Adrian Morton visits Stagecoach South at its Portsmouth depot to meet with newly appointed Operations Director Carol Sim, Managing Director Marc Reddy, and the award-winning depots’ long-standing Operations Manager Colin Ashcroft
Stagecoach South has long been on my list as an operation I wished to visit. During my time owning Mortons, it’s a business I very much enjoyed good relations with, and I’ve always held the company in high regard as an operator striving to do things right. Several recent accolades only go to echo my sentiments, and so I made the journey south, to Farlington depot at Portsmouth, to meet with the Operations Manager there, Colin Ashcroft, Operations Director Carol Sim and Managing Director Marc Reddy, both relatively new in their roles, and indeed to the Stagecoach Group, but bringing a wealth of experience between them.
A local hero
You could say Colin is somewhat of a celebrity, being named in the Guardian’s list of the unsung heroes of 2020. The Guardian’s list of heroes is compiled from nominations by readers across the UK, included those working within the NHS, supermarket staff and people who carried out essential work throughout the pandemic. He was nominated by one of his drivers, as someone who is loved by all his team, is a huge advocate of mental health, and never fails to lead by example.
Colin began his career as a part-time cleaner at Worthing depot and worked his way up from there, becoming a driver in the town in October 1998. After a very short spell with Arriva, Colin came back to Stagecoach at Portsmouth, working his way up to Supervisor, then Controller as well as doing a year as a Revenue Inspector. He then moved to Basingstoke to become Assistant Operations Manager. During 2012 that role saw him covering the Assistant Operations Manager position at Portsmouth, as Stagecoach South played a huge part in the Olympics. He later became the Operations Manager at Basingstoke before moving back to Worthing and finally Portsmouth, again, in 2016.
Colin takes much pride in the work he and his colleagues do for charity, community engagement and indeed staff engagement. “We have always been a big supporter of Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, which helps to raise money for research into over 200 different types of cancer,” he enthused.
When he was at Worthing in early 2016, there were 30 female members of staff who were thinking of doing the Race for Life. The idea of painting an ADL Enviro400 in a pink based version of the then current Stagecoach ‘beach ball’ livery soon came to life, as Stagecoach East at Bedford had done the same with an Enviro200.
In a strange turn of events the vehicle selected came out of the paint shop the same day Colin learnt his mother had passed from cancer. That bus was then dedicated to her memory, carrying the name Sandy Ashcroft on the front and back and became affectionately known as ‘the Pink Lady.’ As new vehicles have arrived and cascades throughout the group have taken place, there have been two ‘Pink Ladies.’ Currently there isn’t one but this doesn’t stop Colin and his team raising money for this and other charities by attending local fairs, running a ‘Pudsey Bus’ for Children in Need and having a ‘Santa Bus’ at Christmas. As a depot, Colin strives to get involved with anything that can benefit the local community.
Portsmouth depot could be considered a ‘jewel in the crown’ of the company’s operating centres; not only does it operate the only 24-hour bus route within Stagecoach South, but Stagecoach Portsmouth was ranked earlier this year by independent watchdog Transport Focus as the best bus service in England, with the highest level of customer satisfaction. Transport Focus’ research found that Stagecoach in the city had a passenger satisfaction score of 91%, well above the national average.
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