Little Red Book

[ChrisPJ]

A question for those of you with longer memories. When was the Little Red Book last issued, who published it, and is there anywhere else that the information it contained can be found updated today?

 

[jammy36]

I certainly don't have a definitive answer, but I believe it was published by the publishers of Passenger Transport (magazine) and latterly Ian Allen at points in its history. I think the last edition was about 2015, so seeming to end with the publishing side of the Ian Allen business?

 

[Bedford OB]

It was last published in 2015, having been published for its last couple of years by Key Publishing, who acquired it from Ian Allan with other titles. Other attempts by trade press titles have also now disappeared. The nearest equivalent is Who's Who in the Bus & Coach Industry, published by Yandell Publishing, which continues. I don't know how accurate that its these days, having not seen one for some years.

 

[duncombec]

It was last published in 2015, having been published for its last couple of years by Key Publishing, who acquired it from Ian Allan with other titles. Other attempts by trade press titles have also now disappeared. The nearest equivalent is Who's Who in the Bus & Coach Industry, published by Yandell Publishing, which continues. I don't know how accurate that its these days, having not seen one for some years.

It seems there is a "view online" option on their website, although a printed version is available for £35.

Assuming this copies correctly, the link to the online catalogue is here: https://edition.pagesuite-professio...me=&edid=d7f95e0d-66b0-4867-b253-7c9cd99e600e

As to accuracy - hard to say because it depends whether adverts are carried over or actively submitted, but of the five names listed for my local large-group company, three names resigned as directors in 2020, and a further one in 2019. The head of commercial isn't a director in the Companies House sense of the word, so can't be checked. That seems very out of date for a 2022/2023-dated publication.

 

[Bedford OB]

That is exactly the sort of issue I observed with previous editions, but I didn't want to comment specifically on the current edition as I had not looked at it. From a cursory look now, it seems, inter alia, to contain a very limited subset of operators and a strange separation between what are described as bus operators and coach operators. The list of so-called bus operators includes plenty who do not operate local bus services at all.

 

[Simon75]

What was the Little Red Book ?

 

[Titfield]

What was the Little Red Book ?

A bus and coach industry directory which listed operators, addresses, contact details, names of directors and key personnel, scope of operation etc etc.