Could hydrogen coaches be on the cards? Jonathan Welch continues his tour of the Wrightbus factory
In the last issue, we looked at how Wrightbus has fared since its rescue from administration by Jo Bamford’s Bamford Bus Company, and how it has set about reshaping itself from a relatively traditional bus builder to one which is spearheading the drive to hydrogen power, as well as competing in the battery electric bus segment. We continue our factory visit and our conversation with CEO Buta Atwal, Development and Manufacturing Director Damian McGarry, Chief Commercial Officer Ben Werth and AllServiceOne Service Director David Murdoch to find out what the company has in store for the future, including hydrogen coaches and its new AllServiceOne offshoot, which broadens the range of services available under the same roof.
Hydrogen coaches
“Most of us understood that we had a good solid business,” explained Damian, talking about the fall into administration and subsequent rescue. “But it was affected by market volatility and other effects. The fundamentals were there, and we just needed to reposition in size and agility to meet market needs.”
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Ben reiterated that fuel availability has restricted the growth of the hydrogen sector, but emphasised that for Wrightbus, the segment presented an opportunity. “We can offer a turnkey solution with our sister companies,” he explained.
Looking forward, I wondered what other plans Wrightbus might have, especially since its current product line-up addresses the heavyweight end of the market. Will it look towards a zero-emission replacement for the Streetlite, or is that market segment becoming too crowded, I wondered. It certainly seems to be the case that operators are taking stock of the size of their vehicles as fewer people return to commuting every day. “We’re looking at the sector, and we have options,” Ben said. “But for now a midibus is not the priority. We are working on delivering Hong Kong-specification zero-emission vehicles, and we’re also looking at hydrogen options for the coach market. We’re exploring all the options,” he said, which could include working with existing coach manufacturers to provide drivetrain components, or developing a new coach offering in house. “We have the skillset,” Ben added. “It’s definitely in our plan going forward, but we don’t have dates yet.”
Wrightbus has previously built coaches, before focusing on the bus market, including what might traditionally be described as ‘dual-purpose’ vehicles for Ulsterbus Goldliner services in the 1990s, as well as a ‘full-fat’ high specification coach in the form of the Contour. The latter sold in small numbers between its unveiling in 1982 and 1987, mainly built on the Bedford Y-series chassis, though a handful used Leyland Tiger underpinnings, whilst one was built on each of the Ford R1115 and ACE Puma V chassis. A high-floor version was also produced on a Volvo B10M chassis before production ceased.
People
The make-up of the firm has changed since the Bamford take-over, Buta explained. “We’ve brought in people like Damian, and changed the profile of the business. We’re constantly recruiting. The first phase was relatively easy; we made sure we took back the right people, to give us a profile to suit where we’re heading, not where we came from.”
He acknowledged, though, that Northern Ireland has a low rate of unemployment, and especially with the forthcoming defence contracts at Harland & Wolff, the demand for skilled workers would be even higher. “We are very focused on the local community,” added Damian, “and we’ve opened a recruitment office on site, but we are pushing for a 60% increase in production next year. We will look overseas; we can bring in skilled workers on a visa. We have a clear pathway to growth.”
Wrightbus has also pro-actively worked with local schools and colleges to promote apprenticeships, and with Queen’s University Belfast, to help drive recruitment efforts and being in much needed skilled workers, both at shop floor level and above, with much design and development work also being undertaken on site, and in partnership with the university.
“We planned growth into the business when we started three years ago, but the rate of growth has been greater than we expected. Salaries in the local area are very competitive,” noted Buta. “We increased salaries last year to make sure we’re seen as an employer of choice. The site is big enough to grow, and we need to balance that with recruitment. We’re looking at flexible ways to recruit, and considering whether to subcontract. We’re not just looking for labour, but skilled labour, which requires extensive training.”
He added that as well as skilled labour, small sub-assemblies could come from overseas, but stressed that the buses are still largely locally produced, with around 20% of the content coming from Northern Ireland, 25% from Great Britain, 50% from within the EU and 5% from elsewhere.
This year, Wrightbus built in the region of 430 buses, and has expectations of 700 leaving its Northern Irish factory next year, plus those built at its Malaysian facility for the Far East market, with a commensurate increase of up to 400 staff. Of those buses, Wrightbus expects the balance to tip towards zero-emission vehicles and keep rising; current proportions are around 40% diesel and 60% zero-emission. Of the latter, around 90% are battery-electric. Buta expects that to shift as hydrogen becomes more accessible as a fuel.
The technology that Wrightbus has introduced to produce its zero-emission buses has opened up a wider market for the firm in Europe, Buta explained, adding that although some might question whether the firm is vulnerable as a result of the post-Brexit situation in Northern Ireland, he has faith in the politicians to work to improve the process and give businesses a better system. “We are where we are,” he said. “We have to deal with what we’ve got.”
AllServiceOne
Another new development, which enables the Bamford Bus Company not only to offer thorough repair and maintenance packages on its own Wrightbus products, but to benefit from aftermarket work on vehicles produced by other manufacturers, is sister company AllServiceOne. Service Director David Murdoch explained more about the philosophy behind the new company. David explained that AllServiceOne had been born out of the journey from its previous incarnation as Wright Customcare, which led through an interim ‘stepping stone’ of Wrightbus Parts & Service to its present form.
“We can support all operators across all types of technology,” David explained. We currently have nine employees, and we aim to grow and expand as we win new contracts. Our parts division is able to work closely with the JCB distribution network, and we are also able to offer full repair bay facilities and refurbishments.”
Training is another aspect which is covered by AllServiceOne, and one which can be tailored to customer needs, whilst it is also capable of servicing and maintaining hydrogen fuelling stations on behalf of hydrogen partner Rise Hydrogen. The company has plans to recruit regularly, and to ensure that its staff are skilled in all disciplines. New starts with basic mechanical training will be upskilled to deal with hydrogen and high-voltage electrical systems, with staff being dedicated to either diesel or zero-emission vehicles at each worksite. Technicians will be supported by Uptime365, Wrightbus’ established telematics system which it says is helping the industry move from reactive to preventative maintenance; as well as at Wrightbus, the system has been in use by JCB for over a decade.
Concluding our visit to the vast Ballymena site, the progress the Bamford-backed concern has made over the last three years was impressive. It might have been hard to imagine three years ago, but the site was once again a hive of activity, and as Buta sets his sights on retirement, the thousand-strong staff at the site seem to have a secure future. It might be a new, zero-emission world, but the Wright ethos of innovation and progress remains strong.
