Private company

Thomas Tilling

British bus operator and industrial conglomerate

The Tilling Group was one of two conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948. Tilling, together with the other conglomerate, British Electric Traction (BET), became the main constituents of the country's nationalised bus industry in the late 1960s and was sufficiently well known to have entered popular culture as part of London's Cockney rhyming slang (Thomas Tilling = shilling).2 It ceased to exist in 1983.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1846Founded1
  • HeadquartersLondon1

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Thomas Tilling bus ST922 AEC Regent 1 Tilling bodywork GJ 2098 in Cobham Bus Museum, Surrey October 1997
Photo: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

The Tilling Group was one of two conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948. Tilling, together with the other conglomerate, British Electric Traction (BET), became the main constituents of the country's nationalised bus industry in the late 1960s and was sufficiently well known to have entered popular culture as part of London's Cockney rhyming slang (Thomas Tilling = shilling).2

Acquisitions

  1. 1946Acquired Southern Vectis1
  2. Dec 3, 1942Acquired Crosville Motor Services1
  3. Jul 14, 1931Acquired Eastern Counties (bus company)1
  4. Feb 7, 1931Acquired Southern National1
  5. 1931Acquired Eastern National Omnibus Company1
  6. 1931Acquired Western National1
  7. Jul 1929Acquired United Automobile Services1
  8. 1924Acquired West Yorkshire Road Car Company1
  9. Sep 24, 1921Acquired United Counties Omnibus1
  10. Jul 10, 1920Acquired Thames Valley Traction1
  11. Succeeded by London Passenger Transport Board1

Timeline

  1. 1983Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1846Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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