Gareth Evans talks to Ed Potter, recently appointed Managing Director of Cleckheaton-based dealership Arriva Bus & Coach, who reveals some of his plans for developing both the Temsa and Van Hool ranges, as well as the aftersales operation
For years it had its own little charm – it was as if time had stood still at the Cleckheaton home of Arriva Bus & Coach. After climbing up a couple of stone steps, upon opening the heavy old wooden door, visitors would be met by traditional dark stained wooden veneer, with a staircase at the foot of a ‘t-junction’ of corridors. Think 1930 to 1950s ‘Are You Being Served.’
Once inside the dedicated reception room,[wlm_nonmember][…]
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visitors would be greeted by a friendly face and in the best Yorkshire tradition, they would almost immediately be offered ‘a brew,’ before being directed to comfy sofa-like seating. Given the absence of prominent corporate branding, visitors could be forgiven for thinking that it was an independent dealership, rather than being owned of one of the UK’s ‘big five’ transport groups. A couple of years ago, change was afoot – Arriva’s turquoise was no longer such a stranger.
Now however, things have moved on a stage – modernisation is firmly in the air. The parts and service counter is no longer separate from the vehicle sales area. Visitors now enter at the end of the building where the parts desk was once located. The modern, airy reception with ample seating wouldn’t look out of place at a GP surgery or dental practice. The good news is that the welcome is as a warm as ever – and caffeine remains aplenty.
This is a dealership that wants to look to the future, while remembering traditional values – something its recently appointed MD Ed Potter was keen to stress when I talked to him.
Career
How did you get into the industry? Tell us about your career to date.
After I graduated from the University of York with a BA in Music, I started as a bus driver with Metroline at Holloway garage. I then joined London Sovereign at Hatfield.
After moving over to the rail industry as a revenue protection inspector with West Anglia Great Northern, I then became a travel fraud investigator for Silverlink in Milton Keynes. I was involved with tackling season ticket fraud, which was high value. It’s quite a big problem – you wouldn’t believe some of the tricks people get up to. It was unbelievable – the culprits were almost always professional people. I did that for a year.
I then spent three years at Transport for London as an area manager in revenue protection on the buses. I managed a team of revenue protection inspectors in North London. It was just after the artics had been introduced – we had a big expansion of the team to deal with fare evasion.
I then spent five years with the London Ambulance Service. I was head of fleet and logistics for the last 18 months. Then I came to Arriva.
I started in the patient transport business, which is called Arriva Transport Solutions Limited (ATSL).
After heading up the South West contract, I then became MD of ATSL in December 2015. About six months ago, I was told Arriva Bus & Coach (ABC) would be added to my portfolio. My predecessor at ABC, Steve Hodkinson, retired at the end of March. I officially started here on April 1 – I’m now Managing Director, Specialist Mobility. I lead two specialist businesses within Arriva’s UK Bus division. I was appointed to lead a turnaround following periods of challenging trading for both companies.
Typical week
How do you normally divide your time between the businesses?
There is no particular formula. I’ve spent quite a lot of my time with ABC as there have been a number of changes I have wanted to make to the business. You could say half and half, but I spend my time where I need to. ATSL is a national business, so it takes me all over the country. We do have quite a lot of people in this area, so when it’s convenient for all concerned, we’ll conduct some ATSL business here and ABC business elsewhere.
It’s a fairly dynamic division of time between the two companies. We’ve actually shared a lot of the back office functions – some of the leadership teams are looking after both businesses. For example, we have a new finance director who is looking after both businesses. We also have an HR team which looks after both. The two businesses don’t sit obviously together, but there are lots of functions we’ve been able to share the costs and expertise.
Would you like to elaborate on the changes you’ve been wanting to make?
I think you can see what might be called ‘cosmetic’ changes. I’m quite keen to show a new, modern face of ABC. It’s a business which is looking forward to growth and perhaps some transformation. It may not seem like much, but changing the way the place looks is important. These premises are quite traditional and while we’ve got no plans to move from here, we can certainly make the site look cleaner and sharper – and hopefully you’ve seen some initial evidence of that already. More work is planned for the site too.
I wouldn’t want to lose the site’s charm – this business is quite well renowned within the industry. However, we also need to have an up-to-date workplace for our employees and when customers visit, whether they’re long-standing or brand new, we’d like them to see an energetic environment. We want the subtle changes we’re making to reflect that.
We may progressively lose some of the varnished woodwork. It’s an old building and while we’re certainly not going to pull it down, we’re going to make it in-keeping with the kind of business we’re trying to project.
As you are doubtless aware, the Arriva brand is also evolving, so we feel this is an ideal opportunity for us to refresh the building. That doesn’t just mean reception – it means everywhere. It also gives us something of a kickstart into changing some of the ways we’ve done things in the past from a customer experience perspective.
The layout of some of the rooms downstairs is currently in the process of changing. The workshops at the back are also being upgraded. We’ll phase it so we’re not pulling the place apart all in one go.
In fact, I expect we’ll be one of the first businesses to go live with the full new Arriva identity, which is another important step as it makes a statement about ABC and its intentions. We hope you will see the full effect of that with our presence at the Coach & Bus UK (formerly Coach & Bus Live) show at the NEC in early October.
Product range
What’s the latest on your offerings? Are you planning to continue with Temsa and Van Hool?
Yes, we’re still very proud to be representing Temsa and Van Hool in the UK. After our previous Commercial Director Alan Dale left us, I brought across Andrew Cullen from ATSL to fill the role. A lot of time has been invested by Andrew and I in trying to strengthen ABC’s relationships with our manufacturer partners. We feel like we’re in a position of unprecedented strength in those relationships now.
With Van Hool, whilst we’re trying to maintain the TX range in the UK, we’re also going to be exclusively distributing the EX range. In fact, we’ll be announcing some exciting product updates at the NEC show.
I feel it’s a very important time for Van Hool in the UK. Van Hool has this fantastic legacy of amazingly well-built, luxury vehicles which operators would love to have in their fleet – but it doesn’t give them market penetration that they might seek. What we see is a real appetite for Van Hool to keep that ultra high-end vehicle in the marketplace – and we’ll continue trying to sell it – but also to try and get something which is more of a workhorse. We see it as our job to get that vehicle into the right hands in the UK.
There is still a clear buoyant market for the TX range, but the reality is Van Hool will never grow its market share if it only sticks to niche products in its range.
As for Temsa, again we’ve put in a lot of effort to strengthen our relationships. They’re just so energetic about becoming a high-profile, credible option in the UK – and they’re highly responsive to feedback from us and customers alike.
We’ve committed to lots of new stock Safari HDs for this year – demand is on the up, as it is for its smaller sibling, the MD9. We’re confident about selling both models. We’ve got a number of operators who’ve committed to Safaris as they’re so impressed with the quality of the product and its affordability.
The MD9 midi coach has perhaps taken everyone by surprise with its popularity. We’ve got operators who’ve not previously run a vehicle of that size, but after trying it are now really excited by it. Again, we’ve committed to buying many MD9s for stock as we’re so confident about the product and its place in the market.
Are there any plans to introduce new models from Temsa? Have the Turkish political problems impacted on Temsa?
Andy and I were over in Turkey at Temsa’s Adana factory in May. From Temsa’s perspective, there is no concern – it’s business as usual. As far as day-to-day commerce is concerned, it’s also business as usual. Our interest is in having a strong relationship with a progressive company – that’s what we see from Temsa. In short, Temsa has a real appetite for growth in the UK and improvements to its range. Temsa had a slow start in the UK but we’re now seeing strong growth.
There is interest from some of our current Temsa customers for other parts of the range which aren’t currently available in right-hand drive. We were with some customers recently who were talking about the Maraton, for example. It’s an interesting vehicle, which sits slightly above the Safari in terms of specification and capability. Temsa would love to expand its range in the UK. We’ve also been talking to Temsa about an LD vehicle, a low-height coach that would be used for schools.
We sit it as part of our responsibility to gather the right market insight and intelligence to help Temsa decide what to commit to to. Clearly, it’s a massive step for a manufacturer to commit to engineer a vehicle for right-hand drive – and we wouldn’t want to lead them to do it if the market doesn’t exist as it would be a very costly exercise.
We’ll be gathering the views of customers, trying to understand the level of confidence we can have about a space in the market for another Temsa product. Only then would we ask Temsa to commit.
In addition to the LD, there might be other parts of the range we could consider – such as the MD7, a smaller version of the MD9. Again, Temsa would quite like to bring it to the UK – it’s popular on the Continent – but again we have to evaluate potential demand. As a coachbuilt vehicle, it would compete in the van conversion market. It’s a big market, but it’s highly competitive.
It feels like we’ve gone through a cycle with smaller buses – they’re now back in favour. Arriva is of course an enthusiastic proponent of minibuses – the fleets in Winsford and Sittingbourne being prime examples.
Rentals & buses
Do you still offer bus and coach rentals? What’s the latest?
We still have a thriving rental business. In recent weeks we’ve concluded a significant number of new rental agreements – some over the summer months, others for the longer-term. We’ve been doing some planning for next year about refreshing the rental fleet as some of the vehicles in that fleet are approaching the end of their lives there. Therefore, we’re now looking to make a commitment to 2018 and beyond. We can use the rental fleet to showcase some of the vehicles we’re proud to sell, so we may like to get some Safaris and EXs in there.
In essence, rentals remains an important part of our business and we have no plans to change that. In fact, we’d like to grow it if possible.
I appreciate you no longer sell buses. Do you still have any in your rental fleet?
We have some buses in the rental fleet – but not many. Although we’re called ‘bus and coach,’ buses have slipped down the agenda, partly because there hasn’t been a bus product for us to distribute.
However, I would like to explore every option to reintroduce a bus to our portfolio. Steve Fletcher, who has a slightly redefined role, is tasked, among other things, to look for opportunities to bring a bus back into our stable.
It may not happen, but we’re certainly not saying farewell to buses from the business at this point.
Steve is now our Head of Product. He’s our key point of expertise on our range and our interface with our partner manufacturers as well. When it comes to horizon scanning, assessing where the market is going, where legislation changes might be leading us and where the market’s appetitive is shifting between different types of vehicle, specification – Steve is the person to act as our eyes and ears. He ensures the product range we’re offering is tailored in the right way to the market’s needs.
Service & parts
What’s the latest on service and parts? Are there any changes on the horizon?
We’ve got some big plans for service and parts. We feel the coach market is crying out for better aftersales. I believe our current offering is strong, but it’s not big enough as we’re unable to serve enough of the market.
Where we do serve operators, especially with our field service team, what we provide is exceptional, but we’re unable to reach the whole country. In 2017 we will kick-start the growth of our aftersales function. In particular, at the NEC show we will have a dedicated aftersales stand, separate from our vehicle sales. The stands will be distinct as we want to make a strong announcement about our intentions on aftersales.
We plan to open new premises this year in the London area, saving our customers in the South of England from travelling to either Wellingborough or Cleckheaton for service or maintenance requirements. At a stroke, that means we can start to provide workshop-based service to a whole range of our customers, who currently choose not to use us due to the distance.
In addition to that, we’ve got a team of five field service engineers but there’s a limit as to how far someone in a van can drive in a day. Therefore, we’d like to place more of those people with the same skill level in more parts of the country.
We’re part of the Arriva Group and Arriva UK Bus has its own engineering premises. ABC has never really made the most of its sister companies.
Therefore, as part of the expansion of our field service network, we’ll be looking to give those engineers access to Arriva UK Bus premises, so they’ll no longer be confined roadside work. Clearly, in areas where Arriva UK Bus doesn’t operate, such as Scotland and the South West of England, we’ll come up with other solutions.
That is certainly another priority for 2017 – to increase field service capacity. At the same time, we’ve still got great premises here in Cleckheaton and Wellingborough.
What’s happening with Wellingborough? It seemed to take off, but then there appeared to be issues, so it went rather quiet. Do you see it as an opportunity for growth?
Absolutely. We’ll be putting more effort into the running of the Wellingborough site this year and the range and availability of services it can offer, which have been restricted in the past.
For example, there is some equipment which only exists here in Cleckheaton. We’ve been unable to carry out air-conditioning servicing at Wellingborough as the gear isn’t there. Likewise, there’s no brake testing equipment at Wellingborough. We want to address that.
We may look to expand its working hours if there’s a need. We’ll adapt our current setup to meet the needs of the market. In terms of location, Wellingborough ought to be well-placed to serve a whole swathe of central England and we’d like to make it really useful.
We’ll probably look to establish a wider parts network. That function is currently all carried out at Cleckheaton. We feel we could provide an even better service if we also have the ability to supply parts from Wellingborough and the London area in due course. We’re currently at the planning stage to expand our parts business.
In my personal opinion, our whole aftersales offer is our secret weapon here at ABC. Nobody else seems to provide it at level quality seen in other sectors – and we’ll be the people to do that.
Conclusion
Do you have anything to add?
I’m looking forward to the autumn. As well as Coach & Bus UK at the NEC, we’ll be at Busworld Kortrijk, representing Van Hool and Temsa, so UK customers will have two great opportunities to see us and our product range this year.
We’ve attended Busworld Kortrijk for the last two shows. It’s worked well for ABC, especially over the weekend when a lot of UK industry professionals attend.[/wlm_ismember]
