Viscount Travel group to cease abruptly.!

[Swimbar]

Viscount Travel have announced on facebook in the last hour that they will cease trading on Friday. EY have the 128 to themselves again.

 

[Eyersey468]

Viscount Travel have announced on facebook in the last hour that they will cease trading on Friday. EY have the 128 to themselves again.

And the frequency is back to every 2 hours

 

[Yorkshireguy]

Viscount Travel have announced on facebook in the last hour that they will cease trading on Friday. EY have the 128 to themselves again.

Really gutted for them to cease just as things were looking up. Great example of what credible competition can do. All the best to them.

 

[Trainman40083]

Really gutted for them to cease just as things were looking up. Great example of what credible competition can do. All the best to them.

Indeed, but family should come first.

 

[Eyersey468]

Indeed, but family should come first.

Agreed though I have my suspicions other factors were at play, according to the figures on Companies House they made less than £6k profit in 2024

 

[EYFanatic]

Viscount Travel have announced on facebook in the last hour that they will cease trading on Friday. EY have the 128 to themselves again.

That is a real shame - I went on them for the first time on Monday from Scarbados to Pickering and found the vehicle very clean despite the grit on the roads, warm, clean inside and a well turned out driver in shirt and tie... Very much impressed and thought it was very much needed on the corridor as competition... EY Fanatic as I am

 

[JeffBus]

Agreed though I have my suspicions other factors were at play, according to the figures on Companies House they made less than £6k profit in 2024

It’s a difficult game. The hours are long and punishing, the red tape just to operate is immense, and people are far more difficult to manage than most realise. Financial standing is another major issue altogether.

When you sit down and look at the numbers, the sums simply don’t add up for the amount of grief involved.

I was surprised to see two buses on a cycle on a high-mileage route in today’s environment. That must have been costing the thick end of £1,000 a day in operating costs. On a route with little churn, that’s a huge amount of money to try and recover from the farebox from the outset.

Imagine the stress of that being your own business, relying on taking that over the farebox while dealing with bad weather, road closures, events and everything else thrown into the mix. It really puts into perspective just how tough it is to make it stack up.

Fair play to him for putting his family first. Many didn’t, and ended up paying the price, whether as an owner or even working within a PLC setup. It’s easy to judge from the outside, but the personal toll behind the scenes is something else entirely.

 

[Eyersey468]

It’s a difficult game. The hours are long and punishing, the red tape just to operate is immense, and people are far more difficult to manage than most realise. Financial standing is another major issue altogether.

When you sit down and look at the numbers, the sums simply don’t add up for the amount of grief involved.

I was surprised to see two buses on a cycle on a high-mileage route in today’s environment. That must have been costing the thick end of £1,000 a day in operating costs. On a route with little churn, that’s a huge amount of money to try and recover from the farebox from the outset.

Imagine the stress of that being your own business, relying on taking that over the farebox while dealing with bad weather, road closures, events and everything else thrown into the mix. It really puts into perspective just how tough it is to make it stack up.

Fair play to him for putting his family first. Many didn’t, and ended up paying the price, whether as an owner or even working within a PLC setup. It’s easy to judge from the outside, but the personal toll behind the scenes is something else entirely.

I don't for one minute blame Nathan for calling it a day

 

[mattb7tl]

It’s a difficult game. The hours are long and punishing, the red tape just to operate is immense, and people are far more difficult to manage than most realise. Financial standing is another major issue altogether.

When you sit down and look at the numbers, the sums simply don’t add up for the amount of grief involved.

I was surprised to see two buses on a cycle on a high-mileage route in today’s environment. That must have been costing the thick end of £1,000 a day in operating costs. On a route with little churn, that’s a huge amount of money to try and recover from the farebox from the outset.

Imagine the stress of that being your own business, relying on taking that over the farebox while dealing with bad weather, road closures, events and everything else thrown into the mix. It really puts into perspective just how tough it is to make it stack up.

Fair play to him for putting his family first. Many didn’t, and ended up paying the price, whether as an owner or even working within a PLC setup. It’s easy to judge from the outside, but the personal toll behind the scenes is something else entirely.

The deregulated bus industry is also structurally stacked against the small operator. Once the big groups have the corridors, a new entrant only realistic path for growth is scraps. Low margin tenders, school work, or the awkward bits no one wants. You are boxed into high costs, low pricing power, and constant risk, with almost no leverage to scale. It is probably one of the worst sectors to try and build a company from scratch. You can work yourself into the ground and still end up with very little to show for it.

 

[stevieinselby]

Agreed though I have my suspicions other factors were at play, according to the figures on Companies House they made less than £6k profit in 2024

I'm not sure what their profitability in 2024, when AFAICT they were just doing charter work with vintage buses, has to do with the viability of stage carriage and school services that they started running in September 2025...

 

[Eyersey468]

I'm not sure what their profitability in 2024, when AFAICT they were just doing charter work with vintage buses, has to do with the viability of stage carriage and school services that they started running in September 2025...

See @mattb7tl comment above

 

[LucyP]

How do you know that they only made £6,000 profit from looking at Companies House where their accounts only show the Balance Sheet and not the Profit and Loss Account. You are confusing the two.

 

[Leedsbusman]

How do you know that they only made £6,000 profit from looking at Companies House where their accounts only show the Balance Sheet and not the Profit and Loss Account. You are confusing the two.

the capital and reserves rose by around £6,000 between the two years. Unless they issued more shares it’s likely this is retained profit.

 

[mayneway]

Yorkshire operator Viscount travel announced late last week they were to cease trading from 20th February. The announcement was made on their own Facebook page and in Bus and Coach week - I’ve included the short article quote from them below.

Heard mixed stories about them and their owner. I believe he has some interesting history and is a bit of a bully on social media.




‘Viscount Travel has announced it will be ceasing operations due to personal and family health reasons. The company’s final day of operation will be Friday 20 February. The operator said that private hire customers will be contacted to arrange alternatives, and that they are working with others to secure continued operation of the 126 service to Ryedale School.

It also thanked customers for their support and said further service updates will be provided in due course’.

 

[YorkRailFan]

It's a shame for those living along the X28 between Scarborough & Pickering, who will be back to the bi-hourly, indirect 28 (renumbered from 128 recently) service operated by East Yorkshire. The X28 provided an hourly, express service along the A170, alas no more.

Given that the X3 trial was unsuccessful, I doubt that East Yorkshire will step-in to replace the X28.

 

[mayneway]

It's a shame for those living along the X28 between Scarborough & Pickering, who will be back to the bi-hourly, indirect 28 (renumbered from 128 recently) service operated by East Yorkshire. The X28 provided an hourly, express service along the A170, alas no more.

Given that the X3 trial was unsuccessful, I doubt that East Yorkshire will step-in to replace the X28.

It’s always the passengers that loose out, it just seems in this case the company and the owner were very volatile and things there always seemed to be on a very fine thread.

 

[Andyh82]

It's a shame for those living along the X28 between Scarborough & Pickering, who will be back to the bi-hourly, indirect 28 (renumbered from 128 recently) service operated by East Yorkshire. The X28 provided an hourly, express service along the A170, alas no more.

Given that the X3 trial was unsuccessful, I doubt that East Yorkshire will step-in to replace the X28.

The fact the additional services didn’t work surely shows that there aren’t enough passengers especially in the winter in what is a very rural area

 

[richard13]

This subject was also on the East Yorkshire thread starting at #1941.

 

[mayneway]

Really gutted for them to cease just as things were looking up. Great example of what credible competition can do. All the best to them.

Hardly surprising! The owner has a real attitude problem and seems to spend most of his time on social media attacking people for differing opinions to his.

Every post on Facebook relating to the company Yorkshire buses, and he’s there having a go at anyone who’s negative towards them.
Given his antics while working at Connexxion’s it’s probably a better industry without him!

 

[EYFanatic]

I met the gent concerned and found him to be a pleasant chap

 

[mayneway]

I met the gent concerned and found him to be a pleasant chap

Have you seen some of his posts on Facebook?

 

[Eyersey468]

Yes... Quite a few of them I found funny

Now, to go back on topic - there isn't any news regarding fares for the 2026 Moorbus services but I am guessing that they will stay the same as they did last year

I would guess so, there hasn't been anything said about them rising

 

[EYFanatic]

Buses 1 and 3 are on short term loan to Yorkshire Buses pending final sale agreements

The Omnidekka might be going for scrap due to rust - heard that from the driver that did the Dart yesterday.

I'm really sad that they are going/have gone and quite a number of people seemed confused as to why they are ceasing trading though all were very understanding when told about the MD's wife's health and sad losses recently. Also told by the MD and the Dart driver that other local firms had been sticking knives in by reporting things to the DVSA and the TC... I hope that Nathan can take time to get all well with his family, work out what went wrong and reform perhaps as early as next year as not all the buses in the fleet are being sold/entering preservation

 

[mayneway]

Buses 1 and 3 are on short term loan to Yorkshire Buses pending final sale agreements

The Omnidekka might be going for scrap due to rust - heard that from the driver that did the Dart yesterday.

I'm really sad that they are going/have gone and quite a number of people seemed confused as to why they are ceasing trading though all were very understanding when told about the MD's wife's health and sad losses recently. Also told by the MD and the Dart driver that other local firms had been sticking knives in by reporting things to the DVSA and the TC... I hope that Nathan can take time to get all well with his family, work out what went wrong and reform perhaps as early as next year as not all the buses in the fleet are being sold/entering preservation

Hardly surprising about buses going to Yorkshire buses with him jumping on every post defending them.

 

[stevieinselby]

The fact the additional services didn’t work surely shows that there aren’t enough passengers especially in the winter in what is a very rural area

Having 2.5bph between two companies might have been overkill, but that doesn't mean going back to 0.5bph of adequate. The closure of Viscount was apparently not down to their services not being profitable. There is certainly a need for 1bph between Scarborough and Pickering.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Having 2.5bph between two companies might have been overkill, but that doesn't mean going back to 0.5bph of adequate. The closure of Viscount was apparently not down to their services not being profitable. There is certainly a need for 1bph between Scarborough and Pickering.

Not just 1bph, but 1bph direct along the A170. The 28 being bi-hourly and taking the slow, indirect route is fine, but there also needs to be an hourly express service linking the two, like what Viscount provided with the X28.

 

[EYFanatic]

Not just 1bph, but 1bph direct along the A170. The 28 being bi-hourly and taking the slow, indirect route is fine, but there also needs to be an hourly express service linking the two, like what Viscount provided with the X28.

I agree - Viscount provided a much needed service which was well used.

What surprised me was that the vast majority of passengers were asking about drivers and Viscount staff by name and what they were doing afterwards with some going to work for other companies or retiring... Though the MD *did* say that although Viscount were closing down, its not the end for his bus ambitions and that the ghost of the firm will resurrect in the nearish future

 

[richard13]

Pickering has a population of under 8000 and the villages don't add much. How many of them per hour are going to spend 2 hours travelling to Scarborough and back. Why would they want to do it, particularly in winter?

Many people think they can buy a cheap bus and compete on their local route and make money. Firstly the competition reacts and they probably already run as frequent a service that makes money; why do less?

Of course a fast frequent service is great, but who is paying? And what about the villages they leave out? It is a strange route that gets no passengers.

Read any guide to starting your own business and these sort of business fail to keep many of the basic instructions for success. Most business start ups fail.

His family situation probably has saved him from going bust.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Pickering has a population of under 8000 and the villages don't add much. How many of them per hour are going to spend 2 hours travelling to Scarborough and back. Why would they want to do it, particularly in winter?

Prior to Viscount launching the X28, it was far from uncommon to see 128s leaving Pickering over two-thirds full, so obviously there is some demand.

 

[richard13]

Prior to Viscount launching the X28, it was far from uncommon to see 128s leaving Pickering over two-thirds full, so obviously there is some demand.

Yes that's great, but it is the all day demand that matters and not just selected journeys.