Arriva Midlands’ West Area

Gareth Evans talks to Arriva Midlands West Area Managing Director Rob Cheveaux, who candidly shares his experiences of dealing with austerity, the latest on driver recruitment and an update on the garages across his area, which stretch from Tamworth to Oswestry

Rob Cheveaux enjoys a laugh – as he does coffee and biscuits. He certainly knows how to make his visitors feel welcome.

I met him in his first floor office, which occupies a pleasant corner of the two-storey administration block at Cannock garage. Since I last saw Rob at Telford garage in June 2015, he’s had to implement some tough decisions in order to secure the future of the business. As we talked, he was refreshingly candid about dealing with the climate of austerity.

In 2015, the Arriva Midlands and Arriva the Shires businesses merged – the operation is now known as Arriva Midlands.

Asked, how this business – which was once known as Arriva Midlands and Midland Red North before that – works in relation to the merged Arriva Shires and Midlands operation, Rob replied: “The Midlands as a whole stretches from Oswestry in North Shropshire to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire in the South.

Following a recent business decision, the Midlands was split into two regions – North and South. The North covers Shropshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire. The South, which is headed by Maq Alibhai, covers Leicestershire, Luton, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury and High Wycombe.

“The South has Leicester, a pretty big city, and Luton, which is expanding. The North has Derby, also a pretty big city, whilst the Shropshire and Staffordshire areas are more semi-rural but it does though, have some good, strong routes. From where it was to where it is now in 2017 is certainly moving forward. It is about partnership working – relationships with local and transport authorities are vital.”

Future-proofing Arriva Midlands

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Rob took up the story: “In 2016, we looked at the business. Some of it was driven by local authorities’ requirements to implement savings in supported bus services budgets.

“Staffordshire County Council implemented cuts in September 2015. Working with them, we tried to look at what could be commercially viable. However, tendered services are financially supported for a reason, so it didn’t really work on this occasion. We therefore had to re-base in September 2016. We looked at all our current services, including how they were operating and what they were doing.

“We reviewed the network and tried to almost straighten out the network to modernise it. On some corridors we had different services that were effectively operating on top of each other. Eventually across Staffordshire and Shropshire, we took out 21 PVR (Peak Vehicle Requirement). In financial terms, it’s turned the area around in a big way, which has been a huge benefit to the business.”

In his frank but fair manner, Rob continued: “Working with stakeholders is key. For these changes, we engaged in informative discussions with local authorities and stakeholders about what we were looking to do.

“For the amount of changes we made, I have to say it went pretty smoothly. Nobody likes change – and whenever a change is made, someone will inevitably be inconvenienced. We did however, try to target our resources where the passenger volume was.

“I think some people believe network reviews are easy decisions to make, but they’re not. We didn’t make the changes until September, but we’d been working on them since February 2016. It was a huge body of work – we explored all avenues.”

As for what impact the revisions had out on the road, Rob said: “By the time we’d decided on the changes, Stafford depot was left with a PVR of seven, which clearly was too small. Therefore, we moved everything into Cannock and closed Stafford depot. Again, that wasn’t an easy decision, but for the business it was the right thing to do.

“We tried to simplify the network, which is good for everyone. Timetables are now easier to follow for passengers. We do get letters from politicians asking to reinstate journeys, which is understandable. Some people want an on-demand taxi-type service.”

On that note, Rob enthused: “DRT (Demand Responsive Transport) is something Arriva is now working on. That might include operating a minibus to meet a bigger bus on the main road, with a more frequent service.

“Arriva Southern Counties has recently launched the concept with the ArrivaClick service in Sittingbourne. I’ve said I would like to see how the trial goes first before we take it further in the area – but it is another avenue we can explore. It does though, need partnership working with local authorities to take it forward. Political will is required. Partnership working is essential.”

Wednesfield

A more recent change to the area has been the sale of Arriva’s Black Country operation, which was based at Wednesfield, to Rotala.

“We had to take a business decision,” Rob said. “We transferred two commercial routes from Wednesfield – service 35 was moved to Tamworth and service 10 to Telford. Again, working with local trade union representatives, there were no compulsory redundancies.

“We now have a firm base to work from for the future.”

Shrewsbury

Located on a modern, purpose-built site in Harlescott on the eastern edge of Shropshire’s county town after its move from the historical Midland Red garage in 2012, Shrewsbury has a PVR of 46.

“We acquired some Shropshire Council-tendered work following GHA’s collapse last summer,” explained Rob.

“We’ve been working with Shropshire Council to see how things can work from then on. In essence, local authorities have their own budgetary constraints, so we’ve been looking at how some of these corridors could be integrated into our commercial services network.

“It’s about stability – operators and the travelling public want stability. That’s also what grows patronage. The last thing you want is continually changing timetables. The idea of last year’s re-basing was to stabilise the business – for the benefit of all internally and externally. It’s giving people the chance to become familiar with the network, and hence reliability and punctuality, which will drive patronage growth. You can’t do that if you keep changing your network.”

Oswestry

Reflecting the long-established geographical, economic and transport links between the two towns, Shrewsbury garage works closely with Oswestry, which lies 18 miles north along the A5.

Like Shrewsbury, Oswestry also picked up some post-GHA work. For a garage that has been the subject of closure rumours on several occasions in the past, it’s pleasing to report that the dark clouds have passed over.

In fact, Rob could not hide his admiration for the North Shropshire market town: “For a 19 PVR garage, it serves the town as it should and I believe there may be opportunities to expand the operation in future. It’s certainly in a good place as far as I’m concerned. There’s a great team spirit at Oswestry – everyone works together and rises to the call of duty.”

Telford

As the largest garage in Rob’s area in terms of PVR – 60 buses – it’s no surprise that he keeps a keen eye on Telford.

“We are the main operator there. Again, we have an excellent working relationship with Telford & Wrekin Council,” he enthused.

“Telford is in a good place in terms of operational performance. We picked up the two-bus contract for route 96 from GHA, which connects Telford and Shrewsbury, via the back roads. Telford also boasts some strong commercial services. We carried out quite a big network change in Telford in July 2015. Again, that’s worked well – it’s settled down nicely. We secured some tendered work there last year for five years, which was good.

“As we’re continually doing across our network, we’re looking for opportunities for expansion. Again, it’s about stability. As an industry, we can all be guilty of unnecessary tinkering – it’s better to let the network settle down.

“People will come to you and complain that a change is not working, but I would argue it’s better to let it bed in and then review it. We have to give changes 12 to 18 months to settle. Having spent so long preparing our network changes – seven months in total, I’d like to think we’ve done our homework. We’ll never get 100%, but 95% is fine – give that remaining 5% a chance.”

Cannock

The well-known Midland Red-built garage celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The site retains an area headquarters function. Operationally, the garage has a PVR of 57. In addition to engineering facilities that include an ATF (Authorised Testing Facility) which is used by Arriva and third-parties alike, the site is also home to the area’s training school. It retains its own staff canteen too.

“In the rebase last September, Cannock lost eight PVR,” Rob explained. “It was the garage we had to concentrate on. Again, that was about simplifying the network. We had to take action on routes that no matter what you do will never perform commercially.

“Again, communicating and working with the union and stakeholders was key. Cannock garage has moved from barely a break even position in 2016 to profit in 2017 – and that gives us a firm concrete footing for the future. This rebasing was not about the next 12 months or five years, it was about securing the future of the business for the foreseeable future.”

Tamworth

With a PVR of 40, it’s clear that Tamworth is another garage Rob is proud of: “Tamworth is performing really well. We commission our own annual passenger surveys. We didn’t do every depot in 2016. Just five weeks after the rebasing changes had been implemented, satisfaction in both Cannock and Stafford rose by 6 and 8%. Considering the changes that were made, I feel that’s quite a good improvement. In the 2015 customer survey, Tamworth topped Arriva’s UK Bus satisfaction table, with 81% satisfaction.”

Tamworth’s work is now almost entirely commercial. Rob is also pleased with the fact that last year, Tamworth gained Investors in People accreditation.

As for the future, he said: “We have an excellent team at Tamworth. We’re looking to enhance frequencies in the near future, but there’s always a balancing act between increasing PVR and obtaining the revenue.”

Recruitment

Asked how the business is doing for staff, Rob said: “Overall, our turnover has been pretty good. We always like to maintain a steady stream of new drivers coming through. I’ve always felt it’s prudent to be on the right side rather than wrong side of establishment as things can soon slip.

“You certainly don’t want a garage to be short of drivers or problems can arise. Establishment is a key part of ensuring a business runs properly.”

Asked approximately what it costs to train a new driver and how long it typically takes, Rob replied: “I would suggest that from day one in the training school to their inaugural day flying solo behind a bus wheel, could be up to 10 weeks. A new driver typically spends approximately six weeks in the training school, then they’re back at the depot doing mentor training.

“I’d suggest it costs £6,000 to £8,000 to train a driver from start to finish, so they’re not small numbers. Clearly therefore, it’s essential to take all possible steps to minimise staff turnover.”

Driver training and recruitment is a subject which would appear to be close to Rob’s heart – and he understands the financial and compliance implications for ‘getting it right.’

He continued: “In the past, our industry has been reliant on people who can drive a big vehicle. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a requirement, but I’m not sure it should be an essential requirement. My view is we should be looking for people who are customer-focused. You can train people to drive a bus. Clearly, they still need to have the driving standards to be able to handle a larger vehicle.

“What we try to end up with is – if someone passes their test at our training school in Cannock, in my view as a former instructor, you have reached the minimum requirement to gain a PCV licence. You are now a person who can drive a bus – that doesn’t make you a bus driver. That’s the difference – a bus driver has the customer service qualities and so on. As an industry, I feel we need to focus on those skills and characteristics. In my experience, those who are good with people tend be pretty good drivers because of their personality – they’re calmer and conscientious and they’ll understand people’s needs on the road. That’s what we’re looking more at.

“Bus driving is one of the few jobs where if you’re coming without a licence, you’re likely to have to leave your previous employment before you’re guaranteed a job – yet you could be left with nothing at the end of it if you fail. That’s why it’s essential when recruiting to choose the right people. You have to be careful that during training, if it becomes clear that someone is not going to make it, you have to tell them. It’s wrong to build up someone’s expectations. It’s not fair on the individual or the company.”

Rob said current drivers are not being forgotten either: “As part of our Driver CPC (DCPC) training, we have a Drive Safe course, where they spend a day with a coach on a bus, which includes both classroom and out on the road training.

“This proactive training is something we should all have been doing a long time ago. In the past I feel the industry’s been too reactive rather than proactive. DCPC classroom modules can be very useful and interesting, but actually going out with a coach can be even more beneficial for drivers. They work in groups of two or three, as they would while in training for obtaining their PCV licence.”

Career

Asked how he got into the bus industry, Rob responded: “What’s strange about this is when I left school, my first job was as an apprentice panel beater in Liverpool with Cowies – and of course, that car dealership later became Arriva.”

After obtaining his PSV driving licence, Rob started as a driver in April 1986 with the old Merseyside PTE at Gillmoss depot, which is now Stagecoach.

“Deregulation came in October 1986,” he recalled. “I was driving on the Sunday it took effect. It was like the Red Arrows display team, with buses flying everywhere. It was a nightmare – I remember it well.

“In 1994, I successfully applied for a driving instructor’s position, which was based at the now closed Edge Lane depot. Training was then centralised at Gillmoss.

“In 2000, Arriva took over MTL, at which point I progressed to working as a supervisor at Laird Street in Birkenhead.”

Rob’s next move took him across the border into Wales: “Arriva North West and Arriva Cymru were brought together under the same management in 2003. The Arriva Cymru head office at Llandudno Junction was closed, with the functions all being carried out at Arriva North West’s Aintree offices.

“There was a requirement for Operations Managers (OM) in each of the Welsh depots. I applied to be OM in Llandudno Junction. At the time, Howard Farrall was the area manager who was based there. We remain friends to this day.

“In 2005, I moved back to Laird Street as Traffic Manager. After two years, I became General Manager (GM) at Runcorn, where I remained for three years. In 2010, I became GM at St Helens. In October 2013, I came to Arriva Midlands as Area Managing Director.”

Conclusion

Having retained the accent of his homeland, and having worked in not too wide a geographical sphere for much of his career, I asked Rob where he resides as the North West is some distance from the West Midlands.

“I live in North Wales and I commute,” he replied. “I’ve lived there with my family for more than 20 years. It’s the nature of the industry that if you moved every time your job changed, you’d never settle anywhere.”

Having previously established that Rob and I are on a similar wavelength, I couldn’t help but quip about the word stability – something he’d stressed throughout our interview.

“Yes, that’s what it’s all about,” he laughed.

“If you’ve got work stability, there’s a good chance you’ve got home stability. I know what should come first, but I’m not sure it always comes first. Don’t quote that to my wife or there will be another story in CBW in two weeks’ time – Rob Cheveaux gets divorced…!”

Coming across as a decidedly chirpy individual, I told Rob he appears to enjoy a friendly laugh whenever the right occasion arises.

“There’s enough time when the pressure is on and you have to do things, but when you do things right, it’s important to celebrate,” he said.

“I’ve always believed you should celebrate success. If things deliver the right results, we shouldn’t be afraid to say so.”

Visit Arriva Midlands: arrivabus.co.uk/midlands[/wlm_ismember]