at what Stagecoach do in the Lake District, the large chunk of which is commercial mileage.

 

[fgwrich]

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

And rather locally to me, Velvet. As others have said, Sympathies to the drivers and staff involved.

 

[AWK]

Very true, but I think what @tram21 was alluding to was that the local authority was prepared for this should it happen, as it has.

Oh yes, the local authority will have had a plan. Stagecoach will have known for the past few weeks what they could potentially offer, so will First, TM, High Peak etc etc, it's part of business planning that you look at the wider network around you and see if you fancy any of it.

What I was trying to say however was that with commercial mileage they are only just plans until the moment you know that commercial mileage is going. Unlike with the tenders for the 63/110/172/173 where DCC were able to start formally acting weeks ago by going out to tender, they could not do anything formally with the commercial mileage until today's announcement.

I understand a number of local authorities have background plans they could roll out in case of an operator ceasing to be, such as which operators could help at short notice - especially in cases where that can be as urgent as requiring someone to take children home if the operator fails at lunchtime. It wouldn't surprise me at all if a failure of the business as a whole went right to the top of the list (if it wasn't there already), with red flashing lights and "EMERGENCY" next to it when Derbyshire CC decided to retender the contracts. Something along the lines of "Here's what we can tender for, and just in case X happens, what could you offer, and how quickly?".

Those "soft" conversations will have been held undoubtedly. But again, DCC could not be seen to do anything that would weaken a commercial entity until such a time as that entity failed.

 

[Teapot42]

If done right, the 170 under Stagecoach has huge potential to link in with the Peak Sightseer work and bring in good sums during the tourist season that would keep it going in the quieter winter months. Again, look at what Stagecoach do in the Lake District, the large chunk of which is commercial mileage.

Indeed the 170 route could even form part of the Peak Sightseer network in the summer. I can see it running as at present off-season, then the Holymoorside run being split from the Bakewell service, and the latter being operated by open toppers. It's pretty nice scenery out to Chatsworth that way, and helps address the comments about it pushing car traffic in to Chatsworth for those who want to use it.

 

[AWK]

Yes that's what I was saying. From what I've heard all routes will be under emergency contract temporarily, then will become commercial in the future

Not all elements of all routes. The only parts of the 55, 170, 257 etc that are likely to go to emergency tender are the socially necessary journeys e.g. any which carry school children or potentially on the 55/170 any to the Hospital at shift change times.

I highly doubt the Hulleys journeys on the 272 for example will be offered on a tender (unless any serve schools as above) as there is alternative provision on that route by First an hour earlier/later. One could argue most of the communities along the 257 route have alternative provision to Sheffield via the 218, 65 or rail in the Derbyshire end or the 51 in the South Yorkshire end so again I would think unlikely an hourly 257 service is offered on emergency tender immediately.

However, I may be wrong. We will probably know more tomorrow once DCC issue their comms regarding the tenders they are confirming today for the 63, 110/111, 172 and 173/8.

 

[SLC001]

Not surprised the Traffic Commissioner was involved with that amount of debt! There have been a few examples where councils have stepped in when an operator has failed and the warning signs here were well signposted.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out over the longer term.
And I feel for the owner who has probably desperately tried save the business and the controlled handover suggests a wish to ensure the customers get some continuity of service. Maybe he doesn't deserve sympathy, the vehicles he brought in were liabilities and his ambition flawed but you do get desperate trying to save a business.
Good luck to the drivers and other employees such as maintenance staff.

 

[psmith2023]

Means stagecoach will have to change
The area there silver day riders valid as it's not valid in alfreton or some parts of the peak district

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The demise of Hulleys may have echoes of other failures as the usual issue is what happens when the money runs out.

Munros of Jedburgh was just mad expansionism...a bit like a certain individual in the Bristol area. Whilst I do see parallels with Velvet, the greater similarity is with Western Greyhound. A decent operator in marginal territory where the owners sell out...only to see the new owners having insufficient reserves and effective business acumen to buy it and run it.

We have seen many instances of councils have established contingency plans for when this happens...because whilst the end is swift, the story is usually played out over a protracted period. Again, see Western Greyhound, Webberbus, CT Plus, Countryliner...

 

[AWK]

Means stagecoach will have to change
The area there silver day riders valid as it's not valid in alfreton or some parts of the peak district

All that is relatively easy to sort. Or just push the Bus Only version of the Wayfarer in those areas, but compared to some of the issues Stagecoach (or whoever else gets involved) has to face changing some ticketing boundaries is relatively trivial

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

Not surprised the Traffic Commissioner was involved with that amount of debt! There have been a few examples where councils have stepped in when an operator has failed and the warning signs here were well signposted.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out over the longer term.

Indeed. I doubt Wednesday will be the end of the story.

And I feel for the owner who has probably desperately tried save the business and the controlled handover suggests a wish to ensure the customers get some continuity of service. Maybe he doesn't deserve sympathy, the vehicles he brought in were liabilities and his ambition flawed but you do get desperate trying to save a business.
Good luck to the drivers and other employees such as maintenance staff.

Absolutely, at least there has been some attempt to give people (the staff and the authority) some notice. I've known operators in the past literally close down part way through the day, recall vehicles/drivers to the depot, hand out redundancy notices and padlock the gate shut.

 

[psmith2023]

Yeah good point as if they changed the boundaries on the silver ticket they will only make it more money

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Means stagecoach will have to change
The area there silver day riders valid as it's not valid in alfreton or some parts of the peak district

Does it? They may simply say that it's the Gold ticket as it currently is

Absolutely, at least there has been some attempt to give people (the staff and the authority) some notice. I've known operators in the past literally close down part way through the day, recall vehicles/drivers to the depot, hand out redundancy notices and padlock the gate shut.

The finest example of this was the Nippy Bus closure where the proprietor simply had a rant on facebook (IIRC) and closed the business on a Saturday night.

 

[psmith2023]

They could market the Matlock services like the x17 ie peak district network

 

[AWK]

They could market the Matlock services like the x17 ie peak district network

There's lots they COULD do, as is true with other operators.

Suggest we wait until DCC announce who they have awarded their tenders to, and what other provision they/other operators are putting in place to plug the gaps before we get too carried away however. There's still time for a few surprises to come out of the woodwork!

 

[Teapot42]

Means stagecoach will have to change
The area there silver day riders valid as it's not valid in alfreton or some parts of the peak district

You already have to buy a Gold ticket if you want to cover Matlock and Chesterfield. It's cheaper to buy the bus-only Wayfarer unless you want to travel in or beyond Sheffield.

I can see changes coming in a couple of years however. The day tickets are all based on Sheffield, but once those services are franchised they'll need to reintroduce Chesterfield-based tickets. I can see 2 or 3 flavours being viable, including one covering Alfreton and Bakewell pitched at just below the Wayfarer price.

 

[psmith2023]

And Mansfield

 

[mayneway]

Absolutely, at least there has been some attempt to give people (the staff and the authority) some notice. I've known operators in the past literally close down part way through the day, recall vehicles/drivers to the depot, hand out redundancy notices and padlock the gate shut.

One of Hulley’s drivers on Facebook has slammed the owner stating ‘he’s only given us two days notice of what’s going on’.

It does raise a question though. Was the rather strange sale of Go-Coach back to the original owners all part of the plan to stop that business being dragged down with Hulley’s?

 

[Teapot42]

One of Hulley’s drivers on Facebook has slammed the owner stating ‘he’s only given us two days notice of what’s going on’.

Mainly because if he'd given them more warning they wouldn't be able to run a service because everyone would jump ship.

Not an ideal situation to be in from either side.

It does raise a question though. Was the rather strange sale of Go-Coach back to the original owners all part of the plan to stop that business being dragged down with Hulley’s?

Or an attempt to raise cash / offload liabilities to try and keep Hulleys afloat longer?

 

[SLC001]

Unfortunate about only 2 days notice but that is the nature of the beast. The sudden closure of the business was dictated by the fact that they couldn't get insurance when it ran out this week.
The letter to employees explaining this is in the public domain.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

And Mansfield

Again, that's covered by the Gold ticket.

One of Hulley’s drivers on Facebook has slammed the owner stating ‘he’s only given us two days notice of what’s going on’.

It does raise a question though. Was the rather strange sale of Go-Coach back to the original owners all part of the plan to stop that business being dragged down with Hulley’s?

Whilst it was posted and subsequently removed (late last year), the internal memo to Go Coach staff stated that the firm was going back to Austin Blackburn, and they wouldn't be getting a Christmas bonus as they had effectively been propping up the Hulley's losses.

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

Unfortunate about only 2 days notice but that is the nature of the beast. The sudden closure of the business was dictated by the fact that they couldn't get insurance when it ran out this week.
The letter to employees explaining this is in the public domain.

And that also spelled the end for Western Greyhound

 

[mangad]

One of Hulley’s drivers on Facebook has slammed the owner stating ‘he’s only given us two days notice of what’s going on’.

It's not unheard of for employees to get far far less notice when a business goes belly up. People turning up to find the doors locked, that kind of thing.