Commercial vehicle training provider HGVC has been chosen to train new bus drivers for the next 12 months for the Stagecoach operating company
Training specialist HGVC has been appointed by Stagecoach West to train new drivers and meet growing demand for Stagecoach’s bus services in the West of England. HGVC will train 150 new bus drivers over the next 12 months for Stagecoach West, which provides bus services in Bristol, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Oxford, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, and Wiltshire.
Stagecoach typically trains its drivers in-house. However, the firm said it had reached capacity due to the high demand for its services in
the region. HGVC has implemented a ‘bespoke solution’ for Stagecoach West which included buying new vehicles for Stagecoach’s trainees to
learn on as well as hiring dedicated trainers. As a result of this investment, HGVC will now train three new drivers a week for Stagecoach West, helping the company to meet what it says is an increased demand for bus services in the West of England.
James Clifford, CEO of HGVC, said: “Stagecoach West provides a vital service for its customers across the West of England, so it’s critical that it’s able to train the new drivers it needs to meet increased demand for its services. With our investment in new vehicles and trainers alongside our highest test pass rates in the business, we’re confident we’ll have new drivers behind the wheel and helping Stagecoach’s customers get from A to B in no time.
“Our new relationship with Stagecoach West is an example of how we help remove the pain and headaches from licence acquisition programmes for organisations of all shapes and sizes.”
Martin Gibbon, Operations Director of Stagecoach West, said: “As people continue to return to the office and enjoy the freedom we have all missed during the pandemic, we have seen an increase in demand for our services across several routes. Whilst this comes at a time where
we are seeing the impacts of Brexit, the pandemic, and staff sickness on our driving teams ease, we recognised we needed some support to meet the needs of our customers.
“HGVC really stood out to us in its willingness to hire new staff and provide vehicles to train the drivers we need, making large scale driver licence acquisition more efficient and cost-effective.”
