Editing Transdev Blazefield (section)

=== Blazefield Group ===
In August 1991 AJS was sold in a [[management buyout]] to a new company, Blazefield Holdings, owned by former directors, Giles Fearnley and Stuart Wilde – a deal valued at £2.2 million. The sale included seven of the company's eight remaining bus firms at the time, as well as 300 vehicles and 12 depots.  The sale did not include Cambridge Coach services, although that company continued to be operated by Blazefield Holdings while a buyer was sought between August and November 1991.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=8 August 1991 |title=AJS sells remaining bus firms |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/8th-august-1991/16/ajs-sells-remaining-bus-firms |website=[[Commercial Motor]] |page=16}}</ref> Initially, there were seven operating subsidiaries: [[Keighley Bus Company|Keighley & District]], [[Harrogate Bus Company|Harrogate & District]], Harrogate Independent Travel, [[London Country North East|Sovereign Bus & Coach]], [[London Country North East|Sovereign Harrow]] and Welwyn Hatfield Line.
Following sale to the Blazefield Group, expansion soon followed, with the purchase of Cambridge Coach Services in November 1991, along with 14 vehicles and Lucketts of [[Watford]] trading as Luckybus (not to be confused with [[Lucketts Travel]] on the South Coast). Ingfield of Settle was purchased in April 1992, and was merged with Keighley-based Northern Rose to form Ingfield–Northern Rose.

In 1986, Harrogate Independent Travel had been set up by a number of West Yorkshire Road Car Company drivers, in a bid to challenge their former employer. The company was subsequently purchased by AJS Group in April 1989,<ref>{{cite web |date=20 April 1989 |title=AJS swallows Challenger |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/20th-april-1989/18/ajs-swallows-challenger |website=[[Commercial Motor]] |page=18}}</ref> before being merged with Harrogate & District in 1993. Harrogate & District further expanded in October 1996, following the acquisition of the [[Ripon]] bus operations of [[United Automobile Services]] from [[Cowie Group]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Jenkinson |first=Keith A. |title=Small is Beautiful: The Story of the AJS Group and Blazefield Holdings |publisher=Autobus Review |year=1999 |isbn=0907834426 |location=Bradford}}</ref>

In 1994, Blazefield purchased [[Borehamwood Travel Services]], along with 43 vehicles – 22 of which were [[AEC Routemaster]]s. The company was later renamed [[London Sovereign]]. In the same year, Ingfield–Northern Rose purchased Whaites Coaches of Settle. By this time, the group owned around 380 vehicles.

In 1998, Huntingdon & District was created with the operations of Premier Buses, owned by [[Julian Peddle]]. It was sold to Cavalier of Sutton Bridge in 2004.

In April 2001, Stagecoach sold their operations in [[Blackburn]], [[Bolton]] and [[Clitheroe]] to the Blazefield Group, which rebranded them as Burnley & Pendle and Lancashire United. The sale was valued at £13 million.<ref>{{cite web |date=26 April 2001 |title=Stagecoach sells some North-West operations for £13 million |url=https://m.stagecoachgroup.com/media/news-releases/archive/2001-04-26.aspx |access-date=25 April 2022 |website=[[Stagecoach Group|Stagecoach]]}}</ref> In August 2002, the depot in [[Bolton]] was sold to [[Blue Bus and Coach Services]].<ref>{{cite web |date=26 June 2002 |title=Blue Bus set to take over United routes |url=https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/5961288.blue-bus-set-to-take-over-united-routes/ |access-date=25 April 2022 |website=[[The Bolton News]] }}</ref>

Over the next three years, Blazefield gradually withdrew from its operations in the south of England.<ref name="B&CJul04">{{cite web |date=9 July 2004 |title=Blazefield sells up in the South |url=http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=466&categoryid=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916205119/http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=466&categoryid=0 |archive-date=16 September 2012 |access-date=24 February 2013 |work=Bus & Coach Professional}}</ref> In 2002, [[London Sovereign]] was sold to [[Transdev S.A.]], with Huntingdon & District sold to Cavalier Travel the following year. In 2004, operations in [[St Albans]] were sold to [[Centrebus]].<ref name="B&CJul04" /> In early 2005, the [[Competition Commission]] cleared Blazefield's deal to sell what was left of London Sovereign to [[Arriva Shires & Essex]].<ref name="CompetitionCommissionDec04">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20050303004848/http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/completed/2005/arriva/prov_find_report.pdf The proposed acquisition by Arriva plc of the business of Sovereign Bus & Coach Company Ltd]}} [[Competition Commission]] December 2004</ref>