Positive partnerships in focus

In the first half of a two-part feature, Maxson Goh reports from the Association of Local Bus Managers (ALBUM) 2025 conference in Nottingham

Heading east from last year’s ALBUM conference in Warrington, this year we find delegates and exhibitors at the East Midlands Conference Centre on Nottingham’s University Park Campus. The three-day event was hosted by Nottingham City Transport (NCT) and commenced with a golf day on 12 May, and concluded with the annual gala dinner on the evening of 14 May.

NCT has won the UK Bus Operator of the Year award a record-breaking six times now, in the years 2004, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, and most recently, 2024. The operator also scored a 91% overall satisfaction rating in a Transport Focus satisfaction survey in 2024. NCT’s buses are all Euro VI compliant or zero-emission; its Scania N280UD ADL Enviro400 CBG City fleet makes up the world’s largest fleet of natural bio-gas double-decker buses. It also has a large fleet of Yutong E10 and E12 single-deck electric buses.
This year’s conference was made possible by two Gold Sponsors, namely Pelican Bus & Coach and Passenger. In an interview with CBW, Pelican Bus & Coach Head of Yutong Ian Downie commented: “ALBUM is a fantastic collaborative network of operators who we have the utmost respect for. The opportunity to be the Gold Sponsor at ALBUM was effectively a no-brainer. It’s a commitment to this industry and to the fellowship of the ALBUM members.”

Passenger CEO Tom Quay added: “Passenger is really excited to be a Gold Sponsor. We’ve been working with the conference host for over 10 years now and because 2025 is our 10th anniversary as a company, it made good sense for us to use the conference as an opportunity to celebrate both the relationship with NCT and our 10 years of being in business, and being an important part of the ALBUM operator industry. It’s really good fun to be a part of it and to support the important work that ALBUM does for the SMEs. They have a good understanding of how to run bus services in the UK and it’s important that we make that known to central government so that in this shift to franchising, the SME market is not forgotten.”

Both Ian and Tom spoke at the conference the following day about their companies and products; look out for their comments in the second part of our report, in next week’s issue.

First impressions

This being my first ALBUM conference, I was particularly impressed by the warm and inviting atmosphere. The stands were thoughtfully arranged along a hallway that led into a larger exhibition hall. Zenobē kindly provided tea, coffee, and biscuits throughout the exhibition area, adding to the cosy vibe. With some time to spare before the conference began, I explored the main exhibition hall with fellow CBW colleague, Sales Executive Charlie Lewis, where the Ticketer stand immediately caught my attention. Eager to expand my rubber duck collection, something which has become a bit of a trademark for the company at events, I couldn’t resist taking a closer look. Sure enough, the company had a different duck design on display!

Keen readers of CBW might recall my adventure last year when I took Ticketer’s Euro Bus Expo duck on a holiday to Singapore and Hong Kong. The Ticketer team were more than happy to gift me this new design – who knows where this one’s going!Ticketer Chief Commercial and Operations Officer Adam Toone enthusiastically got me up to speed with the history of the company and its new product. “Ticketer has been around for over 15 years now,” he shared. “We’ve been at the heart of the bus industry and have been members of ALBUM for a long time. We came around because we identified a gap in the market for innovation within ticketing, and since then have launched a product that allows for ticketing on buses, but we’ve also started to innovate into new areas such as vehicle checklists for drivers and now we’re even moving into the space of being able to replace radios with our new modular ticket machine, the TK300.

“It is an upgrade on the TK200 and consists of a detachable Samsung tablet which can be used for vehicle checklists so the driver can take it around the vehicle and do those checks. Also, with it being an Android operating system, it enables us to innovate more. We were at our limit on our previous device; we’re now going to open the doors to innovate further, with drivers and controllers being able to talk and communicate to each other with voice messages rather than just text.” Continuing the journey around the exhibition area, I found myself speaking to Asset Alliance Group Bus & Coach Business Development Manager Scott Burke, who outlined the company’s financial services, including its hire purchase and leasing schemes. “We are busy all year round now,” he said. “It used to be busier in the summer, but now due to manufacturer lead times we find ourselves busy all year round, which is great.”

The conference begins

One Ticketer-sponsored lunch later, I found myself following the crowd into the exhibition hall, where the conference was officially opened by radio presenter and NCT’s ‘voice of the buses’ David Lloyd. “I think if you’re from Nottingham you’ll be tired of my voice by now!”, he joked. After he expressed thanks to the 400 delegates in attendance and the event sponsors, the first speaker was welcomed onto the stage: NCT Managing Director and ALBUM Chair David Astill. He began: “When we first volunteered to host this conference two years ago, we couldn’t have foreseen the significance of the year 2025 for buses. As we gather here in Nottingham, the Bus Services Bill is making its way through Parliament. A piece of legislation that has the potential to be a once in a generation impact on the structure of our industry, with the gifting of franchising powers to all local transport authorities that want them, and the lifting of the current restriction on the setting up of new local authorities and bus companies.

“And of course, in addition, the Government at the same time is pursuing the reorganisation of much needed local government, which will potentially see bans on district and borough councils, many of whom are existing local transport authorities, being erased.

“It is almost certainly the most significant change in local government probably in half a century. And that is going to impact on the governance of the nation’s bus services as much larger authorities and in many cases, completely new combined authorities will adopt the powers for managing both franchised networks, but also, crucially, the partnership agreements that I expect to continue to account for most bus services in Great Britain.

“So, there are many challenges, many hurdles to overcome. It’s nothing new to us. We are an agile commercial industry that can respond to events, and we will have to work very hard to do so again.” NCT Chair Cllr Graham Chapman, who moved to the area in 1985, then took to the stage and added: “The big advantage of a small company is that it’s far easier to create a good culture. And good management in a small company will realise that advantage and make the most of it. And I think we do that in NCT. Good management is good business. It creates a good culture, and the manifestation of the culture is the staff, and the way they are treated within the company will come across in their attitude to the public.

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