BrightBus was founded in May 1998 by Michael Strafford as an engineering business, performing contract maintenance for other operators.

[3][4][5][6][7] Between 2001 and 2005, Brightbus, then known as Mass Transit, had a substantial presence in Lincolnshire, following the acquisition of the bus operations of Applebys Coaches, Reliance Travel of Great Gonerby and the Grantham depot of RoadCar.

In 2004, BrightBus purchased the long established Leon Motors of Finningley that was formed in 1922 and operated buses in Doncaster.

By 2008 the company's stage-carriage work had passed to First South Yorkshire and the remaining operations were integrated into the main BrightBus depot at North Anston.

As at May 2017, BrightBus operated a fleet of 73 buses, including many English built three-axle Dennis Dragons and Leyland Olympians repatriated from Hong Kong.