Manchester-based bus company Go North West is addressing the under representation of women in public transport by launching a new recruitment campaign to attract more women into the bus industry. The operator has set itself a goal to double female representation amongst its workforce by 2025. Its new campaign went live on 21 February, to coincide with the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s industry-wide national driver recruitment week.
The ‘People Like You’ campaign features six female members of Go North West staff who entered the industry from a wide range of previous backgrounds. Starring in the campaign are Claire, Jayne, Marie, Chloe, Tina and Jola. Five are bus drivers and one is a member of the maintenance team, and all work at the company’s Queens Road depot in Manchester. The campaign sees the women featured in profiles explaining what ‘life behind the wheel’ is really like.
Nigel Featham, Managing Director at Go North West, said: “Working in public transport is very fulfilling. It’s rewarding to play a big role in city life, camaraderie is high, and we offer a full re-training programme for those wishing to join. To open careers with us to as wide a range of applicants as possible we have in place family friendly policies like flexible working, shared parental leave and time off for family emergencies. However, while we are seeing increased numbers of women join us, we’d love to see more. Our target is to double the number of women in the workforce by 2025. The bus industry is a fantastic place to work, and we are keen to encourage women that ‘we are hiring people like you’.”
Tina Reville, a driver at Go North West, said: “Before I started, I was a little apprehensive about driving big vehicles, but there’s really nothing to worry about at all. The people are fantastic, from the banter we have between colleagues to the regular customers we see up and down our routes. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else!”
Go North West’s parent company, the Go-Ahead Group, has set targets to increase female representation across all of its UK bus businesses from 11% to 20% by 2025. Go-Ahead established an industry-first ‘Women In Bus’ network in 2019, offering support and mentoring to women at its bus companies across the UK.
