In the early 1980s Potteries Motor Traction was part of the state-owned National Bus Company with all vehicles in standard NBC poppy red livery. This would change with the sale of the company to its management following a government policy to sell off the National Bus Company piecemeal before deregulation. A management buyout introduced a bright red and yellow livery, and PMT then began a policy of expansion by acquiring local independents before purchasing the Chester and Wirral operations of Crosville from Drawlane and later Pennine Blue of Denton, Greater Manchester. Following the sale of PMT to Badgerline in 1994 and the subsequent merger with GRT to form First Bus, PMT was again under the control of a big group and would go on to adopt a standard First Group livery. The area covered would start to contract as outstations were closed or transferred to neighbouring First Group operators. Today they have just a solitary garage at Adderley Green. This book aims to show the variety of vehicles and liveries from 1980 until 2020 and includes photos of the home fleet as well as the Red Rider Crosville and Pennine Blue operations while under PMT control.

In this book, Cliff Beeton looks at the plethora of independent operators that have, alongside PMT, provided bus services in and around Stoke. Operators featured here include Berresfords, Stoniers and Turners, who were later swallowed up by the ever-expanding PMT, and the likes of Procters, Pooles Coachways and Stevensons, who eventually fell by the wayside or were sold to larger groups. Local coach operators like Bakers of Biddulph, Copelands, Scraggs, Ladyline and Stanways expanded into buses after deregulation, alongside new starters like Knotty Bus, Wardle Transport, D&G Bus, RML Travel, Midland Classic, Stantons of Stoke, and Select Bus Services. These all added further variety to the local bus scene. With previously unpublished images throughout, this book celebrates the variety of buses in and around the city.