51% of shares in the company were sold by West Yorkshire PTE to a team of eight managers in a management buyout, while the remaining 49% were sold to Yorkshire Rider's 3,500 employees in an Employee Share Ownership Plan, the largest such arrangement in the United Kingdom at the time.

[10] Yorkshire Rider was also awarded a contract to operate the proposed Bradford trolleybus system in 1989,[11] although ultimately, the project was cancelled.

[14] Yorkshire Rider was included in the merger of Badgerline with the GRT Group on 16 June 1995 to form FirstBus, later renamed to FirstGroup.

The company's central engineering works in Kirkstall, as well as a bus depot in Headingley, were both closed for redevelopment in July 1992.

[26] The Yorkshire Rider Social Club still exists in Leeds but no longer has a formal connection with any bus operator and does not receive any financial subsidy.