Young Bus Professionals heads to Glasgow

 

In late March, dozens of young and enthusiastic bus people descended on Glasgow for the latest Young Bus Professionals conference. Jonathan Welch reports

In an industry which often bemoans the lack of young people coming in, it’s always refreshing to be reminded that it’s not quite the cliff-edge that some would have you believe. As anyone who was at the Young Bus Professionals (YBP) spring conference will attest, some of the industry’s upcoming stars and young talent showed a keenness to hear from their peers and from well-known industry names, to learn and to network, as well as share tales and swap stories. Despite being far from young, I was

invited along to see first hand how the event helps nurture younger managers and future leaders from around the country with insightful talks, site visits to give a flavour of what is happening nationwide, and group workshops to make sure there’s plenty of audience participation.

This event was the first to be held under the organisation’s new name, a deliberate change from ‘Young Bus Managers Network’ to reflect both the need and the desire to draw in a wider range of industry stakeholders from beyond the four walls of bus operators; as the trend towards partnerships for tech, ticketing and infrastructure grows, and as franchising looms on the horizon for more and more areas of the country, the importance of ensuring that all stakeholders are able to come together and grow together has not been lost on the event’s organisers. Members from local authorities, industry suppliers and partners are encouraged. It’s probably important to note too that the term ‘young’ continues to be used quite loosely, though most delegates are in their 20s and 30s.

 

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The line-up

This year’s first event was held in Glasgow on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 March, and kicked off with an afternoon visit to the McGill’s electric bus depot and training academy in nearby Johnstone on the Thursday afternoon. That evening, ever-knowledgeable and interesting McGill’s Chief Executive Officer and CPT President Ralph Roberts featured as the after-dinner speaker.

CBW joined the proceedings on Friday morning, to see the workshops in action as well as hear from the keynote speakers, who included Chief Operating Officer of First Bus Andrew Jarvis, Chief Executive

Officer of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport Valerie Davidson, Managing Director of Stagecoach West Scotland Fiona Doherty, Innovation Manager at Stagecoach Bus Steven Russell, Interim Head of the Bus Centre for Excellence Sharon Kindleysides and Transport Development Manager at Portsmouth City Council Peter Shelley, who led that council’s successful BSIP bid.

Also speaking were Young Bus Professionals members Kerrie Grant and Gemma Vasellina-Turner of technology specialist Passenger, whose websites and apps will be familiar to many in the industry as well as the thousands of people who, probably unknowingly, use its services every day.

Warm welcome

Delegates were warmly welcomed to the conference by one of YBP’s three patrons, industry stalwart Roger French, who also kindly reminded them of CBW’s special subscription offer of over 50% off for YBP members. He also spoke about the importance of the rebrand, which ensures that at a time of much change, the YBP network can reach out to as many of the relevant up-and-coming decision makers as possible; people who in five or 10 years’ time might be employed outside what we might see as ‘the bus industry’ and working in local authorities or consultancies.

In opening the conference, Roger name-checked all of the companies represented by attendees, and although they represented a broad range of operators and geography, it was notable that most were also familiar names already known for being at the more pro-active end of the scale. The big group names featured, as did the likes of Vectare and Bus Éireann along with suppliers, supporters and associates such as WSP and Urbanthings.

What could we do to encourage attendees from smaller companies or less well known names, I wondered, as well as the missing big names like Arriva and National Express and new faces from the public sector and consultancies?

Real intelligence

Referencing the recent debate around ‘AI’ (artificial intelligence) generated bus timetables, Roger joked that the conference’s timetable had also been altered overnight, a friendly jibe at the expense of speaker Andrew Jarvis, COO of First Bus which has adopted the data-led AI scheduling technology. With a lifetime of bus industry experience under his belt, most recently a long spell at First Bus with a significant chunk of the UK’s bus fleet under his control, Andrew was an ideal person to begin the day.

Andrew reflected on his own journey through the industry, including his ‘vivid memory’ of an interview at Brighton & Hove and his first meeting with Roger French there.

Having worked his own way up through the ranks, from working for his dad’s bus company, buying his own bus, and building his own company, Andrew reminded listeners that it’s important to be mindful of who they are and how they lead, and keep in mind what their motivations are. And given that the conference took place just two days before First’s own major changes took place in Rochdale to mobilise a new fleet and new depot as part of TfGM’s Bee Network, the importance of good, sound, in-person leadership can’t have been far from his mind as he headed off after the conference to help out on the ground in Manchester. This isn’t an industry for those who expect their leadership to only come from behind an office desk.

Thinking back on some of the key defining moments from his lifetime of buses, Andrew recalled his first experience of ‘driving’ a bus, and reflected how deregulation day, back in 1986, had changed the industry; the stripy North Western buses suddenly looked a lot nicer than the plain red nationalised ones he’d previously seen going past his home, he noticed; something that managers of the future might wish to remember.

Although he took a transport-related degree course, Andrew’s initiation into the industry was far more practical, giving him valuable experience ‘on the coal face’ throughout his early career; the split of fellow students was also noteworthy; around 80% of his classmates were male, he said, and only a couple chose passenger transport over haulage, highlighting that many of the challenges faced by today’s up and coming managers are not new.

Spells at operators around the country were hallmarks of Andrew’s later career, something he advised those starting out on their career trajectory to take into consideration but also to embrace. He described the necessary evolution of his management style from one of command at the helm of his own operation to one of ‘trust and verify’ as he progressed with some of the big groups in a career which took in Go-Ahead and Stagecoach before his current appointment, a comment which seemed to resonate with many listeners.

Failure happens

Another important subject he addressed was failure, citing the example of the ‘Panda Express’-branded, Neoplan Skyliner operated service to Edinburgh zoo during his time with Stagecoach, which despite the rather eye-catching livery (see this week’s Big Picture) turned out not to be the success it had been hoped it would. In a world where things are increasingly under the close scrutiny of social media, it’s maybe easy to become disheartened or disillusioned, so it’s good for younger members of the industry to hear a reminder from a successful and experienced colleague that failure can happen, and a sign that it’s not something to fear.

The irony is also not lost on Andrew that one of his successes at Stagecoach, the Aberdeen airport route 727, which addressed a much-needed demand and grew quickly to become a successful route, is now one that his current employer competes against.

Other perspectives

Highlighting the broadened reach of the renamed network, and appropriate given both the location and the recent franchising announcement, the next speaker was Chief Executive Officer of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) Valerie Davidson, whose background was in public finance accounting before joining the transport sector. Valerie emphasised the huge opportunities that her varied career had opened up, and said that although not all of her time in transport had been enjoyable, for the most part it had been.

For Valerie, one of the things to remember about working in transport is that it is a public service that affects the life of millions of people on a daily basis, and an industry in which it’s possible to have a far-reaching positive effect on people’s lives. She also reminded us that transport drives and underpins the wider economy. It’s a facilitator and an enabler. It’s a point she believes is sometimes overlooked, and one that internally and externally, the industry needs to remember and carry forwards.

Something else that Valerie reminded listeners of was the importance of actually using bus services, something which she makes efforts to do herself, and highlighted the important issue of expectations (of users, politicians, campaign groups and other stakeholders) versus the reality. “Transport is complex,” she said, “And sometimes we need to be better in

explaining why something can’t be done,” a skill which might be vital to the young managers of tomorrow.

Something else which the young managers of tomorrow will have to address is the problem of how to get people back on public transport after years of telling them that a car is a sign of prosperity, and a driving licence a badge of honour, Valerie said, adding that the shift from internal combustion cars to electric ones simply isn’t enough. It’s a new normal that the bus industry needs to address to set itself up for the future.

Franchising of course was a topic of discussion, and a key message, which applies everywhere and always, is that relationships matter, and will always deliver better outcomes; everyone needs to be singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to encouraging public transport use was the key take-away from her comments.

More key messages to tomorrow’s leaders included to keep the customer perspective front and centre, to assess risks but be bold, to look at the outcomes you want to achieve, to take opportunities to learn and develop outwith your chosen discipline or specialism, to look at what others are doing,

and never to be afraid to ask questions.

Centre of Excellence

Many of Valerie’s points were backed up by Sharon Kindleysides from the Bus Centre of Excellence. Sharon told her audience that the Bus Centre for Excellence is for everybody, is not partisan nor just bus operators, and has a mission to share best practice, help train the next generation of professionals, and to raise awareness of what buses do. That sounds a lot like the goals of YBP, to me; the first two especially.

She also highlighted the vast resources that the Centre of Excellence is building up, ones which could be a boon to peers as they work their way through the industry alongside the many networking opportunities and events it offers.

Next to speak were young professionals Kerrie and Gemma, both of whom are now Customer Success Managers at Passenger; between them, they highlighted the very different career paths that led them into the industry, and the pros and cons of both a bus background, and a much more varied, non-bus background. Clearly they both had much to offer, and it was a reminder not to dismiss those who aren’t dyed-in-the-wool ‘bus people’ (if such a thing as a ‘bus person’ really exists at all).

Workshops

Before lunch, delegates split into five groups to discuss topics which are relevant to the industry, divided into: operations; people; vehicle design and accessibility; customer experience and marketing; and commercial, pricing and network. They were asked to discuss and report back on the major issues in each of those categories. Reconvening after lunch, and with some confident spokespeople delivering their findings to the room, the teams reported back.

Calling people back from their groups to present the fruits of their group discussions, Roger joked: “The art of being a bus professional is being able to work to deadlines, however unreasonable they might be!” How true, Roger…

What was interesting as the groups presented their thoughts wasn’t so much their answers – I think we’re all able to come up with a list of the major issues, their causes and potential solutions – but probably more important was the fact that so many of their replies overlapped.

If anything was the take-away, it was this very clear demonstration that, to use an old quote, no man (or woman, or bus professional) is an island. Everything is interlinked. Operations, commercial, marketing, stakeholder engagement, customer experience, accessibility, people, it’s not just each individual issue we need to keep in mind, but everything as a whole.

It’s all part of the bigger picture, and it’s no good being good at just one part; as Andrew, Valerie, Kerrie and Gemma highlighted, having a good all-round knowledge can have huge benefits when it comes to oversight, and opportunities to experience other roles and jobs should be embraced.

From near and far

Someone else who echoed those sentiments was afternoon speaker and Managing Director of Stagecoach West Scotland Fiona Doherty, whose degree in applied chemistry took her through jobs at INEOS before a move to BAA and Forth Ports. She shared Valerie’s positive thoughts that the bus industry is one where people can make a difference to the everyday lives of so many, and that although she hadn’t envisioned the career path she’d taken, it was one that brings her much fulfilment; words which sum up that big picture and which might be useful for younger members of the industry to recall after that bad day or bad week when things just don’t seem to go right.

“You’ve got to take the opportunities,” she urged. “Transport is not an industry for an easy life. You’ve got to be uncomfortable sometimes. It can be a challenge to keep all the plates spinning,

but that’s what I enjoy.” I imagine many in the room felt the same.

The day’s final speaker had travelled from much further afield. Portsmouth City Council’s Transport Development Manager Peter Shelley spoke about the importance of partnerships – an emerging theme, and one which will become ever more important in the near future, emphasising not just the partnerships themselves, but the importance of events like this which allow people to come together and discuss both formally and informally, and to make new connections.

Peter spoke passionately about the island city’s growth plans and some of the transport issues it faces, as well as the recent and much publicised launch of its first new electric buses. If a city works well, he said, it’s good for the economy. But we already knew that; what could the delegates learn from him personally?

Passion, partnership and people were his three key lessons. Believe in what you’re doing, he said, or else no one else will either. Understand your partners and each others’ goals. Meet face to face, not

via Zoom. Ask what people want. Keep asking. Deliver quick wins to offset the slow, long-term projects. And promote the good news so that not every transport story in the press is negative; make it a positive topic. With his decades of bus industry experience, Peter’s a man who knows what he’s talking about.

Something which Fiona said seems an appropriate line to close on: “There are tremendous opportunities ahead. It won’t be me that carries them forward. It will be you.” So if you’re a young bus professional, why not check out the next conference in the autumn, which, subject to confirmation, is likely to be held in Cambridge. //

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