Adrian Morton pays a visit to Peoplesbus in Liverpool, to talk with owner and Managing Director Andrew Cawley about the company’s history, reincarnation and plans for the future
Peoplesbus was started by Andrew Cawley as a sole trader business in June 2001 but prior to that there is a fascinating tale that must be told first and takes us back to the February of 1994.
The history
At that time Andrew was only 17 years of age but had applied for his Operator’s Licence a year prior at just 16. Andrew recalled that in those days you weren’t asked your date of birth on the application form, something that was to change as a result of the publicity surrounding his business – more of which is to follow!
Once the licence was granted, a bus route was registered from Huyton Industrial Estate to Mann Island in Liverpool city centre. It was numbered 210 and was operated using five Fleetline double-deckers leased from West Midlands Travel. The cost was just £10.00 per bus, per day; just imagine if that were possible today!
The route was in direct competition with another local operator which Andrew had done his school work experience with and as one could imagine, this didn’t go down well. As Andrew hadn’t even passed his car test at that point, on the first day of operation he had to get another local service bus to the Old Swan to check on his buses, only to find none were running!
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