Grey-Green

Grey-Green

Preserved Alexander bodied Volvo Citybus
Parent	Arriva
Founded	1885
Ceased operation	1998
Headquarters	Stamford Hill
Service type	Bus operator

Grey-Green was a bus and coach operator in England. It was based in Stamford Hill.

Grey-Green can trace its origins back over a century to the foundation of George Ewer’s horse carriage business in 1885. The business prospered, and summer-only services were soon operating to many South Coast resorts. Before the end of the 1920s, East Anglia was well covered too. The first service to operate throughout the year was a London to Ipswich service that commenced in June 1928.

The 1930s started with the introduction of a London to Harwich service, and operations continued to expand rapidly through East Anglia and to the coast, interrupted only by World War II. Routes run by the Prince Omnibus Company of Edmonton were added in the 1930s. Orange Luxury Coaches, Brixton was acquired in 1953, and this long-established company remained as a subsidiary of the main company until wound up in December 1975. Orange Luxury Coaches vehicles carried the Queen's arms, being suppliers of coaches to the royal household.

The large-but-ageing United Service Transport fleet was taken over in 1965. Several of the companies taken over retained their separate identities and distinctive liveries in order to maintain goodwill, but in 1966 it was decided to concentrate the group’s operations on two trading names: Grey-Green and Orange.

By 1972 it operated out of garages in Stamford Hill, Edmonton, Lea Bridge, Mile End and Brixton in London, and Walton-on-the-Naze, Ipswich, Felixstowe and Great Yarmouth in East Anglia.

Subsequent acquisitions included the London coaching business of Birch Brothers in 1971, Mitcham Belle Coaches in 1974, and Dix Coaches in 1976. In 1980 Grey-Green was a founding member of the British Coachways consortium which competed with National Express, but pulled out after a year.