Reggie Wake started bus services from South Barrow in February 1930. Business expanded during World War II and the main base was moved to nearby Sparkford.

A trunk route from Yeovil to Castle Cary and Shepton Mallet was started in 1947 and operated by double-decker buses from 1949 until 1968.

[8] Sureline was initially based at Southwell Business Park but relocated to Tradecroft Industrial Estate, near the village of Easton, in July 2003.

[12] In most villages, South West Coaches is the sole bus operator, so that public transport users are heavily reliant on its services.

The geographical area covered stretches from Minehead and Taunton in the west to Salisbury in the east and from the Isle of Portland and Bournemouth in the south to Warminster and Frome in the north.

[2][13] The company operates local town services in Yeovil under contract to Somerset County Council, ex Sureline routes in Dorchester, Weymouth and on the Isle of Portland.

[17] In October 2017, after First Dorset had ended its service from Wyke Regis to Weymouth, South West Coaches agreed to a local request to take over the route.

[18] In November 2017, with the unexpected closure of Nippy Bus, South West Coaches took over providing transport services to Strode College.

[19] On an evening in March 2018, a South West Coaches bus travelling through Chard had windows smashed by projectiles thrown by boys aged about 10 to 13.