The company was formed in 1988 as one of 11 operating divisions of London Buses, and became fully operational in early 1989. It had garages at Ash Grove, Walthamstow and Leyton. Its manager was Tom Young, who had previously worked for Midland Red North before moving to London Transport. The company employed around 1,300 staff and owned 370 buses. A fourth garage at Clapton was later added; this had been closed in 1987, but was reopened as an outstation of Leyton and later regained full depot status. The company's logo was a stylised image of an oak tree.