Grampian Regional Transport
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| Parent | FirstGroup |
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| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Aberdeen |
| Service area | Aberdeen |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Routes | 31 |
| Fleet | 173 (March 2013) |
| Website | www.firstgroup.com/aberdeen |
First Aberdeen is the main bus company operator in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
Aberdeen Corporation Tramways was formed in 1898. The company became Aberdeen Corporation Transport Department when it became solely a bus operator with trams ceasing on 3 May 1958.
Under local government reorganisation in 1975, the Aberdeen Corporation bus operations transferred to Grampian Regional Transport, a department of the Grampian Regional Authority.
To comply with the Transport Act 1985, Grampian Regional Transport was incorporated in 1986, with the Grampian Regional Authority retaining ownership.
In January 1989 the company was privatised under an led by its general manager Moir Lockhead. At the time GRT operated a fleet of 200 buses and 500 employees.
Unlike future similar sales in the UK, the sale of Grampian Regional Transport was done voluntarily by the council which had no overall majority party and had no deep rooted objection to the sale. At the time, councils could negotiate privately with single buyers, rather than the later practice of competitive bidding. It was a sale of a going concern, rather than as seen in other areas in later years, a distress sale, or a forced sale for political reasons.
While the company continued to operate as GRT in Aberdeen, its holding company GRT Bus Group expanded through acquisition purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland. In April 1994 GRT Bus Group became a public limited company. In April 1995 FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland. Aberdeen was selected as the headquarters.
In February 1998 Grampian Regional Transport was rebranded as First Aberdeen.
Aberdeen Corporation had a dark green and white livery, later becoming pea-green and cream. Council owned Grampian Regional Transport changed this livery, by removing the upper green band, replacing it with a thinner orange band, with Grampian fleetnames and a council crest. When privatised, a scheme with a larger area of cream base colour, supplemented by a two-tone green stripe pattern was adopted.
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