Midland Fox A Pictorial History, 1984–1997

Formed from Midland Red East in 1984, Midland Fox was one of the first to do away with NBC corporate red livery, opting instead for a bright-yellow-and-red scheme. It took on Leicester City Transport over restrictions on picking up and setting down passengers within Leicester’s boundaries – and won – and introduced one of the largest minibus operations in the country. It went from the management buy-out in 1987 to a constituent part of the Drawlane Group, later to become British Bus. Services covered the whole of Leicestershire, but Midland Fox vehicles could also be seen in Notts, Derbys, W Midlands, Northants and Cambridgeshire. Vehicle purchasing policy tended towards second-hand vehicles, though there were some acquisitions of new stock. In 1996, British Bus was sold to the Cowie Group, later renamed re-named Arriva, and Midland Fox became Arriva Fox County. Andrew Bartlett tells the little-known story of this familiar face in the Midlands with many new and unpublished archive images.