President 2023

Unlike his predecessors, Anthony Delaine-Smith didn’t join the bus industry he was born into it. His Grandfather introduced motorbuses into the family business in 1919 and during the last century his family have developed the company into one of the most well-known and respected independent bus operators in the country.

Having formally joined the family business in 1982, by this time he had already served his basic apprenticeship from cleaning buses to earn pocket money as a boy to working in the office as a teenager during school holidays. After 41 years in the bus industry, Anthony is now one of the ever-decreasing number of industry figures who remembers the pre-deregulation era.

Anthony became Managing Director of the company in 1995 following the passing of his father and for the last 28 years has continued to commercially develop the business which currently operates 31 buses, along with his three brothers and in more recent years his two daughters who have also joined the company.

With a keen interest in the heritage of the company and buses in general, Anthony was the driving force in establishing the Delaine Heritage Trust in 2015. The Trust subsequently established the Delaine Bus Museum which is home to the Delaine Heritage Fleet and Archive, and is dedicated to preserving in perpetuity the history and heritage of the company, which is now one of the few surviving pre-deregulation bus operators which is still family owned and one of the oldest independent operators in the country.

The 2023 Presidential Address, TO THE BUSES BOuRNe, will be on Saturday 28 January at 14.00 for 14.30, at Abbey Community Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3BU.

The Presidential Weekend will be held at Belton Woods Hotel, just north of Grantham, from Friday 6 October to Monday 9 October. The Omnibus Society AGM will take place on the Friday and the Presidential Dinner on the Saturday.