South West Coaches

South West Coaches is a privately owned bus company that operating services around Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire in South West England.

History
South West Coaches was founded in 2000 following the merger of AG Hulbert & Son and Wakes Services.

In April 2008 Safeway Services of South Petherton was purchased followed in October 2009 by Sureline on the Isle of Portland.

Sureline
Sureline was a bus operator based in the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. It operated from Portland through Weymouth to Dorchester. Formed in 2002, Sureline became defunct in 2009 and was taken over by South West Coaches.

Sureline was established in 2002 by David Beaman and Bill Landucci. Operations began on 24 August that year with a service running between Portland and Dorchester on weekdays only. Sureline was initially based at Southwell Business Park but relocated to Tradecroft Industrial Estate, near the village of Easton, in July 2003. They first began operating with a fleet of eight Mercedes 709 buses. By early 2003, four more buses of the same type had been acquired with seven used for daily services. Sureline's operations extended from 2003 with new routes and timetables, including an extension to Portland Bill. In 2004, the fleet was increased with the arrival of two Dennis Dart buses, while one of the 709s were scrapped.

While local services continued to evolve and expand, in September 2005, Sureline also began two services from Dorchester to Yeovil. One went via Maiden Newton and Cattistock, while the other went via Cerne Abbas and Sherborne. 2006 saw the opening of the operator's new maintenance facility at Southwell Business Park. By this time, Sureline was employing approximately thirty drivers and had a peak vehicle requirement of fourteen. Some service reduction was seen in 2007, including a reduction of Saturday operations on the main Portland to Dorchester route. Weekend operations of the two Yeovil routes were transferred to Nordcat of Sturminster Newton. The timetable changes continued into 2008 and 2009; the 212 and X37 services from Dorchester to Yeovil were amended to run on schooldays only, while more focus was given to the X10 and X20 routes in the Weymouth to Dorchester sector. This resulted in a much reduced service to and from Portland, despite being the operator's base.

On 26 October 2009, Sureline was taken over by South West Coaches of Wincanton, who were also the successors to the long-established Wakes of Sparkford and Wincanton. Both Sureline founders, Beaman and Landucci, left the company. To date, the new operators continue many of the services that were provided by Sureline including the original route on Portland. Speaking to the Dorset Echo, Beaman claimed the decision to sell Sureline was made to "safeguard its future", while he also blamed increasing government regulation for small bus firm, resulting in increased difficulty to generate profit.

Operations
South West Coaches have little competition in their operating area although another independent operator Nippy Bus registered route N10 in competition with South West Coaches' route 81 and First Hampshire & Dorset compete on the Portland routes. In most villages South West Coaches are the sole bus operator and therefore many communities are heavily reliant on their services. The geographical area covered stretches from Minehead and Taunton in the west to Salisbury in the east and from Isle of Portland and Bournemouth in the south to Warminster and Frome in the north.

It operates local town services in Yeovil under contract to Somerset County Council, ex Sureline routes in Dorchester, Weymouth and on the Isle of Portland. A large proportion of its work is coach trips as well as private hire and school contracts.

Depots
Depots are located in Wincanton, Yeovil and on the Isle of Portland.

Fleet
As at September 2017 the fleet consisted of 55 buses and minibuses and 44 coaches.