The new company initially operated a fleet of 5,600 buses to provide services to numerous regions across England, Wales and Scotland.

During December 1997, the company was renamed FirstGroup to reflect its entry into Britain's recently privatised railways.

During June 2009, FirstGroup made an unsuccessful takeover bid for rival transport operator National Express.

In August 2017, FirstGroup's joint venture with MTR Corporation commenced operating the South Western franchise.

During June 2022, FirstGroup rejected a £1.2bn takeover offer from US private equity company I Squared Capital.

[5] During September 1986, the Somerset based services of the Bristol Omnibus Company that were rebranded in 1985 as Badgerline were purchased in a management buyout.

As Badgerline Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing other formerly nationalised bus companies in England and Wales.

[8] During April 1995, FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland.

However, it too was unsuccessful and the franchise was awarded to the rival transport company National Express from April 2004, including the services operated by First Great Eastern.

[22] In December 2004, the remainder of First North Western passed to Northern Rail, some services having already been transferred to Arriva Trains Wales and FirstTranspennine Express.

[27] In January 2009, DSBFirst, FirstGroup's joint venture with Danish State Railways commenced operating the Oresundtrain rail franchise from Helsingør and Nivå in Denmark along the Kystbanen line and over the Øresund Bridge to Malmö, Växjö, Kalmar, Karlskrona and Gothenburg in Sweden.

FirstGroup believed that there was "significant industrial and commercial logic" for a merger, but National Express wished to focus on its own initiatives.

[48][49] In May 2019, FirstGroup announced its intention to sell its UK bus operations and that its US activities were to receive greater attention in the future.

[51][52] In May 2020, FirstGroup announced it has effectively reversed its previous strategy, opting to retain its UK bus operations and instead sell its assets in North America.

[53] In April 2021, FirstGroup agreed terms to sell the First Student and First Transit businesses to EQT; the sale completed later in 2021.

[54][55][56] During October 2021, FirstGroup announced the sale of Greyhound Lines to Flixbus, completing its stated divestments to focus on its core UK public transport businesses.

[58][59] In June 2022, FirstGroup's board unanimously rejected a £1.2bn takeover proposal from US private equity firm I Squared Capital; a spokesperson stated that the offer had undervalued the company.

FirstBus began to apply a standard corporate typeface to its fleet names in the late 1990s, introducing the stylized f logo depicting a road.

A corporate white, pink and blue livery nicknamed "Barbie" was introduced to new buses, while further bus company acquisitions continued.

In 2012, the group began to introduce a new purple, white and lilac 'Olympia' livery to its bus fleets, which also reinstated local branding.

[79][80] The FirstGroup's bus operations were rebranded again in December 2024, adopting a new logo that replaced the one used since the formation of FirstBus in April 1995 as well as the slogan of 'Moving the Everyday'.