Stagecoach Strathtay is a Scottish bus operating company which covers the Dundee and Angus areas, and parts of Grampian. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which bought Strathtay Scottish Omnibuses Ltd as part of Yorkshire Traction in 2005. Strathtay Scottish was formed in 1985 as a subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group, from parts of Walter Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd and Walter Alexander & Sons (Northern) Ltd. Stagecoach have retained the right to the operating name Strathtay Scottish; this is reflected in the legal lettering on the company's vehicles. Operation Since joining the Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach Strathtay now has an operating area bounded by Aberdeen in the north, Gauldry & Newport-on-Tay to the south and Perth to the west. Before joining Stagecoach, Strathtay operated only as far as Laurencekirk in the north; however, the Montrose depot has acquired some work from Bluebird's Stonehaven depot, including route 24 from Brechin to Stonehaven, route 103 from Laurencekirk to Aberdeen and a handful of School Contracts serving Mackie Academy in Stonehaven. Strathtay is the largest operator in Angus and operates urban, rural and interurban services in and around Dundee, Arbroath, Blairgowrie, Forfar and Montrose. Depots are located in Dundee, Arbroath and Blairgowrie. On its creation Strathtay was also the largest operator in Perth, Crieff and Pitlochry, but depots in those towns were closed between 1986 and 1993 and operations scaled back, ironically due to intensive 'Stagecoach' competition at the time. In 2010 Montrose depot closed due to contract losses. A depot exists in Forfar but is considered to be a sub depot of Arbroath. Strathtay also provide coaches for Scottish Citylink and Megabus express work, mainly from Dundee and Perth to other points in Scotland. Although Strathtay's Head Office at Dundee bus station has been closed, there still remains a Booking/Depot Office at that site. Head Office functions were amalgamated with Stagecoach East Scotland (which also covers Fife and Perth operating areas) at Guthrie House in Cowdenbeath. On 18 May 2009, the Cowdenbeath head office was relocated to Evans House, John Smith Business Park, Kirkcaldy. History Strathtay Scottish was a brand new company created through reorganisation of the Scottish Bus Group in preparation for deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, and eventual privatisation. It inherited the eastern operations of W. Alexander & Sons (Midland) based in Perth, Crieff and Pitlochry, as well as the southern operations of W. Alexander