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Wessex Bus was a bus operator in the West of England that operated from June 2007 until September 2018. Companies House extract company no 4327651 Wessex Bus Limited formerly Flights Hallmark Limited
In September 2011, Wessex moved into a new depot which was a former timber yard on St Andrew's Road, Avonmouth. The move allowed Wessex to set up a new regional head office for the South West operations, where all the maintenance requirements could be met. The previous depot, which was owned by South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach, was operating at near full capacity following the growth of both businesses. Ambitious coach firm delighted with new base Bristol Post 14 September 2011
In 2017, the fleet size stated by the company was 105 with a second depot in Keynsham.
Following the loss of most of its local authority subsidised services to other operators, Wessex ceased operations on 1 September 2018, with eight services, nine vehicles and 60 employees transferring to Stagecoach West. One route (the 42 from Odd Down Park and Ride to the Royal United Hospital) was taken over by First West of England. Important Changes for Wessex Bus Wessex Bus 20 July 2018 Wessex bus to close and services 42, 12 and 51 cancelled in Bristol and Bath Bristol Post 20 July 2018First Bus to take on Wessex 42 service Coach & Bus Week issue 1354 7 August 2018 page 7
The services proved popular with staff and students at UWE, and passenger numbers in September 2008 were around 6,000 per day. UWE expands popular student bus service Bristol Post 20 November 2008 By September 2011, the network had been re-branded as Wessex Red and had grown from three routes requiring five buses in 2007 to eight routes requiring 26, with regular duplicate vehicles in operation particularly on route U4. UWE service expands Bristol Post 30 July 2011
In 2012 the UWE branding was replaced by Wessex Red. The U prefix to the route numbers was replaced by a '1' (e.g. U1 became 11) to make the network appeal to the ordinary travelling public as well as students.
On 1 September 2014 Wessex Red was renamed Wessex Star. In November 2015 a new route commenced named The One, followed by The One 2. New low-cost service - The One - starting in November Wessex Bus 14 September 2015 The latter was withdrawn in December 2016, and all Wessex Star services were withdrawn by July 2017.
On 3 October 2010, Wessex Connect took over operation of route 620 between Tetbury and Bath, after previous operator Cotswold Green withdrew from the route.
The company's bids were unsuccessful for the re-tender of these contracts and in April 2012, they passed to CT Plus Bristol has got bendy buses Boris Johnson didn't want Bristol Post 6 September 2011 and First Bristol respectively. First Bristol 903 timetable First Bristol In September 2014, Wessex commenced operating a new park and ride service, the 901 between Portway and Clifton;
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Scrutiny Commission Report Bristol City Council 23 October 2014 this service ceasing in September 2016. It also operated the 505 service between Southmead Hospital and Long Ashton park & ride.
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