The Stagecoach graduate training programme offers opportunities for future managers and has opened for applications for new entrants in 2023
Stagecoach has opened applications for its two-year graduate training programme. Ten successful applicants will have the opportunity to learn the bus and coach business inside-out, with time spent in operations, engineering, financial, marketing and commercial departments at a range of the operator’s locations up and down the country. The programme is part of Stagecoach’s strategy to develop its future managers and leaders, and as such the company is working with Sanctuary Graduates, a specialist graduate recruitment agency which work with over 200 universities in the UK and across Europe.
A number of Stagecoach’s senior team started life on its graduate scheme, with a total of one regional director, five managing directors and 10 other directors successfully completing the scheme before progressing their career through the business. Matthew Cranwell joined the graduate scheme in 2004 and was promoted through a number of senior positions before becoming Managing Director for Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire and more recently for Stagecoach East Midlands, a business that runs 460 buses across Lincoln, Hull, Grimsby, Skegness, Worksop, Mansfield, Gainsborough and Scunthorpe and employs 1,300 people across eight depots.
Zach McAskill started his Stagecoach career on the graduate scheme in 2018, and the operator says he has gone from strength to strength, having been recognised for an internal Stagecoach Stars award in 2022, and then securing his current Operations Manager role at Stagecoach Manchester.
Sean Algar, Stagecoach’s Interim Head of Resourcing, commented: “Our business is built on our people and they are fundamental to our success. We are proud to have a diverse, high-quality team that reflects the communities we serve, and it’s important that we continue to build on that by nurturing the next generation of talent to support our business. We’re very proud of our track record of not only developing graduates into managers and leaders through this programme, but also offering continued progression within our business.”
Stagecoach has also committed to fostering a more diverse and inclusive workforce that targets 40% of leadership roles held by women and with 25% of its workforce identifying as being from ethnic minorities by 2026. During 2022, Stagecoach received recognition as a Top 100 apprentice employer and offers a ‘trade-up’ scheme giving existing employees the opportunity to undertake an apprenticeship with its engineering team, something which the company says it is hoping to develop further.
The firm’s 2023 Graduate Leadership Programme starts in September, and applications need to be submitted by 27 February.
