DAF/VDL Single deck

30703/5/6 /15

The introduction of the first bus franchises in Greater Manchester resulted in significant changes for a number of the area's established operators. One of the most notable casualties was Little Gem, which ceased trading and entered voluntary liquidation on Friday 26 April 2024 after experiencing financial difficulties for some time. Little Gem was owned by the Goodwin family but operated as a separate business from the Go Goodwins Group and Mayne Coaches, both of which continued trading following the closure of Little Gem. For Rotala, the collapse of Little Gem presented an unexpected opportunity. The company operated from premises directly opposite Diamond Bus North West's Eccles depot, which required expansion to accommodate the additional franchised services that Diamond Bus would begin operating from September 2024. Rotala subsequently purchased both the former Little Gem depot and fourteen of the company's buses, all of which had previously been upgraded to meet Euro VI emissions standards. As Diamond Bus had adopted a policy that all vehicles operating in the West Midlands should comply with Euro VI emissions requirements, the acquired buses were transferred south for use within the West Midlands fleet. During June 2024, vehicle 30704 was renumbered 30715 following its transfer into the Diamond Bus fleet.

30909  

Vehicle 30909 began its career as YJ08 EFW, entering service with John Fishwick & Sons in 2008. Following the closure of the long-established Preston operator on 25 October 2015, the vehicle was acquired by Diamond Bus, together with two sister vehicles, and was allocated to the Redditch depot, where it received fleet number 32122. The vehicle remained at Redditch until November 2021, when it was withdrawn from service and sold to Midland Classic, some twenty-one months before that company itself became part of the Rotala Group. Upon joining the Midland Classic fleet, the vehicle was re-registered as JP44 MCL, a cherished registration reflecting the company's ownership at the time. The letters JP represented the initials of Julian Peddle, who was then a part-owner of Midland Classic, while MCL stood for Midland Classic Limited. Following Rotala's acquisition of Midland Classic in August 2023, the vehicle once again became part of the Diamond Bus fleet. It was subsequently renumbered 30909, marking its second period of service with the company.

32101/21/2  

John Fishwick & Sons was founded in 1907 and, for more than a century, was one of Lancashire's best-known independent bus and coach operators. Based in the Preston area, the company operated an extensive network of local bus services together with coaching activities. Owing to its proximity to the former Leyland bus factory, John Fishwick maintained a long tradition of purchasing Leyland-built vehicles. Following the end of bus production at Leyland, the company turned to other manufacturers to meet its fleet requirements. During 2015 it became increasingly apparent that John Fishwick & Sons was experiencing serious financial difficulties, and during the summer the owners sought to sell the business. As the principal bus operator in the Preston area, Rotala expressed an interest in acquiring the company. However, before an agreement could be reached, John Fishwick & Sons ceased trading on 25 October 2015. With Diamond Bus requiring additional low-floor vehicles to help meet Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) accessibility requirements across its fleet, Rotala subsequently purchased three former Fishwick buses from the dealer responsible for disposing of the company's assets. After refurbishment and repainting into Diamond Bus livery, the vehicles entered service from the Redditch depot during the early part of 2016.

32123/4  

On 24 April 2022, Rotala acquired the Claribel Coaches operation, bringing a further thirteen VDL SB200/Wright Cadet single-deck buses into the Diamond Bus fleet. The vehicles had originally been supplied new to Claribel Coaches by Arriva Bus & Coach and, prior to the acquisition, had all been retrofitted with exhaust after-treatment systems to achieve Euro VI emissions standards. This enabled them to operate on the company's services 55 and 94 into Birmingham City Centre, where stricter emissions requirements applied. Following the acquisition, Diamond Bus withdrew from service 94, with service 55 having already been relinquished. As a result, the newly acquired Euro VI-compliant vehicles became available for redeployment across the wider network, particularly on Transport for West Midlands contracted services, where modern low-emission vehicles were increasingly required. The oldest two vehicles in the batch, 32123 and 32124, were built to an earlier version of the VDL chassis and featured a number of detail differences in both the chassis and Wright Cadet bodywork compared with the remaining eleven vehicles. Vehicle 32123 remained in the Diamond Bus fleet until June 2023, when it was withdrawn from service. It was sold for scrap the following month, becoming the first of the former Claribel Coaches vehicles to leave the fleet.

32125-136  

On 24 April 2022, Rotala acquired the Claribel Coaches operation, bringing a further thirteen VDL SB200/Wright Cadet single-deck buses into the Diamond Bus fleet. The vehicles had originally been supplied new to Claribel Coaches by Arriva Bus & Coach. Prior to the acquisition, all thirteen buses had been retrofitted with exhaust after-treatment systems to achieve Euro VI emissions standards, enabling them to operate on services 55 and 94 into Birmingham City Centre, where low-emission vehicles were required. Following the acquisition, Diamond Bus withdrew from service 94, with service 55 having already been relinquished. This released a fleet of Euro VI-compliant vehicles that could be redeployed elsewhere within the business, particularly on Transport for West Midlands contracted services. Further changes to the Transport for West Midlands bus network in January 2023, together with the introduction of a requirement from May 2023 for all buses operating on local services within the West Midlands to meet Euro VI emissions standards, resulted in many of the former Claribel vehicles being allocated to Diamond Bus services 4 and 4H, operating between Walsall and Hayley Green via West Bromwich. The majority of the vehicles were repainted into Diamond Bus's standard blue livery.  Vehicle 32134 was painted in a special design marking the late Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, celebrating the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne. Following Her Majesty's death in September 2022, the livery was modified to become a memorial tribute in her honour.