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Yellow brick road

1/ 1/2007

IN 1930 the Transport Act came into force, regulating bus and coach companies for the first time. In order to be granted licences, each operator had to provide evidence that the services were indeed run and that passengers were carried.

Throughout that year every effort was made by the company to attract business but financial returns continued to fall short of expectations.

In order to save costs, national advertising was dropped and the two Manchester offices were closed.

Creditors who had helped finance the fleet were pressing for their money and a Receiver was appointed.

Many of the vehicles were indeed re-possessed leaving the company with a rather motley collection of coaches.

On 28 November Holts faced its grimmest hour to date when a meeting proposed that the company should go into voluntary liquidation. But the resolution failed to garner enough support and the firm was able to soldier on.

By 1931 there were signs the company might be able to buy it back from the creditors and in March of that year a deal was struck.

The shares of Robert Holt and his wife Elizabeth were acquired by a consortium of Maurice Edwards, John Barlow, an associate of both Mr Edwards and Herbert Allen whose name, and that of his son, Hubert, was indelibly linked with the company from then on.

They immediately set about putting the company back on its feet with the first job to re-purchase as many of the vehicles as necessary.

On 9 April 1932 the company was officially renamed Yelloway Motor Services Limited.

This started a new and illustrious chapter in the company - and Rochdale's - transport history.