Dudley’s
Coaches has it’s origins in 1938 when Ernie Dudley
decided to form his own motor vehicle repair business on
land adjacent to his parents' house in Radford near Inkberrow. In 1954 the company had its first proper
involvement in passenger transport when an orange
Cheverolet school bus was purchased to take children
from Abbots Morton and Radford to Rous Lench School. In
1960 the first public service specification vehicle, a
14-seater Karrier with Reading body, was purchased. In
1968 Ernie's son Christopher left school and joined the
company. In 1973 the fleet colour changed to blue and
white. In 1976 the company's first new large coach was
purchased a 53-seater Ford R1114 with Plaxton Supreme
body. This also heralded a change in the company colour
scheme once again and the current company livery of
green and cream was adopted. In 1986 the coach fleet
and business of Royal Motorways of Redditch was
purchased. The amalgamation of the two fleets led to
changes at the Radford premises as a larger parking area
had to be made at the rear of the workshop. In 1988 new
offices were built on the site, replacing the then
redundant original workshop. Royal Motorways was an old
established coach operator based in Studley Road in
Redditch. Like Dudley’s it had a fleet of Ford coaches
though in the years immediately before the takeover by
Dudley’s the Company had purchased a number of Leyland
Leopard based coaches. In May 2002 Dudley’s purchased
the Redditch based Kingfisher Coaches business and as a
result four coaches joined the Dudley’s fleet though two
of the vehicles were soon replaced. Dudley’s Coaches has
continued to use the former Arthur Street based of
Kingfisher Coaches in Redditch as an outstation.
Currently the fleet consists of 21 coaches, the majority
of the vehicles are Volvos with Plaxton bodywork. In
1998, Dudley's Coaches celebrated their 60th
anniversary, and in recognition, painted two coaches
using a special livery of coloured swatches, showing the
Dudley's fleet colours across the ages. The company also
operates vehicles in both the Royal Motorways and
Kingfisher Coaches liveries. In July 2004 following the
decision to end bus operation by Warners of Tewkesbury
(who traded as the Boomerang Bus Company) their Pershore
local bus service passed to Dudley's together with the
Dennis Dart vehicle they used. During March 2010
Dudley's took delivery of their second new coach since
the company was formed in the shape of DC10CED. The
vehicle is named Tanworth Tourer II the signifance being
the founder of the company Ernie Dudley was born in
Tanworth. The first new coach purchased by the company
UWP96R remains in the fleet as a preserved vehicle.
Sadly Chris Dudley decided to close the business after
the operation of their school contracts at the end of
the Autumn 2020 term . The last day of operation
was Friday 18th December 2020.
The Closing Fleet
Registration Number | Vehicle Chassis | Body Work | Seating Capacity | Distinguishing Features |
M750VYB | Volvo B10M-62 | Plaxton Premiere | C53FT |
Not Named |
S577KJF |
Volvo B10M-62 |
Plaxton Excalibur |
C53F | Named Flyford Connection II |
CN04NFF | Volvo B12M | Plaxton Panther | C49F | Not Named |
BX57AXK | Toyota HD | Salvador Caetano | C21F | Not Named |
BU03SXJ | Toyota HD | Salvador Caetano | C21F | Not Named |
FP51EUJ | Volvo B12M | Jonckheere | C51FT | Named Radford Explorer II |
GO52END | Volvo B12M | Van Hool | C51FT | Named Inkberrow Cruiser III |
PR06BET | Volvo B7R | Plaxton | C70FL | Not Named |
NUI6121 | Volvo B12M | Plaxton Panter | C49FT | Royal Motorways Livery Named Saltway Princess |
FJ08FYS | Volvo B7R | Sunsundegui | C43F | Not Named |
SW09UMD | Volvo B12M | Plaxton Panther | C71F | Not Named |
YN09KHP | Mercedes-Benz O814D | Plaxton Cheetah | C29F | Not Named |
DC10CED | Volvo B12B | Plaxton Prestige Plus |
C49FT | Named Tanworth Tourer II |
CR61DCR | Volvo B9R YV3S5P725AA141086 | Plaxton Panter 1012.3AR8575 | C53F | Hanbury Harrier |
CR12DCR | Volvo B9R | Plaxton Panter | C53F | Royal Motorways livery |