Our history

Picture of old East Yorkshire Buses depot. Text reads: Learn about our history

Here at East Yorkshire, we’ve been helping people get to where they need to be since 1926, and we’re proud to be a big part of the local community.

With nearly 100 years behind us, we’ve got a lot of tales to tell – so, grab a cuppa (Yorkshire Tea prefered) and take a seat. It’s been quite a ride so far…

Our roots go all the way back to December 1919, when a man named Ernest John Lee purchased a 14-sea Ford Model T bus to provide a service between Elloughton and Hull. A few years later in 1922, a Mr. Beaulah took into partnership with Mr. Lee, forming Lee & Beaulah. Two years later, a separate company called Hull & District Motor Services was set up by H. A. Harvey to run a bus service linking the residents of Kirk Ella and Hull together.

Then, it happened. On 5 October 1926, the British Automobile Traction Company registered the name East Yorkshire Motor Services Ltd. To take over both Lee & Beaulah and Hull & District Motor Services.

We’ve experimented with our style quite a bit over the years. You may have known the buses – they incorporated yellow cream and dark red colours, or prior to that, burgundy and cream colours – but they were originally indigo and primrose. The colour was changed in the early 1970s to the colours of the National Bus Company, red and white, and then more recently to burgundy and cream. Now, since March 2019, we’ve got a new sleek style (it’s what you see around this page) – we’re looking good, don’t you think?

After nationalisation, East Yorkshire Motor Services Ltd was privatised again in February 1987, becoming a subsidary of EYMS Group Limited, which had been formed by its management team.

Up until 2018, the company was owned by Peter Shipp, who had been with us since 1980! In June 2018, Mr. Shipp handed over the company to the Go-Ahead Group, a leading UK public transport operator. As part of the Group, we’re part of a much larger team of operators, with companies in UK, Ireland, Singapore, Germany and beyond providing over one billion journeys on buses and rail services each year. We’re proud to be part of Go-Ahead, and with their support we’ve continued to provide great customer service, be a great employer to work for, and of course, help and serve our local communities.

You probably know the rest now (or at least we hope you do). Today, we’re known as East Yorkshire, rather than EYMS, still operating in the heart of our community. Our Head Office and main depots are in Hull, where we’ve been based since 1929 – but we also have depots in Bridlington, Elloughton, Pocklington, Scarborough, and Withernsea.

We’re fully committed to providing passengers with quality transport, which is why we can often be found investing in new and refurbished buses to continually improve our standards. With over 270 vehicles, including double deckers, single deckers, minibuses, coaches, open top buses, and two vintage vehicles, we’re ready to take you from A to wherever-you-need-to B.

So, now you know pretty much everything there is to know about EY. In fact, you’re practically an expert. Say, have you ever thought about joining the team? We’re always looking for new faces to help us make even more history, so if you fancy being part of Team EY, take a look at our Careers section.