Wikipedia
Laidlaw , organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. (with corporate headquarters in Naperville, Illinois), was a predecessor corporation of First Student (United States), a US subsidiary of the UK transport firm FirstGroup. At the time of its acquisition by FirstGroup, Laidlaw was the largest provider of intercity bus services, contract public transit and paratransit, and contract school bus service in both the United States and Canada.
In February 2007, FirstGroup, a bus and rail transport operator in the United Kingdom with subsidiaries in North America, acquired Laidlaw International, Inc. for $35.25 per share or approximately US$3.6 billion including the assumption of US$0.8 billion of debt. FirstGroup plc completed the acquisition of Laidlaw International on October 1, 2007, and is currently rebranding Laidlaw services under the First umbrella. The deal combined North America’s two largest private school bus operators — Laidlaw Education Services and First Student Inc. — giving them a combined 40% of the school bus contractor market.
Laidlaw had grown primarily through acquisitions of other companies and contracting of services formerly directly provided by government entities. It was the parent company of Laidlaw Transit (which was merged into First Transit), Laidlaw Education Services (merged into First Student), Greyhound Lines and Greyhound Lines of Canada, and a number of Gray Line Sightseeing franchises in major North American cities. In acquiring Laidlaw, FirstGroup had announced that the Laidlaw name would not be kept, but that the Greyhound name would be maintained.
Laidlaw is the first novel of a series of crime books by William McIlvanney, first published in 1977. It features the eponymous detective in his attempts to find the brutal sex related murderer of a Glasgow teenager. Laidlaw is marked by his unconventional methods in tracking the killer, immersing himself in a 1970s Glasgow featuring violence and bigotry.
When Laidlaw was released in 1977, McIlvanney was known for recently winning the Whitbread Prize with his historical family novel, Docherty, and as a complete departure from that genre and surprised many of his readers.
This novel is considered the first ' Tartan Noir' and is cited as being inspiration for the Rebus novels by Ian Rankin. Alan Massie wrote that "Hemingway used to say that all American literature came out of Huckleberry Finn; all Scottish crime writing — ‘tartan noir’ — comes out of Laidlaw."
Laidlaw is a defunct bus transportation contractor.
Laidlaw may also refer to:
- Laidlaw (novel), a novel by William McIlvanney
- Laidlaw, British Columbia
- Laidlaw (surname)
Laidlaw is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
- Alex Laidlaw (1877–1933), Scottish sportsman
- Daniel Laidlaw (1875–1950), Scottish piper, recipient of the Victoria Cross
- Diana Laidlaw (born 1951) South Australian politician
- Donald Laidlaw (1923–2009) South Australian politician, father of Diana
- Frank Fortescue Laidlaw (1876–1963), British biologist
- Greig Laidlaw (born 12 October 1985), Scottish rugby player
- Irvine Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw (born 1942), Scottish businessman and peer
- Marc Laidlaw (born 1960), American writer
- Ross Laidlaw (author), Scottish writer, active since 1979
- Ross Laidlaw (footballer) (born 1992), Scottish footballer
- Roy Laidlaw (born October 5, 1953), Scottish rugby player