Auto Review The Optare Story By Tony Greaves

Oxford Diecast

£6.45

In 1984 Leyland Group decided to close down their long-established Leeds-based bus-building company, Charles H Roe. In 1985 a management buyout led by plant director Russell Richardson, and supported by the West Yorkshire Enterprise Board, set up Optare. They began production with Roe-designed bodies for Leyland Olympian chassis, but soon turned to their own designs. In 1986 the VW-based CityPacer minibus appeared, followed in 1987 by the Mercedes-based StarRider. 1988 saw the launch of the Daf-based Delta single decker bus, followed by the MAN-based Vecta midibus. In 1989 Optare acquired the

Oxford Diecast's own words, read from their page.

Buy from OXFORD DIECAST LIMITEDOXFORD DIECAST LIMITED is a UK retailer, not the maker. Out of stock. Price seen 2026-09-26. Not an affiliate link, we earn nothing from it.

Where this comes from

The part other shops don't tell you. Three separate questions, kept separate on purpose, each with its source.

UK company
Registered at Companies House as OXFORD DIECAST LIMITED, number 02869520. Checked 2026-08-29.
Means the business is a British legal entity, not a British-sounding name owned elsewhere. It says nothing about where anything is made.
UK operations
Not yet checked.
Means people employed here, or premises they actually work from. We keep this separate from the company badge because a registered office can be an accountant's spare room, and a company can be registered in Britain while everything it does happens somewhere else. Where we have not looked, we say so rather than assuming.
British-owned
Not established. Many companies file a statement rather than naming a controlling shareholder.
Read from the register of people with significant control, following the chain of holding companies. It does not gate anything: a firm can be made here and owned elsewhere, and that is worth telling you rather than hiding.
Where it is made
The maker doesn't say, so neither do we.
This is about the individual product, not the company. A British firm can sell things made abroad, which is normal and not a criticism. We would rather tell you which is which than average them into a score.

Auto Review The Optare Story By Tony Greaves

Where this comes from

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