Six months after taking over Bolton depot, Diamond Bus North West has made changes, with more to come, including a fleet of 128 new buses, reports Jonathan Welch
At a special event for media, stakeholders and other interested parties on Tuesday 18 February, Rotala-owned Diamond North West reflected on the first half-year of ownership of the former First Manchester depot in Bolton, and laid out some of its plans for the year ahead. It would be fair to say that Rotala’s take-over of the former First operations didn’t get off to the best start, with reports locally of driver shortages affecting services, and at this event and open day the company wanted to show that it is working towards putting things right, and turning the operation around into one which the town can again be proud of.
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Highlighting the town’s transport heritage, guests were collected from Bolton railway station by vintage bus, a former Bolton Corporation Leyland PD3, now in the care of the Manchester Museum of Transport, its maroon and cream livery making for a contrast with the town’s now predominantly blue bus scene. After arrival at the depot, guests assembled in front of one of Diamond’s existing fleet of Wrightbus Streetdecks, which proclaimed on its destination screen that 128 new buses are set to be acquired during 2020. Similar to the vehicles that joined the fleet on day one, these new buses will take the form of Euro VI Wrightbus Streetdeck double-deckers, fitted with USB charging sockets and e-leather seats.
Welcoming attendees to the event, Diamond Bus North West Managing Director Bob Dunn gave an overview of his and the company’s histories for those less familiar with the industry, before going on to discuss the difficulties faced in the firm’s new Manchester operation, and what it wants to achieve as it moves forwards.
“We want to let you know a bit about who we are, where we came from, and what we want to do to make a difference,” said Bob, “and give you an insight into how a partnership could work. We believe a partnership could work, it covers all aspects of franchising and adds more. The market has changed in Manchester in the recent past. It has created more competition, there are now three operators instead of one, with the same market share.”
Bob continued by explaining that although Rotala, as one of the new entrants to the Manchester bus scene, is a new name locally, both the company and people behind it have extensive history in the bus industry. “I’ve been in the industry for 50 years, and a manager for 44,” he continued, “I’ve seen most things, and worked for national, international and family companies.” Turning to Rotala, which was formed in 2005 and whose name he explained comes from the Latin words for ‘wheel’ and ‘wing,’ Bob introduced CEO Simon Dunn and Group Finance Director Kim Taylor along with some stats about the group as a whole.
“We’ve had to evolve with the times,” he continued. “We want to move to more commercial revenue, since we came to Manchester we’re trying to take ownership of our revenue streams. We also have a lean management structure, which allows us to react, we can take decisions quickly. That is crucial for modern businesses in our opinion. We can use technology and move with the times because we are lean. We attempt to build strong relationships with partners and stakeholders.”
Having grown the business through numerous acquisitions, including from all of the big five groups, Preston Bus was a key purchase in the north west, but Bob said that once Rotala came to the area, there was a need to branch out and have a presence in Manchester, which lead to the purchase of the relatively modern Bolton depot from First, following the purchase of South Lancs Travel and the bus business of Goodwins, to give a significant foothold in the area. This has now lead to a position where Bolton depot is the hub for the region, and Diamond feels confident enough in its position to invest in a significant number of new buses.
”During the first few months, we identified a number of challenges,” Bob continued, “but it’s nothing we can’t overcome. We have many experienced people here, many have been here for a long time. But at the same time we need to be modern, to improve. We have facilities here as good as any, and we introduced more modern vehicles on day one. We’ve already invested £6m in new vehicles, all to Euro VI. We have a modernisation strategy, but it is taking time. We placed an order with Wrightbus, but because of the problems there, the delivery has been delayed.”
The delivery of the 128 new double-deck buses for the fleet should help alleviate some of the engineering challenges that staff have to overcome, in a fleet which has risen from just a handful of vehicle types with First, to 18 different types, as a result of the need to draft in buses to replace those which had to be returned to First, and to cover for late delivery of the Streetdecks. The arrival of the 128 new vehicles should help with bringing much-needed standardisation back to the depot. This investment in vehicles will give us the opportunity we need to serve our Greater Manchester community with an operation that they deserve.
“It will allow us to supply our key routes with brand new vehicles that are reliable and up to the task. These vehicles will go straight on to routes where passenger numbers are high, this will allow Diamond Bus North West to improve on its punctuality and reliability meaning improved service delivery for our customers. The latest vehicle orders are an important part of our strategy to encourage even more people to take the bus. Our network covers a number of communities who are dependent on our services, we hope that this shows our intent to deliver the right service for the communities within Greater Manchester.”
Refreshing to hear were Bob’s comments about accepting that things are not going as well as they could be, and working to make improvements. “We need to get closer to our customers. We need to learn from good experiences, and get rid of bad ones. We need to make sure we don’t keep doing the same thing over and over. It’s all about learning. We need to get people involved, talk to staff.” As well as making improvements both ‘front of house’ and behind the scenes, all of which should improve the service customers receive, the company is also keen to further its community engagement. “We want to build on what we did at Christmas,” he continued, “Diamond Bus North West employees collected enough food [to donate to the local foodbank] to feed 63 people. We now have a nominated charity, which was chosen by engaging with our staff.”
Besides being an important transporter of people, Bob also stressed that Diamond Bus North West is an important employer of people. “Since taking over six months ago, we have employed an extra 13 people in Eccles, 10 at Preston, and 60 on this site,” he said. The company expects to employ the same number again in 2020.
In closing, Bob highlighted the importance of building links and partnerships with the community the buses serve: “Please be patient, please support us, we can add a lot of value. We don’t always get it right. I don’t always get it right. But we try to reflect on it and not make the same mistake again.”
Rotala CEO Simon Dunn then took to the podium to talk briefly about partnerships. “Partnerships are working elsewhere, and in the West Midlands,” he said, highlighting the case of the partnership with National Express West Midlands in that area. “Partnerships have been able to achieve better results for passengers and operators.”
Moving the topic back to the local arena, Andy Douglas, Traffic Project Manager at Manchester’s Intu Trafford Centre shopping complex spoke about the importance of public transport to the centre. “We have 30 million visitors a year,” he said, “we want to work in partnership with operators. We have 8,500 staff on site, over 20,000 at Christmas. We hold our hands up, we are very car-centric, we have 11,000 free parking spaces, but we aim to improve access to the centre for those without a car.” Nonetheless, the bus has been the only way to reach the centre without a car since it opened, although in the near future, Metrolink will reach the area, and the figures are impressive. The centre’s bus station is operated by TfGM on behalf of Intu, and handles 1.8m passengers per year. “It’s an absolutely key mode of travel for us, 46% of staff travel to work by bus. Retailers tell us that if there are no buses on Boxing Day, they can’t trade.
“My role is to work in partnership with bus operators. The challenge is to stretch the hours of service to allow for shift patterns outside the traditional peak periods.” There has already been significant improvement though, and over the last ten years Andy said there has been a 35% increase in bus provision to the centre. The neighbouring new Trafford Waters residential area should see even more demand, and generate outward-bound traffic from the centre rather than add to inbound passenger numbers. “We want to and will grow sustainably,” he concluded, “but we will only do this by working in partnership with Diamond Bus and other stakeholders.”
Next to speak was John Mcleister, Sales Director at Wrightbus, who spoke a little about the revived company’s future, as well as the importance of good relationships with operators such as Rotala. “We are excited to have Jo Bamford as our new owner,” he said, “he holds the same values as William Wright. He has brought in some new faces, and the business has been recapitalised. We have over 550 people working for us now, and recruitment is continuing. We have already started to lay down new chassis for new orders, as well as finish what was underway previously. We have a strong order book for 2020, by the end of the month we should have 80% sold for this year.
“A strategic review has commenced of customer and market needs. When Jo Bamford bought the business in October, by his own admission he knew nothing about buses, so has listened to the market. We intend to play a major role in decarbonising transport in the UK,” he continued, as well as highlighting how important the manufacturer sees international expansion, with regions such as Asia and Europe key sales targets.
“We have enjoyed working with Rotala over many years, they have supported us, stuck by us, and because of this 128 new buses will soon hit the streets of Bolton,” John continued, going on to talk about Wrightbus’ view of the way forwards for the industry. He spoke about the potential fear, for operators and manufacturers, of turning away from what they are familiar with, but said that EVs have their place, but fuel cells seem to be the way forward for many applications. “Customers say they want zero-emissions with low upfront costs . We believe fuel cells can tick a lot of boxes. It drives like a diesel, fills up like a diesel, runs all day like a diesel.”
The final speaker to take to the rostrum was Gary Nolan, Chief Executive of OneBus, who talked more about the importance of partnerships. “What can we do to get people on board?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s about bringing operators together, and developing a partnership alternative with TfGM. Yes, there are problems, but we share the same vision. How we deliver that is the difference. We don’t believe franchises have been looked into fully, and think a partnership can deliver much faster at no risk to the public purse. At the minute, franchising is seen as the solution but no one will listen to the alternatives. There are far too many issues for local authorities to take on themselves. OneBus is about what we can do together. The delivery of these new buses shows that operators are investing, and is fantastic news.”
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