HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Nu-Venture started out as a family owned company when it was established in 1968. It started out initially as a coach company. One of its business activities during the late 1970's involved operating coach tours all over Europe as far as Spain, Italy, Germany and Austria under the 'NV Holidays' banner until the mid the mid 1980's.

AEC Reliance (TMJ 638R) one of the coaches that adorned the 'NV Holidays' Fleetnames for use on the tours.

In 1986 with deregulation of bus services the local bus market was entered into. This has now taken over as the larger of the two operations of the company.

From 15th April 1991 timetables were introduced on various routes in Maidstone. What was later to become service 80 had six return journeys between West Malling and King Street in Maidstone, with one afternoon journey starting from Park Wood Shops.

In 1991 the fleet stood at six coaches and three minibuses.

(1256 RU) was one of the two AEC Reliance Coaches that remained in the Nu-Venture fleet for ten years. It was acquired in 1981 and eventually left the fleet in 1991

The two remaining AEC Coaches in the fleet were replaced by newer Leyland Tiger Coaches, plus one of the minibuses was upgraded, resulting in all three minibuses being Talbot Pullman tri-axles. The buses were used on bus services in and around Sevenoaks.

1992 saw another coach added to the fleet plus the first full sized bus for some time in the Nu-Venture fleet was acquired. After Boroline's demise service 78 between Maidstone Hospital and Maidstone Town Centre was taken over. December 1992 saw the coach fleet upgraded again with one of the older coaches being sold and a newer one bought.

During 1993 the Sevenoaks area bus routes and the Sunday only service 309 were lost at re-tendering. Later in the year a further minibus was added to the fleet in the shape of a brand new Iveco. After the coaching season of '93 the coach fleet was reduced by one coach.

A number of school contracts were gained during 1994 in the Maidstone area and further south in Cranbrook. 9th April 1994 saw timetable changes on service 78. A Leyland Leopard with bus seating was acquired during June and the first double deck bus to be operated by Nu-Venture for a while was acquired. The Chatham Park & Ride service was first introduced in October as a service for the run up to Christmas. Nu-Venture were awarded this contract by Rochester Upon Medway City Council. The service required three buses to operate a service every ten minutes on a Saturday and daily during the week running up to Christmas. The route was awarded to another operator from April 1995 at re-tendering.

1995 saw further expansion in the bus fleet. Another double decker was acquired for school contracts. 1995 was the year when the first Scania/Van Hool coach was acquired. This coach was to be the first vehicle into the fleet to carry the new style fleetname. On the bus front new route 149 linking West Malling and Tunbridge Wells was awarded to Nu-Venture from September.

Van Hool (3558 RU) was the first vehicle in the fleet to receive the restyled 'italic' fleetname.

1996 saw a further reduction in the coach fleet, with two of the older coaches being sold and a further one Scania/Van Hool coach being bought to replace them. April 1996 saw the biggest expansion in the bus operations so far, with a number of contracts being won. These routes meant an increased presence in the Tunbridge Wells area. Some evening journeys on Service 6 between Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells were won along with Service 7. A further journey was registered on 149 to minimise the light running between the depot and Tunbridge Wells incurred by service 7. Evening service 281 linking Rusthall and High Brooms on Monday to Saturday evenings, and various workings on routes 276 and 286 were also won. The early morning presence in Maidstone was stepped up with journeys on service 8, 82, 85, 89 and 95 being taking over. Afternoon peak journeys on 79 were also won. Sunday Service 125 between Chatham and Maidstone was also awarded to Nu-Venture. Service 152 was revised at the same time. The only route loss was that of evening service 12 from Headcorn to Maidstone.

To cope with the increased vehicle requirements a further two minibuses were acquired in the shape of two Mercedes-Benz vehicles. A further win in May of 1996 was the contract to operate the courtesy bus service to and from the Lunsford Park Tesco Superstore. For this service a second Mk1 Leyland National single deck bus was acquired, refurbished, received a special Tesco bus livery and entered service.

During June '96 the coach fleet was again updated with two coaches being replaced with a further two Scania/Van Hool coaches. Again another win was the regaining of the Chatham Park & Ride contract on Saturdays.

December 1996 saw further routes being won in the Medway Towns. These were the company's first local stage carriage route in Medway . The routes involved were 131 Hempstead Valley to Gillingham and 146 Hempstead Valley to Twydall on Mondays to Fridays.

FURTHER EXPANSION IN THE MEDWAY TOWNS

1997 set off to a good start with the biggest fleet increase so far with the acquisition of four ex London double deck Leyland Titans to operate a contract to carry 300 pupils from Cliffe and Cliffe Woods to Hoo School. To accommodate the vehicles a new depot was opened at the nearby Hoo Marina. In Maidstone Service 78 was revised to give an enhanced frequency. Service 79 was taken over commercially. The coach fleet was reduced again with the remaining Leyland Tiger in the fleet being replaced by a minicoach. A further minibus was acquired in 1997. April saw many routes being withdrawn after KCC announced that due to cutbacks the funding for some routes was going to be withdrawn. As a result Nu-Venture registered an evening service on route 89 commercially.

May '97 saw the introduction of new commercial services in the Medway Towns with a daytime service 191 being introduced between Hoo and Chatham, plus service 120 was was to be short-lived from Grain to Chatham in the evenings. Back in Maidstone two further school contracts were won resulting in the purchase of another double deck bus.

In September '97 the recently registered service 120 was withdrawn due to low patronage and an enhanced frequency was introduced on service 191 with new service 192 being introduced to serve Lodge Hill Estate.

Further expansion occurred in November with the introduction of services under the Kent Karrier banner under contract to Kent County Council in the Tonbridge area. Two wheelchair accessible minibuses were acquired to operate these service. The new Wayfarer 3 ticket machine system was also introduced into the Nu-Venture fleet in November.

FURTHER EXPANSION IN MAIDSTONE

From March 1998 with a now reasonable sized fleet of double Decker buses spare at the weekends rail replacement work was taken on in London. Nu-Venture initially provided vehicles along with other operators to replace trains on the Jubilee Line between Baker Street and Wembley Park Stations on a number of weekends.

Further opportunity was provided in June '98 for expansion in Maidstone following the withdrawal of Bygone Buses. Service 82 between Park Wood and Maidstone was taken over from Bygone along with a vehicle to operate the service. This bus was the first one in the fleet to carry an overall advertising livery. The day tours program from the former Bygone operation were also taken over. These daybreak's included destinations such as Boulogne and London, as well as a selection of markets in the run up to Christmas, but low patronage of these tours resulted in the withdrawal of the tours during January 1999.

June '98 also saw expansion again in Medway with four Sunday only routes commencing in partnership with the Chatham Pentagon Centre. These routes operated from Sheerness, Warren Wood, Lords Wood and White Road Estate to the Pentagon shopping centre in Chatham with one or two return journeys on each route. A flat £1 return fare was charged on these limited stop services. The first Sunday saw the use of double deck vehicles on these routes but minibuses became the norm until the eventual withdrawal of the routes at the end of December '98.

July '98 presented another opportunity for expansion in Maidstone with the withdrawal of Turners from bus work. During August a new Park & Ride car park was opened at Horsted opposite the college where the service had previously operated from. Nu-Venture responded to this opportunity by registering new route 89 between Coxheath and Maidstone. A further Leyland Titan double Decker was added to the fleet in October for extra school contract work.

Another bus route gained in November was rural bus service K3 under contract to Kent County Council. Different routes are operated through the week. November also saw the arrival of a fairly new secondhand air conditioned coach which replaced an older example in the fleet.

Changes to the Park & Ride route took effect from 12th December 1998 with the route being altered to serve Rochester on the way to Chatham.

RELAUNCH OF WEST MALLING ROUTE

In January 1999 West Malling route 152 was withdrawn and new service 123 was launched to replace it giving an enhanced timetable and route extension to West Peckham introduced. For this new service two ex London minibuses were acquired. They were refurbished and repainted in a special '123 The Ride' livery before entering service.

With the demise of Fuggles of Benenden in March '99 Nu-Venture were given the opportunity to expand in Tonbridge. Monday to Saturday route 205 between Paddock Wood and Tonbridge was taken over later joined by Sunday service 297 between Tunbridge Wells and Tenterden. May 1999 saw the arrival of a further two Single Decker buses, Two mark 2 Leyland Nationals, one for service 205 and the other to replace the Tesco's bus which was withdrawn in April.

On 27th June the sole Daimler double Decker in the fleet having been stored withdrawn for the past year and a half made its final journey to its new home for use at a gliding club in Buckminster.

Medway routes 131 and 146 were lost at Re-tendering to another operator in May. August however saw the addition of routes 113 and 114 under contract to Medway Council. Two minibuses were initially hired for use on these services until new ones arrived and were allocated to Hoo. There were also changes to service 78 from 23rd August 1999 which included the withdrawal of the section of route between Maidstone and Ringlestone. Service 79 was changed at the same time to introduce an hourly service. A further Leyland Titan double Decker was added to the fleet in September for use on service 82 from Aylesford.

The bus fleet saw the arrival of two second hand Dennis Dart single deckers in January 2000 for use on services 78 and 79 in Maidstone. Investment was also made in the double deck fleet by re-trimming all the seats. Private hire requirements from March resulted in the need of a further coach and an example was loaned from Citibus. This coach was formally acquired in July.

Early morning journeys on routes 8, 82, 85 were withdrawn from May. Two of the Mercedes minibuses were upgraded with brand new ones also in May. Route 123 was revised in June to serve the new Asda superstore which had opened in Kings Hill. On many weekends throughout the Summer of 2000 towards November buses were provided for rail replacement work between Bromley and Denmark Hill.

Dennis Dart (N2 FPK) was one of the many vehicles used on the Denmark Hill rail replacement service during the Summer of 2000

MORE TITANS JOIN THE FLEET

On the vehicle front the last Talbot Pullman in the fleet was withdrawn and stored following accident damage sustained during January 2001. From this time the Iveco replaced it as the regular vehicle on service K3. A Mercedes Vario minibus with Marshall bodywork arrived on loan shortly after. The ex Citibus coach which had been delicenced over the winter was relicenced and treated to fleet livery featuring the butterfly design during March. The first round of timetable changes for the year occurred with the introduction of a new timetable on service 78 from the beginning of April 2001. These changes reduced the off peak frequency to hourly thus reducing the off peak vehicle requirement on this route.

Friday 30th March 2001 was the last day of operation of the long operated service 80 from Airfield Estate to Maidstone.

Leyland Titan [IUI 2140] made an appearance at the Cobham bus rally on 8th April 2001. Further timetable revisions took effect on the Tonbridge Kent Karrier services from 17th April with the 202/211/212 all being renumbered to service 211. A further two Leyland Titan double deckers joined the fleet during April and May where they replaced the sole Alexander bodied Olympian. Village link service K3 was revised from 1st May and extended to serve Maidstone. At the same time a common route was introduced for each day of the week rather than different routes each day as had previously been operated.

Monday 14th May saw the return of evening service 12 between Maidstone and Tenterden on Monday to Saturday evenings. Nu-Venture not having operated this service since April 1996. June 2nd and 3rd saw Nu-Venture operate the Dickens Festival Park & Ride service for the first time. Buses operated between Horsted college, Jacksons Fields, Rochester and Strood. Leyland Titans were the main vehicle type used, Represented here in this photo of [NUW 652Y] on 2nd June.

For the 2001 coaching season a brand new coach joined the Nu-Venture fleet during June. Breaking away from the strong Scania presence in the fleet, the new coach introduced the MAN chassis with the Marcopolo Continental body into the fleet. The seating capacity being convertible from 51 seats with toilet to a 53/55 seat standard coach. One of the older Scania coaches was withdrawn at the same time.

Leyland Titan [IUI 2140] made its second rally appearance for 2001 at North Weald on 24th June. Leyland National 2 [XFG 29Y] appeared at the Mid Hants Watercress Line Bus Rally on 15th July. During July Scania coach (3558 RU) was treated to new vinyl's featuring dolphins. Bristol VRT [IUI 2138] returned to its home territory for the day on 29th July and appeared at the Worthing Bus Rally and then at the Eastbourne bus rally on 9th September.

Further time changes took place on Service 211 from 10th September. Leyland Titan [NUW 614Y] attended the Showbus Rally at Duxford on the 23rd September 2001 with TPD 103X later being displayed at Canvey Island on 14th October 2001 and for Nu-Venture's final Rally appearance for 2001 at the Cobham rear engine running day on 28th October 2001.

Nu-Venture vehicles attended many rallies during the 2001 season. Leyland Titan (NUW 614Y) is seen here at the Showbus rally at Duxford.

A further Mercedes-Benz minibus joined the fleet on loan from 24th October.

CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP

On 1st November 2001, ownership of Nu-Venture changed hands, with Norman Kemp and Derrick Quick acquiring the business in its entirety from Barry and Carole Green, who had built Nu-Venture's fleet to the largest it had ever been, at 33 vehicles - 27 buses and 6 coaches, operating from Hoo, Aylesford and Tonbridge on 23 different routes - 21 buses scheduled for service Mondays to Fridays, 10 on Saturdays but just one on Sundays.

From 5th November 2001 the timetable was altered on service 123 to improve connections with trains at West Malling Station. Other changes saw the extension to the Asda superstore at Kings Hill withdrawn. Some journeys were altered to serve Discovery Drive on the Kings Hill estate. Fewer journeys extended to serve Mereworth and West Peckham.

To end the year a further special Park & Ride service was operated for Medway Council's annual Dickens Christmas festival, whilst a limited service operated between Christmas 2001 and New Year 2002 on 123 for the first time,

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Nu-Venture operation on service 78, the route was relaunched at a party at the Barming Bull Inn on Friday 15th February 2002. The new timetable for route 78 "Best Bus in Barming" commencing on the following Monday 18th, along with new route 78A operating via Glebe Lane and Barming Bull on Mondays to Fridays. A new Saturday service also commenced from the same date. The regular bus on service 78 had its Nu-Venture fleetnames removed and replaced with "Best Bus in Barming" branding along both sides.

The final Talbot Pullman - stored since withdrawal in 2001 - was finally sold during March 2002.

In Nu-Venture's first rally appearance for the year, Leyland Titan NUW 614Y returned to its home territory on 31st March 2002, being entered into the Barking bus rally. March also saw the arrival of Nu-Venture's first low floor buses. These were stored pending service later in the year

Service 123 was the subject of further route and timetable revisions from 4th April 2002, with the extension to Tower View reintroduced during the Peaks.

On 7th April Leyland Titan NUW 614Y made its second rally appearance for the year, being displayed at the Cobham bus rally. The following day Nu-Venture acquired another double Decker; breaking the usual tradition of the Leyland Titan, a Leyland Fleetline was purchased with low height Northern Counties bodywork for use on a pending contract with a low bridge on the route.

April saw the long awaited refurbishment of the Hoo Marina depot finally completed. Refurbishment included the resurfacing of the ground, and new portable office buildings were installed.

From 29 April two new routes were taken over, route 13 between Hollingbourne and Maidstone and route 58 between Trottiscliffe and Maidstone. The later route was one of Nu-Venture's first routes operated in the mid-eighties. Minor changes were also made to route 82 Park Wood to Maidstone. The only losses were of one bus on route 211 at Tonbridge and Nu-Venture's one return trip on 209. One of the Tonbridge based vehicles was transferred to Aylesford for use on one of the new duties, and the lowheight Bristol VR was pressed into service on the 58. Conventional height double decks were unable to pass under the railway bridge at West Malling which necessitated the use of a low height vehicle.

In order to maintain the above increase in routes, the opportunity was taken to purchase three 'N' reg MetroRiders from Metrobus of Orpington. The first arrived in time to enter service the first day of the new routes with the other two arriving shortly after.

As Kent Karrier contracts were no longer operated at this point both the Kent Karrier liveried Mercedes minibuses lost their Kent Karrier lettering during May.

Over the June Bank Holiday weekend Nu-Venture for the first time provided buses for the Chatham Navy Days Park & Ride service. Three Titans and two low floor buses were used. One of the low floors was a recently acquired Dennis Dart SLF, and the other was a brand new Volvo B6LE loaned to Nu-Venture from Metropolitan Omnibus for the weekend. The Volvo was a first for the company as until then Nu-Venture had not operated a single Volvo since its formation.

As mentioned above Nu-Venture's first low floor vehicle entered service on the Chatham Navy Days Park & Ride service. Later in the week it transferred to Hoo to work routes 113 and 114.

The busiest weekend of the year 8th-9th June saw the Dickens Festival Park & Ride operated, buses operating between Horsted, Rochester and Strood. A Nu-Venture vehicle - XFG 29Y - was provided for a rail replacement service between Ashford and Canterbury West on behalf of Southlands Travel over the same weekend.

During the following week the loaned Mercedes and both of the Hoo based 'V' reg' Vario's were withdrawn. Their replacements for the latter being the SLF's purchased earlier in the year.

The week that followed saw the first of the Greenways enter service with Nu-Venture, with what was GLS448 taking up duty on service 82. The second entered service two days later. The first of the ex Metrobus MetroRiders left to be repainted into Nu-Venture fleet colours. Sunday 15th September saw another duty on LT route 185 operated

Later in September the Greenways received Irish number plates, these were freed up by putting another two vehicles in the fleet back on their original plates and Leyland Fleetline (XSJ 661T) stored since arrival earlier in the year was prepared for service.

A minor Route change took place on the 0735 Chainhurst to Maidstone journey on service 27 from 30th September. The bus was rerouted to enter the Oakwood Park Schools complex in the morning and not via Tonbridge Road and the Cherry Tree. The 1745 journey from Maidstone was also slightly altered from the same date to serve Coxheath on request. The Daimler Fleetline made its debut with Nu-Venture on a school run also on 30th September.

During the first week of October work began on repainting the Fleetline and the first Greenway was sent away for single door conversion and repaint.

Early November saw the withdrawal of the Bristol VR, the Iveco and the Caetano Optimo minicoach. These were all stored at various locations pending sale. During Mid-November the oldest MetroRider was withdrawn.

The first week of December saw the Bristol VR sold into preservation, a Leyland Titan arrive in the fleet on loan and a fourth Optare MetroRider join the fleet from Metrobus. The weekend over 7th and 8th December was a busy one with the operation of the Dickens Christmas Park & Ride service.

During the run up to Christmas the Chatham Park & Ride service again operated on the three week days before Christmas day. On 23rd December the first Greenway to be converted and painted arrived completed back at Aylesford. The same day the '603 Preservation group' collected Bristol VR (GNJ 573N) and took it to its new home.

12th April 2003