Our Strategy
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To run our companies in a safe, socially & environmentally responsible manner
As a public transport operator, corporate responsibility is integral to the way we run our business. Ensuring the safety and security of our passengers and employees is an absolute priority for us and our performance on such issues is linked to senior managers’ and the Board’s remuneration. We are also committed to reducing the environmental impacts of our operations and strongly believe that a sustainable public transport network is key to the future of the UK. We believe acting responsibly directly contributes to the success of our business. In addition, reducing our energy consumption helps to reduce costs.
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To provide high quality, locally focused passenger transport services
We believe that providing a high quality service encourages passenger growth and offers an attractive alternative to the private car. We understand that punctuality, reliability and value for money are the most important factors for passengers when choosing to travel by public transport. We believe our devolved structure and local focus helps to generate passenger growth as our local managers are able to respond quickly to community needs. This flat structure enables us to closely manage the performance of each operating company while giving local managers the autonomy they need to run their local businesses. Our aim is to combine the value of this local identity culture with the financial benefits of Group scale and transfer of best practice.
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To prioritise our operations in high density urban markets in the UK
We are unique among the other major public transport groups as we operate exclusively in the UK. We focus our operations in high density commuter markets, predominantly in the South East of England, where there is a strong demand for public transport.We are recognised as having significant expertise in the UK bus and rail market. This is welcomed by our shareholders and will remain our primary focus.However, we will consider investment in overseas operations if we believe that it will add value for our shareholders.
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To run our business with strong financial discipline to deliver shareholder value
Our aim is to deliver shareholder value through a combination of earnings growth, strong cash generation and balance sheet management, supplemented by value adding acquisitions and disposals.
Managing progress
In order to measure progress against our strategy the Board uses a number of Key Performance Indicators based around operating responsibly and providing a high quality service. These are underpinned by strong financial indicators to ensure we deliver shareholder value.
In our rail division, our three train companies have adopted the EFQM Excellence Model, a strategic quality management framework developed by EFQM (the European Foundation for Quality Management).The model is used by our TOCs as a basis for self-assessment, to help them identify opportunities for continuous ongoing improvement and to measure delivery against strategic goals. It also helps to bring consistency to management style, access good practices and drive innovation.
View our performance against KPIs in our annual report.
Managing key risks
The effective delivery of our strategy is dependent on the Group successfully managing our risks and opportunities. View a full assessment of how we internally manage risks and our key risk factors in our annual report.