National Bus Manual

23/05/2026

It takes a thousand tiny details to make one good impression, as Cary Grant said. In this case, ahead of publication, that means removing decades of sellotape marks and garage oil from several beautiful NBC corporate identity posters.
Feel free to guess which one this is!

11/05/2026

Fantastic to meet Helen Clifford this evening a the Women in Bus and Coach reception at the London Transport Museum at the unveiling of her blue plaque by chief operating officer Claire Mann. Helen was the first woman to qualify as a London Transport bus mechanic in 1984.

Women in Bus and Coach is a national network to encourage, represent, support and retain women in the bus, coach and community transport profession.

10/05/2026

It seems the website and blog went down earlier in the weekend - they’re back up and running again. We’re planning to publish the book in the coming months, so we’ll all be less dependent on digital technology!

These photos are stills from NBC’s advert for insurers Norwich Union, filmed at Norwich Airport in 1975. Read more on the blog - ‘Imposters in poppy red and leaf green’ —> https://nationalbusmanual.com/2021/02/05/1974norwichunionad/

NBC’s televised corporate identity spectacular for Norwich Union left a bus fleet in disguise

20/03/2026

You’ll have spotted that there’s less on the blog while I focus on the book, which will include the re-issued manual, and a few surprises.

There’s a whole lot of beautiful material by Norman Wilson and NBC staff to sift through and select, and in a few cases repair. It’s looking good. Thanks to everyone who’s helped.

Looking forward to sharing progress with you all soon.

03/03/2026

Happy Pightling Day to all those who celebrate, particularly Eastern Counties staff in Norwich.

01/03/2026

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus bawb, a diolch i holl gyn-weithwyr NBC yng Nghymru sydd wedi cefnogi’r prosiect hwn. Rydym yn bwriadu cyhoeddi tua mis Gorffennaf.

Happy St David’s Day everyone, and thanks to all the former NBC employees in Wales who have supported this project.

20/02/2026

Some more detective work for you! Who has a copy of the A4-sized 1972 NBC Corporate Identity Manual? This is Page 14 of that manual. The (several) versions I’ve seen all miss Pages 15 and 16. Were they ever issued?
They came at the end of the vehicle liveries section. Page 17 seems to be the start of the section on stationery.

Page 14 (shown here) was issued later than other parts of the manual as NBC took a while to decide its approach to dual-purpose bus/coaches. Perhaps Norman Wilson and NBC planned more illustrations but didn’t issue them?

If you have seen copies of the missing Pages 15 and 16, let us know!

08/02/2026

The NBC identity was rigorously enforced on vehicles, but less coherent in publicity. On this timetable cover from 1972, the Associated Motorways consortium are being rebranded as part of the National network.

Norman Wilson’s NBC symbol, colours and typefaces have been used, but the odd position of the different elements illustrates why the manual needed to specify how things like the position of the symbol in relation to text mattered.

25/01/2026

Local operating companies were given a huge amount of leeway with publicity, allowing major departures from the National brand, in contrast to the strict policing of the application of the identity to vehicles. This included abandoning the carefully-considered colours and lettering altogether!

Local design standards were often carried over from the pre-corporate identity days. This early Southdown example - advertising express coaches - even neglects to mention the National brand.

24/12/2025

Thanks to everyone who’s supported and helped with the NBC Corporate Identity project this year. We hope to have news on publication plans in the new year.
Until then have a great Christmas and new year!