More than half a century after setting up South Yorkshire operator Brecks, Stuart Ulph is taking new bookings rather than retire. He explains why to Nick Larkin, and shares some memories
The 1967 Summer of Love may have been raging, but dominating Stuart Ulph’s mind was public transport in Rotherham. A part-time taxi driver and weekend ice cream salesman, Stuart had served an apprenticeship at the local Morris and MG garage Bucknalls, before working on fleet maintenance at Mothers Pride and local paper the Rotherham Advertiser.
“To get a Hackney Carriage licence plate at the time you really had to buy someone’s taxi operation, and this is what I did with a £999 Ford Zephyr,” explained Stuart.
A couple of other licences followed for Brecks Taxis, named after a district of Rotherham, along with a Commer minibus from local dealer TC Harrison. “Unfortunately no one told me the vehicle wasn’t to PSV spec so I had to part exchange it with another one via Terry Shaw at Kirkbys.”
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Increasing private hire demands, and a contract meant it was time for a full-size coach. “I’d intended to go for a new Bedford but there was a strike at Plaxtons,” Stuart recalled. Instead he bought HED 6E, a Duple-bodied VAS5 from Yeates, ex-Callam of Warrington.
Work poured in, and in 1972 came a new Plaxton-bodied Ford R192, WET 454K. “I’d always wanted to take a coach abroad and the coach was used on a trip to Amsterdam,” Stuart revealed. He changed the name to Brecks International.
The Ford began a tradition of coaches being ordered with the numbers 454 in the registration. “This meant I didn’t need to remember entire registration numbers for different coaches,” said Stuart. Thus, for example, PHL 454R was a Plaxton-bodied Bristol LHS. Vehicles were also named after his children and grandchildren.
Stuart has fond memories of a couple of secondhand AECs, not least 6298 WE, a 1959 Plaxton C40F-bodied Reliance new to Sheffield United Tours: “I bought it for £1000, ran it for a year and sold it for £1,000.”
By 1980 the fleet had reached 11 vehicles and would go on to feature Bovas and Neoplans. “Magnificent vehicles,” said Stuart, whose son Wayne is today Managing Director of MAN Bus and Coach UK.
An unusual conversion was that of new to Wallace Arnold Leyland Leopard EUG 458K, which was transformed into a racing car transporter. Stuart had been involved with speedway and, alongside Wayne, stock cars, before they raced Jaguars.
Schools duties meant the acquisition of five former Greater Manchester Leyland Atlanteans post deregulation, which gave good service, various MCW Metrobuses and Volvo Olympians, along with Optare Spectras, which were beset with electrical problems.
The fleet was gradually wound down, the company’s final schools contracts finishing in February 2019. “I had retained a Neoplan for private hires of the type I wanted to do, but these went with Covid-19,” said Stuart. “I’m 77 now but I don’t want to retire. I love this industry and I have missed running vehicles, so I’m ready to take on selected private hires. I can’t wait!”
Anyone interested in the vehicles for sale or private hire bookings should call Stuart on 07803 3178179.
