Stagecoach

Release year: 2012

Pages: 288

Publisher: Orion Business

ISBN: 0752810251

Softback | Hardback | Online

What people are saying..

Anyone who thinks that the Scots have lost their entrepreneurial flair should read this riveting account of the birth and growth of the Stagecoach empire – one of the most extraordinary business success stories of the post-Thatcher era.

- Magnus Linklater, former Editor of The Scotsman and Times columnist

Corporate cowboys or genuine geniuses – or maybe both? Christian Wolmar gives an honest and illuminating account of how Brian Souter and Ann Gloag have made Stagecoach the greatest start-up business of the Conservative years

- Hamish McRae, The Independent

This was my second Christian Wolmar book, after ‘Down the Tubes’ and it did not disappoint, well researched and nicely written. I personally really like Christian’s style of writing. Gives background to a company – Stagecoach – that I have seen many times (although to be honest not used that much). Gave great insight into Brian Souter leaving me with a certain sense of admiration, even after knowing some of the so called ‘dirty’ tricks used in the bus wars.

Like ‘Down the Tubes’ my only gripe is that this book was written a few years back, and whilst there is an update as to recent developments at the end. It reads a bit disjointed … what I’d love is for Christian to expand massively upon the updates.

Have just purchased and have to read another 2 of his books (On the wrong line & Great Railway revolution). Can’t wait!!

- A. Ross

The rise of Stagecoach was an emblematic story of the Conservative era of the 1980s and 1990s. This book tells the story of how the two founders, the brother and sister team of Brian Souter and Ann Gloag, emerged from humble beginnings on a bleak Perth council estate in central Scotland to become multi-millionaires, worth at one time £300m each.

Christian Wolmar details how they started with a caravan business and, soon after the deregulation of the coach industry in 1980, began operating services between London and Scotland. It was a small family business with their parents making sandwiches and Brian often driving the coach himself. But it soon caught on and grew into a respectable sized business.

However, it was further deregulation by the Tories, when the bus market was opened up in 1985, that gave Stagecoach the opportunity to become a major player. Stagecoach was in a position to take advantage of the break up and privatisation of the National Bus Company and quickly acquired three local companies. That was to be the platform which allowed Stagecoach to become a major player in the UK transport market.

But what gives this book an edge over conventional company histories is the fact that Stagecoach, throughout its early years, courted controversy. It competed against other bus companies by flooding the market with services, sometimes operating them for free until their opponents gave up. At one stage, it even drove Ann’s estranged husband Robin out of business when he had the temerity to start a rival local service in Perth. The company faced a string of enquiries by the Office of Fair Trading and the height of controversy was when Stagecoach drove the local municipal firm in Darlington out of business by running free buses.

Stagecoach: A Classic Rags to Riches Tale from the Frontiers of Capitalism details all these stories and many more, and tells the story of Souter, one of Britain’s most colourful businessmen, famous for his appalling dress sense and his strong religious faith.

Based on exclusive interviews with Souter, including one in November 2012 for the new edition of the book, and other main players and critics, it is a fascinating and inspirational story of one of the unlikeliest success stories of the past two decades.

PURCHASE THIS BOOK

What people are saying..

Anyone who thinks that the Scots have lost their entrepreneurial flair should read this riveting account of the birth and growth of the Stagecoach empire – one of the most extraordinary business success stories of the post-Thatcher era.

- Magnus Linklater, former Editor of The Scotsman and Times columnist

Corporate cowboys or genuine geniuses – or maybe both? Christian Wolmar gives an honest and illuminating account of how Brian Souter and Ann Gloag have made Stagecoach the greatest start-up business of the Conservative years

- Hamish McRae, The Independent

This was my second Christian Wolmar book, after ‘Down the Tubes’ and it did not disappoint, well researched and nicely written. I personally really like Christian’s style of writing. Gives background to a company – Stagecoach – that I have seen many times (although to be honest not used that much). Gave great insight into Brian Souter leaving me with a certain sense of admiration, even after knowing some of the so called ‘dirty’ tricks used in the bus wars.

Like ‘Down the Tubes’ my only gripe is that this book was written a few years back, and whilst there is an update as to recent developments at the end. It reads a bit disjointed … what I’d love is for Christian to expand massively upon the updates.

Have just purchased and have to read another 2 of his books (On the wrong line & Great Railway revolution). Can’t wait!!

- A. Ross

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