Origins
Shearings, which was founded in 1919, merged with Smiths Happiways in 1984, which can trace its history back to 1903.
In 1903 William Webster commenced trading as a haulage and removals contractor and passenger carrier, offering coach transport, and by 1931, Webster Bros (Wigan)[5] offered excursions and tours to North Wales and Manchester.[6]
In 1914, James Smith began operating coach tours from Wigan and Southport. The first tour was to John o' Groats. Webster Bros purchased James Smith's coach business in 1931, and a new company, James Smith & Co (Wigan) Limited, was formed. By 1935, Webster Bros (Wigan) marketed 'Webster's Tours', operated by James Smith & Co.[6]
The first tours to Continental Europe were offered in 1938, continuing up until the outbreak of World War II. Smiths claimed to be the first company to operate coach tours to Europe after the war, with a sell-out 14-day tour to Switzerland in May 1946. In 1947, the company carried 6,000 passengers, of which more than 10% travelled to mainland Europe.[7]
In 1958, Smiths was purchased by Les Gleave, and renamed Smith's Tours (Wigan).[7][8] Wilf Blundell of Southport purchased Smith's Tours from Gleave in 1964.[9]
Blundell began his coach operation with just one coach in 1950, later purchasing Blundells Coaches (Southport) Limited[10] in 1952, Enterprise Coaches in 1955, Poole's Coaches in 1958 and Tootle's Tours in 1960. This portfolio of companies formed Blundell Holiday Group.[9][11]
Blundell purchased Spencer's Tours and Happiway Tours from Edwin Holden in 1968, merging both companies to form Happiway-Spencers.[12] By 1975 Blundell's coaches were branded as Smiths Happiway-Spencers, and in 1980 the company Smiths Happiway-Spencers was formed, consolidating Blundell's coach operations.[12][13]
The Blundell Group including Smiths Happiways-Spencers was in turn acquired in March 1982 by Associated Leisure Limited,[14] after which the Spencer name was dropped with the company becoming Smiths Happiways.
Shearings was founded in 1919 in Oldham by Herbert Shearing, who then took over Eniway Motor Tours in 1935, a company offering express coach transport between Manchester and London.[15] On Herbert Shearing's retirement in 1949 two new companies were formed: Shearings Tours (Manchester) Limited and Shearings Tours (Oldham) Limited, which were sold to James Robinson, then owner of Happiway Tours in 1953.
Robinson sold Happiway Tours to Edwin Holden, who owned Spencers Tours in 1957, but kept the Shearings Tours companies, consolidating them as Shearings Holidays in 1963, before selling the company to the Jackson family of Altrincham in 1964.[16][15] Jackson had purchased Pleasureways in 1955. Following an agreement to share resources and pick-up points with Ribblesdale of Blackburn, the coaches were branded as Shearings-Pleasureways-Ribblesdale, shortened to Shearings Ribblesdale in 1979 and then to Shearings Holidays in 1982.[15]
Associated Leisure (who had acquired The Blundell Group including Smiths Happiways-Spencers in 1982) purchased Shearings Holidays in January 1984. Associated Leisure was in turn bought by Pleasurama in 1987,[17][18] after which Pleasurama's coaches were first rebranded and then formally merged as Smiths Shearings.[18]
The original National Holidays, which had been formed in 1976 to co-ordinate the coach activities of the state owned National Bus Company[19] was purchased by Pleasurama in July 1986 as part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company,[20] who then also purchased the business of Jenkins, Skewen in 1988.[21] rebranding the National Holidays coaches as Shearings National the next year.[18]
In 1989, Mecca Leisure Group purchased Pleasurama, dropping the Smiths name and subsequently merging National Holidays with Shearings.[22] The Rank Organisation took over Mecca in 1990,[23] adding the business of Eagle Coaches, Tunbridge Wells[24] and Gwalia Coaches, Llandudno Junction the same year.[25] Rank then sold Shearings Holidays to a management buyout in 1996, backed by Bridgepoint Capital.[26]
3i, a venture capital firm that owned Wallace Arnold, purchased a controlling stake in Shearings in 2005[27][28] merging the former competitors first under the WA Shearings brand[29][30] and then as Shearings Holidays.[31] Eight Wallace Arnold Travel travel shops in Yorkshire were also briefly branded as WA Shearings before having their former name reinstated.[32] The merger also brought with it a second National Holidays.[33]
3i and Indigo Capital sold the business to a management team in 2014 for an undisclosed figure, but which was less than 10% of business's £200m valuation back in 2005. At this time the company owned over 200 coaches, 52 hotels and offered coach, air, rail, cruise and hotels breaks to more than 170 destinations worldwide.[34] This later became Specialist Leisure Group Limited which renamed itself Shearings Leisure Group Limited between 2016 and 2018, until reverting to their prior name.[35] In April 2016, the business was purchased by Lone Star Funds,[36][37][38] although it was reported the private equity firm has considered selling Specialist Leisure Group Limited on at least two prior occasions before later administration.[39] The company's subsidiary Shearings Hotels Limited operated the Bay Hotels and Coast and Country Hotels brand.[40]
