You Chose

First has made a structural management change. What, another? It comes with the territory when you get a new big boss: it’s expected. But this one’s different. Beforehand, restructures appeared to come with every timetable change, as if those at the very top of First couldn’t quite sit still. This did little to foster good morale among managers & directors. It seemed to heighten institutional paranoia. Now, Giles Fearnley’s in charge and he’s had a chance to reflect upon First UK Bus, it’s business and its priorities. Hence, a business-focused change that everyone feels may be longer-lasting.

A year ago, when both Dave Kaye & Nicola Shaw left First, then managing director UK Bus & Rail Mary Grant reacted (over-reacted?) swiftly by inserting “regions” with their own over-arching regional MDs, above local company boards. The First regions were and are:

• South West & Wales


• Midlands & East Anglia


• North


• London


• Scotland

One year on, and in May 2011 came the current refinement. It affects all bar London & Scotland. In England (including Wales), therefore, Giles Fearnley has brought all company boards to an end and with it, the cessation of all local operating company directorships. Just the regional boards remain. It’s taken 25 years and here, finally, comes the very last nail in the coffin of proud companies set up in the 1910s and 1920s, although we believe legal entities of the former operating companies will remain, e.g. First Cymru Buses Ltd, and would be required for operator licencing.

What’s interesting is that no two English regional boards are the same. Is this an example of First recognising that different parts of its bus business need different solutions? Or, given that ultimately the end game everywhere is revenue & profit growth, is this just a short-sighted muddle where one size really would have fitted all?

Take South West & Wales as an example. There’s the same Bristol-based regional MD. New posts are two service delivery directors, one for Bristol, Somerset, south Gloucestershire & south Wales; and the other for Hampshire, Dorset, Devon & Cornwall. Their remit is, well, service delivery. To you and I this means “Operations”… or dare I call it “Traffic”?

Actually, it’s not quite “Traffic” because the commercial side for the whole region—from Premroke to Penzance to Portsmouth—is now in the hands of just one person, former Hampshire, Dorset, Devon & Cornwall man Marc Reddy. His patch is huge and varies from the Cornish graveyard to the buoyancy of Bristol. With him is the Swansea Metro, the Fareham-Gosport BRT, most of Greyhound and the Greater Bristol Bus Network. Not to mention smartcards. But most importantly, there’s the little matter of First’s branding.

But will it work? What became of the “local is better” mantra that initially came with Giles Fearnley’s tenure? Since each region operates as a whole, with regional engineering and finance directorships, how can this dove-tail into the promise of more local control for managers? Or has Fearnley et al managed to accomplish the aspiration of merging both? I guess only time will tell.

But for those who might’ve expected smaller operating companies with local MDs concentrating on developing their own markets and improving stakeholder management, perhaps a little like Go Ahead, there will be some disappointment. After all, some see this as a particularly First weakness. On the other hand, a formal regional approach will make the sharing of good practice and good ideas that much easier. You chose.

The final bit of news is that Reddy not only covers Premroke to Penzance to Portsmouth, he gets Portadown as well (sort of). His commercial sphere of activity also covers the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. A little bit of a homecoming for a Bournemouth lad!