Executive Support Officer, Eugene Clarke, gives his own perspective on his long career and working for Go-Ahead London both in the capital and Singapore
When I was first offered this opportunity, I’ve got to say I was a little surprised. Me? Really? #just-saying and www.can-i-really-pull-this-off.com/ball-in-my-court-now
I’ve always enjoyed words and have gained employment from them for many years, especially since the early 1990s, when I walked into 55 Broadway for what my then boss sold as a six-month secondment to the London Transport press office. We parted with his saying: “Eugene, you won’t be out of sight, or out of mind.” Just as well I liked ‘it’ and they liked me, but that’s another story and here we are.
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If the Editor’s mailbag overflows with criticism, this will be a limited edition – one of, er, one. (I’ll even sign copies and attempt to sell them on eBay, just like those old Gibson ticket machines (£750), Routemaster ‘LT’ number plates (£lots) and London Transport inspector badges (various sums).
My personal journey started in November 1967, when I popped into the world, having been born within a stone’s throw of Park Royal Works, Willesden, NW10. Mum or Dad never drove a car and they never moved from the Cricklewood, NW2, terrace they purchased in the early 1950s. The bus garage was/is a five-minute walk away and my childhood, one of travelling virtually everywhere by big red bus, typically a Routemaster, followed by Daimler Fleetlines, Leyland Nationals and MCW Metrobuses. Happy days bobbing around the capital (especially routes 16, 32, 52, 245 and 266), particularly when hanging off the back of an open platform bus at speed.
I’m not a bus enthusiast, but I’m proud to work in the sector and I enjoy its rich history, including some of the characters who’ve been associated with it. Let me make clear that my words generally aren’t going to offer the reader deep and meaningful analysis of bus policy, political considerations or profits (assuming they exist), but they might spark a conversation, based on my views and not those of my employer, Go-Ahead London – another #just-saying moment.
It’s 2019 – the pig’s revered in the Chinese New Year, RIP Peter Tork (musician with the Monkees) and, hopefully, Liverpool are crowned Premier League champions in addition to winning the Champions League. This year from a work perspective’s been another one of writing, planning and advising (because I work for a Managing Director, people assume I know everything. I don’t. It doesn’t stop them singing like canaries at times, so I typically soak it all up). Reports, correspondence, executive summaries, press releases, commentary, opinion pieces, e-mails, filming (internal and external), visit planning and a relentless stream of WhatsApp messages. That tends to be my world and I mostly enjoy it, although there are occasions when the phone irritates. There’s always something going on, and that’s without Singapore.
The emails appeared in late 2015. Go-Ahead had secured a London-esque contract to operate around 400 buses from a place called Loyang in a country that I could sort of point to, a bit, on a world map. Said email invited colleagues to express an interest in being deployed out there. I didn’t give it much thought at the time and cracked on with the job in hand. In early 2016 I was given what I call ‘a tug’ by John Trayner (Go-Ahead London Managing Director), aka JT and very much boss man. He asked if I fancied a spell in the East looking after communications and marketing.
Being a NW2/NW10 sort of person, I politely declined, even though I was actively involved in preparations for our new Barking garage. “Not East London Eug, Singapore son.” Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. “Sure,” I said. “I’ll give it a go” and I duly departed Heathrow in July that year on a Singapore Airlines A380. What service and what a plane – a shame it’ll soon be out of production.
Where do I begin? Colleagues kept in touch and ribbed me about ‘living the dream.’ Yeah, right. Much of what followed was as I’d expected. The days were long, the issues bountiful, the authority exacting, the people lovely, the remit well beyond what was planned, with the ultimate victory hard won, but worth it.
I can be cynical, hard to convince and occasionally stubborn, but it was life changing. One of my earliest experiences in the ‘proper’ East, thousands of miles beyond Barking, was a meeting with an Australian academic who’d been tasked with briefing myself and others on ‘cross cultural awareness.’ I was asked about my ambitions for the secondment and my reply was a friendly, if straight one. “I want to do a good job, ensure positive copy for the business by building decent links with key journos, lay foundations and a framework for the PR function, before heading home.” She pulled me to one side and predicted I’d fall in love with the place. Professor Robyn, you were right. I’ve got ongoing responsibility for Loyang’s external engagement and a military title to boot (I’ll explain more if I get a second bite of the cherry).
Working in London and Singapore means I inevitably compare and contrast the two. There are similarities, especially when it comes to the work element, but also marked differences. I love both and I frequently wish I was 20-years or so younger. But I’m not, so it is what it is and I’m fortunate to have stumbled upon the delights of the so-called ‘Lion City’ and its abundance of culture. (I can’t say food as I don’t sample local tastes, being an unadventurous eater).
That conversation I mentioned earlier. Well here it is, triggered, in part, by a colleague who recently said the cycling lobby can’t be criticised – full stop. End of. I disagree, not least because the rules of the road also apply to cyclists, especially around speed, lane discipline and traffic signals (as they do to all road users). So how do we ensure our voice, especially that of users is heard?
The point here is that although I can’t immediately name a cycling spokesperson, it’s very apparent the sector’s ensured its voice is heard, as reflected in the amount of resource being spent, political goodwill and the overall nature of the debate. In a way, good for them, despite the fact most London cyclists absolutely don’t reflect the city in which they pedal and it’s not always a very resilient mode (use declines when the weather’s a bit crap). So, should we, the coach and bus industry, learn from the cycling lobby?
What follows isn’t a criticism. I noted recent PR efforts around the number of cars a single bus removes from congested city streets. Quite right too, but it’s a pastiche of what London Transport was saying in the 1960s. What could, or should, we showcase as an alternative? Maybe it’s just a very effective way to make the point, but, at least in my half-century old mind, it took me back in time. Maybe I’d see it differently were I a bit younger and not so familiar with the capital.
In London, Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor are delivering on commitments to clean the city’s air, but it’s also frustrating that bus services continue to suffer from very bad congestion, because cars, private hires and vans remain popular. Buses are cleaner, but they don’t really run any faster. We’ve also seen road space reconfigured, which, along with roadworks, has negatively impacted bus attractiveness. Real change is coming, driven, no pun intended, by politically brave policies such as the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). There’s a tipping point that will probably soon be reached, where cheap private transport finds itself having to pay a premium to access areas that were previously free or not prohibitively expensive. Is the innovative, cost-effective and flexible London bus network ready to take the load should modal shift happen, possibly involving some who might never have been on a bus before?
To those of you who’ve travelled on this inaugural journey with me, thanks. If there’s a part two I’ll introduce you to Jessica and Michelle, meeting Tom Cruise, burgers with Bob Kiley, family connections to Go-Ahead Ireland’s operating area and regularly responding to JT asking: “Is this another hare-brained idea Eug?”
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