Editing Mobico Group (section)

===Early years===
[[File:National Express Logo.svg|thumb|National Express logo, which was formerly also the brand and name used for the company itself]]
[[File:DupleDominant.jpg|thumb|[[Duple Dominant]] bodied [[Leyland Tiger]] in [[Liverpool]] in 1982 in the original livery]]
[[File:43045 D St Pancras 1.JPG|thumb|[[Midland Mainline (train operating company)|Midland Mainline]] [[InterCity 125|High Speed Train]] at [[St Pancras railway station|London St Pancras]]]]
[[File:Travel London 9750 on 3.JPG|thumb|[[Travel London]] [[Alexander ALX400]] bodied [[Dennis Trident 2]] at [[Trafalgar Square]] in April 2008]]
In 1972, the state-owned [[National Bus Company (UK)|National Bus Company]] decided to bring together the scheduled coach services operated by its bus operating companies in the United Kingdom under one brand. [[Frederick Wood (industrialist)|Sir Frederick Wood]], a prominent businessman and industrialist, was asked to oversee the creation of this new business model and led the group as its chairman from 1972 to 1978.<ref>{{cite web |date=24 March 2003 |title=Sir Frederick Wood |website=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/mar/24/guardianobituaries.conservatives |access-date=21 September 2014}}</ref> Initially branded as ''National'', the ''National Express'' brand was first used in 1974.<ref name="history">[http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/aboutus/ourhistory.aspx National Express Group: Our History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209085435/http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/aboutus/ourhistory.aspx |date=9 February 2014 }} National Express</ref><ref name="MMC0294">{{cite web |url = http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm24/2468/2468.pdf |title = National Express Group PLC and Saltire Holdings Ltd |publisher = [[Monopolies & Mergers Commission]] |date = February 1994 |page = 3}}</ref>

With the privatisation of the National Bus Company in the 1980s, National Express was subject to a [[management buyout]] in March 1988. The management team pursued various means of diversification; during 1989, the company purchased [[Crosville Motor Services|Crosville Wales]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/content.aspx?id=798 |title = Arriva Buses Wales: history |publisher = Arriva}}</ref>