A changing landscape

Jonathan Welch speaks to Stagecoach Manchester Operations Director Rebecca Rathore about the challenges of franchising and the driver shortage

In issue 1594, we looked at Stagecoach Manchester’s driver training regime, from first day to ongoing CPC training, and discovered an enthusiastic team of trainers with genuine pride in what they do. This was all the more impressive given the upheaval the bus industry in Manchester is going through during the move to Transport for Greater Manchester’s new Bee Network franchising regime.

The operator’s operations team is led by Operations Director Rebecca Rathore. Rebecca is also one of a growing number of women rising through the ranks of the industry and, alongside the everyday needs of running a large bus operation in one of the UK’s major cities, is helping to raise awareness of careers in coach and bus for women, as well as the issues women can face in the sector. Among other achievements, earlier this year she was named winner of the Everywoman in Logistics & Transport ‘Customer/Passenger Award’ for customer excellence in a transport environment, and she was a guest speaker and panelist at the Women in Bus & Coach network’s launch summit in Birmingham in October.

I spoke to Rebecca to find out a bit more about the challenges behind the move to a franchise system, as well as her experiences of the industry, before taking a look around the company’s Hyde Road depot and meeting some other key members of the team who help to keep the city’s bus services running. We were joined by Head of Franchise Mobilisation Zac McAskill.

A life in transport

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Rebecca started by explaining a little more about her own background. “I’ve been working in transport for 22 years, starting with a Saturday job with National Express in the ticket office in Lever Street in Manchester. After I finished my degree in law, I stayed for a year, and I knew just from my Saturday job that even though I’d studied law I wanted to work in transport.

“I got a position with Go-Ahead on their graduate scheme, which involved six months in aviation, six months in bus and six months in rail. After that I went into rail with Southern, managing large stations like London Victoria and Brighton. I spent a number of years managing large teams in frontline operations and then joined Go-Ahead’s franchise bidding team, successfully bidding for the South Central franchise and the mobilisation of the South Eastern and South Central franchises.

“By then I’d been in London for about 10 years, I was ready to start a family and wanted to return to Manchester. I took on the role of Passenger Services Introduction Manager with TfGM when Metrolink was being expanded from just three routes to Altrincham, Bury and Eccles with around 30 stops. We more than tripled the network to eight lines and almost 100 stops.

“After that, I went into TfGM’s Customer Directorate and looked at specifications for bus franchising and doing early work around that. The early concepts feel like such a long time ago now. I went on to join Manchester Airport as Head of Ground Transport & Landside Support, covering all transport modes that weren’t a plane, such as the relationship with National Highways and local authorities as well as everything to do with the trains, trams, buses, coaches, highways and taxis.

“I was there for around four years, which included the pandemic shutdown and the rapid restart. I joined Stagecoach 16 months ago as Operations Director. I wasn’t actually looking, I had no reason to leave the airport, but someone pointed me towards the role advert and I decided to apply.

“I’ve managed a lot within that time. When I joined, driver turnover was high, around 26%. It’s now at lows of 10%, lower than pre-pandemic levels which were 12%. We had a significant shortage of drivers, so we’ve done a lot around recruitment and retention. Our base rate for drivers is now £16 per hour and we have the best terms and conditions in Manchester.”

Since the pandemic, lots of people are realising now that working conditions are as important as pay, Rebecca pointed out, adding that the pool of drivers who are willing to work overtime has also changed, with some doing less and others choosing to do more: “It’s important to have a good working environment; that breeds loyalty. People need to feel they are part of something and believe in what they’re doing. It can be hard to achieve in a business with around 2,000 drivers. You need to make sure you engage with them through every possible channel.

“I wasn’t here when Stagecoach bid for the first tranche of TfGM franchises, but supported tranche two bids. We’ve managed large events like Parklife, cutting the journey times to and from the event by 50%. We’ve had the strikes too but we managed to secure a pay deal. And successful mobilisation of our tranche one schools contracts; a lot has happened, it’s been a busy 16 months.”

Zac added “We’ve been in Manchester for a long time. It’s important to us to continue to play a part in the city, so we’re delighted to have been successful in tranche two. For a period we’ll be operating around 80% of the bus network in Manchester, which is incredible. It’ll be a massive challenge for everyone; we’re all aware of the challenge ahead, but we have the right team in place. We need to make sure we put our best foot forward.

“We did have success with our schools unit in tranche one. We have 46 school routes, which began in September, so those are giving us valuable experience before we begin our tranche two contracts in March. We have dedicated vehicles, fitted with Ticketer ticket machines supplied by TfGM in place of our Vix ones for example, so it’s helping us to get used to the new way of doing things.”

Looking at the fleet itself, Zac added: “We’ve always had an up to date fleet here in Manchester in terms of age profile of the fleet, so I don’t think we’ll see a big change as new ones arrive for our tranche two contracts.”

Constant change

I wondered how Rebecca’s experiences on both sides of the franchising coin had shaped her view of the direction TfGM is heading in. “Having worked at TfGM, I can see the benefits from both sides. I can see why TfGM would want to move forward with franchising. Now I’m at Stagecoach, I can understand why the model Stagecoach uses allows us to deliver such a good service. I could understand that even when I was at TfGM, but from TfGM’s perspective it’s about consistency across the city, and from the Stagecoach side, it’s only possible to address what’s within Stagecoach’s control. I think ultimately, it’s about what’s right for the customer.”

The move to a franchised system in Greater Manchester has not been the only change that Rebecca has seen since she joined the operator, as she explained: “The biggest change was post-covid, when we had big drops in the number of drivers we needed.

“We also recognise that eyes from across the UK are on Manchester to see how franchising rolls out.

“Despite the changes and uncertainty, we need to ensure that we deliver the service that customers need,” Rebecca continued. “It’s important to communicate with people and be open and honest about what’s happening.”

The Stagecoach Manchester operation is a big one, with a peak vehicle requirement of almost 800. Some of its busiest routes on key corridors operate up to every three minutes to cater for demand, and during the changeover period the company will be operating at eight depots. Something not to be forgotten among the mobilisation of new contracts is the demobilisation, such as the hand-over of Wigan operations to incoming Go North West, which Rebecca outlined requires a large amount of work behind the scenes to close down and hand over the business whilst ensuring operations continue uninterrupted.

“It needs to be a working depot from day one,” she explained. “We’re looking at the risks and planning ahead. We’re analysing what we’ll need in terms of drivers, for example, so we know we’ll have everything in place on day one. We know which drivers will transfer via TUPE, but some drivers will choose to stay with their existing operator and transfer to another depot, so we have to build in assumptions of where we think we’ll be and what the worst case scenario could be, implementing measures and minimising risk.”

Zac agreed, adding: “There’s a fear of the unknown. We’ve built up some really good relationships with operators but there’s only so much you can do beforehand. One of the benefits of Stagecoach is that we’re a big national group, so I’ll be spending some time in London looking at how our franchised operations for TfL work there. We’ve always worked closely with TfGM and will continue to work to the best of our ability under the franchise system.”

Driver recruitment

Going back to the subject of driver retention, Rebecca explained that the driver shortage risked being a never-ending cycle in which buses are missing, leading to other drivers becoming frustrated and choosing to leave the industry, exacerbating the problem even further. “It was vital to make sure that we were stable before we tried to grow, and to communicate that to the team,” Rebecca explained.

“Having come from the outside, what I saw was operators trying to recruit drivers from other operators, when actually the pool of drivers is so small, you need to go out to look elsewhere. It was a question of how we make being a bus driver a role that people who maybe wouldn’t think about this industry might choose as a viable option. At one point, our training school had 80 people at any time, with 20 new starters every week. That really helped us remove the pressure on the operation. This has continued to grow with dedication of resource and investment in recruitment materialising for us. We now have 100 trainees in our school at any given time, a similar amount in the pipeline waiting to start, and a further 100 or so being interviewed every week.”

Drivers are not the only vital workers of course, and skilled engineers can also be hard to come by, Rebecca explained, taking up to four years to train.

As well as getting the basics in order, Rebecca explained the importance of ensuring that staff feel appreciated. “It’s important to celebrate the good things that we do and our successes,” she said. “We took part in the Bus Driver of the Year competition in September. We held our local event at Ashton, and drivers brought their families along to watch. It’s a great atmosphere.”

As well as staff engagement, Stagecoach also does a lot of work with local communities to support local projects and initiatives. “We donated a bus to Foundation 92, which is about getting kids who hang around bus stations and provide them with a safe space, to prevent anti-social behaviour,” Rebecca explained. “We’ve also worked with Access Sport and I’ve worked with Girls Out Load, which shows girls what career opportunities are available and offers help and support to build confidence. We work regularly with guide dog trainers too, and the Trussell Trust food banks to donate food. Ashton depot regularly holds events to help Tameside Hospital, at Easter and Christmas for example. Sharston depot has been doing a lot to get children involved and educate them on public transport. We have so much going on; we have to be more than just a bus service. Transport is the backbone of the economy, connecting communities and employment hubs, but we also have to give back to the community too. It’s important that they champion us as much as we champion them.”

Eco mission

Stagecoach was an early adopter of electric buses, operating a fleet of them from its Sharston depot. The Enviro400EV double-deckers are proving a success, Zac said, pointing out some of the other things the company is doing to improve its green credentials. “We have our carbon strategy targets. We have a lights-off policy, and depots have targets as part of their health and safety plan of what we can do. We’re constantly monitoring to make sure we’re moving forwards and improving each year,” he explained.

“We’ve just created a new social impact and environment manager role to focus on those things and make sure that we’re making the right decision in terms of social values. We also have solar panels on the roof at our Stockport garage.”

Despite the apprehension, both Zac and Rebecca agreed that they are excited for the start of the new franchised regime. “We know we’ve got our plans in place, and a really experienced team behind it,” Rebecca said.

On top of her day to day workload as Operations Director, Rebecca also made the decision to obtain her PCV licence. “Having passed my theory and practical tests I recently completed my training and operated my first passenger service along the busiest bus corridor in Europe, the famous Wilmslow Road.

“I do think it’s important to have a deeper understanding of each role and show that the directors can drive a bus as well. It’s also important we make the industry attractive and show it is an industry that is an option to all, showing that there is no such thing as a stereotypical bus driver. My dad was a bus driver in the 1970s, and there’s an image of it being a role for men or older people. I’m showing people that that’s not the case.

“The whole perception people have of bus drivers needs to change; when I speak to our drivers, they say they don’t have the respect they had a decade ago. Everyone needs to understand what it’s like, and now when I’m in meetings I’ll have a better understanding of what the role entails. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with it, I have a lot of respect for the role.”

Alongside driving, Rebecca has taken the time to go out with other colleagues to experience all aspects of the business, such as with inspectors late at night or during freshers’ week, or spending time in the control room during the early morning run-out. “In my previous roles too, I’d help out when we were short. Respect and credibility are important at all levels and amongst your team,” she added. “It’s how I’ve always worked. At times when things are difficult, it shows that we’re all in it together.”

Women in transport

Moving on to the topic of women in the transport sector – see page 24 for Jonathan Taylor’s report from the parliamentary launch of the Women in Bus & Coach support network – I asked Rebecca, who was a guest speaker at the network’s Birmingham event in October, what her experiences had been. “I joined transport over 20 years ago, and for a long time I was the only woman on the team. I never noticed it. I never felt like I was different then. Yes, it becomes more noticeable as you progress as we only have 10% of women in the sector and this percentage decreases in senior roles but I see this changing. For me, you work hard and use your confidence to push past barriers. I’ve never been made to feel like I’m not where I should be. That isn’t to say there aren’t challenges and I’m aware of these and biases.”

Rebecca raised another point about the clash of industry experience versus ‘outsiders’ coming into the industry at management level; “There are benefits from both sides,” she said, “sometimes people think you have to have one or the other, but there’s space for both. When everything is changing, it’s good to have different perspectives and experience.”

Depot walkaround

After our chat, I had the opportunity to look around the depot and see the maintenance facilities, where a team of engineers has a constant stream of work ensuring that buses are fit for service and balancing the operational needs to get buses out on the roads with the demands of servicing, repairs and scheduled 28-day inspections. Tucked away around the back of the building is the entrance to the paint shop, where experienced painters still hand-finish buses, including for other local Stagecoach companies; at the time of my visit, a two-door Enviro400 from the former Peoplesbus fleet in Liverpool was being repainted into the turquoise ‘special purpose’ version of Stagecoach’s corporate livery, whist hidden away was a now-revealed Alexander ALX400, freshly painted in Stagecoach ‘stripes’ livery for the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, alongside members of the main fleet.

One thing that struck me again as I walked around the depot, which was built in the 1900s as a tram shed, and spoke to staff from different departments was the same level of enthusiasm and engagement that I’d seen with the training team earlier in the day. The engineering team was keen to come together for a group photo in the workshop, with all the usual good humour that anyone who has worked in a busy depot will be familiar with, whilst the presentation team, with the unending task of ensuring buses are in a clean, tidy and fit state for passengers, seemed genuinely cheery, enthusiastic and happy in their work.

For Rebecca, joining Stagecoach represents something of a family homecoming. “My dad started as a conductor and then became a driver at Ashton. When I got the job, he told me some of the stories of when he was a driver. He told me that the inspectors would wear hats, and the most senior one had a particular hat. When that person walked in, they’d have to stand up and salute them. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen any more, I wouldn’t want that!

“The success of Stagecoach Manchester isn’t me or any one individual, it’s the people who come together to make it all happen.”

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