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News Category: People

Go-Ahead welcomes government funding to build back passengers on local bus services

01 March 2022

Go-Ahead welcomes government funding to build back passengers on local bus services

In response to the Department for Transport’s announcement of a £150 million funding package for local bus and light rail services, The Go-Ahead Group’s Chief Executive, Christian Schreyer, said:

“”
We welcome this funding for local buses, which will allow the industry time to build back passenger numbers. We’ve bounced back well from the Omicron variant, and our buses are carrying about 80% of the number of passengers they had before the pandemic. But working habits have changed, and it will take a little longer for a ‘new normal’ to settle in.

“In time, there are excellent prospects for bus usage to grow across Britain. Funding under the National Bus Strategy for bus lanes and priority schemes will speed up services in towns and cities, making them more attractive to passengers and allowing us to increase frequencies. If Britain is to move towards a net zero future, it is vital that people leave their cars at home and switch to public transport. This short-term finance will go some way towards bridging the gap and will help us build a broader network of successful bus services

Media availability

For an ‘on the ground’ perspective on the Government’s decision today to extend COVID recovery funding to bus operators for a further six months, Ed Wills, Managing Director of Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus, is available for interview.

Filming and broadcast opportunities on request.

Please contact Andrew Clark – 07977 343846 / communications@go-ahead.com.

Go-Ahead coach completes mammoth journey from the Isle of Wight to Zambia

15 February 2022

Go-Ahead coach completes mammoth journey from the Isle of Wight to Zambia

A Go-Ahead vehicle has completed its journey from the Isle of Wight in the UK to Lusaka in Zambia for use in training drivers to ensure public transport journeys are safe across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Southern Vectis coach – part of Go-Ahead subsidiary Go South Coast – was donated to transport charity Transaid, who provides driving and maintenance training across Africa.

The coach travelled for over a month for 4,900 miles via road and sea. It reached the Lusaka Industrial Training Centre (ITC) in Zambia in December and was officially unveiled at a launch event in February.

The government-backed training centre trains thousands of drivers a year. Transaid trained 1,435 drivers at the ITC between April 2020 and March 2021.

“”
We’re delighted to donate our second vehicle to the Lusaka Training Centre. Our work with Transaid is so important for us to help the wider transport community. Road traffic accidents are the third highest cause of death in Zambia and driver training is vitally important.

Martin Dean,Go-Ahead’s Managing Director for Business Development

This is the second vehicle Go-Ahead has donated to the ITC. The company also donated a Go-Ahead London red single-decker bus in 2019.

Transaid campaigns to transform lives through safe, available and sustainable transport. Part of the charity’s mission is to ensure that every driver should be able to leave for a day’s work without the fear they may not come home because of a lack of training, or dangerous vehicles and roads.

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We are incredibly grateful to the Go-Ahead Group for its generous donation to our partner organisation in Zambia. The vehicle will even further enhance standards of training at the ITC, and make a significant impact on the ground.

Caroline Barber, Chief Executive of Transaid

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We are delighted to have received the vehicle. The coach is in excellent condition and a delight to see. Our driving instructors, the rest of the ITC staff and students look forward to achieving the very best with it. Thank you all for your effort and contributions towards this achievement.

Lloyd Mbasela, ITC Director

Go-Ahead targets career switchers with commitment to hire 1,100 apprentices in 2022

02 February 2022

Go-Ahead targets career switchers with commitment to hire 1,100 apprentices in 2022

  • Bus and rail company seeks applicants from diverse backgrounds
  • Recent joiners include a former professional footballer and bank manager
  • Nearly 30% of Go-Ahead’s apprentices are over 50 years old

Go-Ahead has set a target to hire 1,100 bus and rail apprentices in 2022. It is encouraging applicants from all ages and career backgrounds.

The announcement comes in advance of National Apprenticeship Week (7-13 February), a government-led initiative that highlights the positive impact of apprenticeships across the UK.

The group is the biggest provider of apprentice training in the transport industry, hiring 50 apprentice bus drivers per week in London alone in 2021. Last year, Go-Ahead hired 1,030 apprentices in total.

In addition to school leavers, the group takes on apprentices of all ages, including many career switchers who are seeking a new start in transport.

Applicants from diverse backgrounds have surged during the pandemic as economic conditions have changed, and many people have reassessed their lifestyles.

After 15 years in financial management positions, Mitesh Patel started his train driving apprenticeship in 2020. He wanted a better work-life balance than an office environment, when he never felt he could switch off at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, bus driver apprentice Rachael Ayegba switched from professional football to bus driving in 2021. She is believed to be the first female London bus driver to have played in the World Cup.

This success comes during a time in which apprenticeship starts have been falling nationwide. A 2021 government report indicates that apprenticeship starts are at their lowest levels in ten years. There was a 20% drop in apprenticeship starts between 2018/2019 and 2020/2021.

Susanna Dillon, Head of Apprenticeships at Go-Ahead said: “At Go-Ahead, we’ve invested so much time and energy into our award-winning apprenticeship programme – and for good reason. Apprenticeships are vital for helping the communities we serve and for bringing fresh ideas and viewpoints into the transport sector.”

“We’re also seeing real benefits to the programme. We’ve found that since we launched our in-house apprenticeship scheme in London in 2018, we’ve seen a real increase in good service commendations from the public. The scheme has also helped to halve the amount of driving accidents on the road.”

Resignation rates are reaching record numbers in the UK in a time now dubbed ‘the Great Resignation’. A November 2021 report from Randstand indicates that almost a quarter of employees in the UK plan to move jobs within the next three to six months.

However, Go-Ahead’s apprenticeship programme reveals the success of the programme at recruiting retaining its apprenticeship talent. Go-Ahead London introduced its first in-house training programme in 2018. Since then, the number of people who have left within two years has fallen from 40% to 13%.

Go-Ahead named ‘most admired’ transport company

26 January 2022

Go-Ahead named ‘most admired’ transport company

  • Go-Ahead named as ‘most admired’ company in the transport sector, ahead of other bus/rail operators and airlines
  • The Group received top scores in the sector for innovation, commitment to diversity and ability to attract top talent
  • Results come from Britain’s Most Admired Companies (BMAC) report – the UK’s longest running survey of corporate reputation

Go-Ahead has been recognised as the ‘most admired’ transport operator in the UK according to an influential report on corporate reputation.

Britain’s Most Admired Companies (BMAC) asks board-level representatives, financial analysts and city commentators to rate companies in their sector on a sliding scale of 0 (poor) to 10 (excellent).

Go-Ahead received the highest mark in seven of the 13 categories, including ‘commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion’, ‘capacity to innovate’, and ‘ability to attract, develop and retain top talent’.

It was the only transport company of 11 surveyed to receive a minimum 7 out of 10 score in every single category.

Go-Ahead Chief Executive Christian Schreyer said: “We’re pleased to have this recognition from our peers, showing our underlying strengths and values. It demonstrates our leadership in innovation and in attracting and developing talent.

“We believe our workforce should reflect the communities we serve. We’re especially pleased for our high score for ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ as it reflects our continuing efforts to change the face of the transport industry and develop talent from all walks of life.”

Go-Ahead’s diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives include:
• An award-winning apprenticeship scheme, with more than 1,000 new recruits hired in 2021
• Female train driver recruitment campaigns. 40% of train drivers recruited in GTR in 2021 were female
• A ‘Women in Bus’ network – with a goal to have 20% female representation in bus by 2025. The national average is 11%
• Menopause awareness sessions offered to colleagues
• Trained mental health first aiders in all UK and Irish operating companies

Go-Ahead’s innovations include:
• Tap-On, Tap-Off technology now available on half its buses outside London, in addition to contactless payment now available on its entire fleet
• Hybrid buses that operate in zero emissions mode in Brighton and Hove’s clean air zone, using geo-fencing technology
• Solar panel technology on buses in Southampton and Singapore, on bus stops in Newcastle and on bus and rail depots in the UK and Germany
• A proof-of-concept incubator programme that helps start-up companies test their transport products. This enabled the ‘Passenger Assistance’ app that allows disabled passengers to request services needed to complete their journeys (now an industry standard)
• Air filtering buses in Southampton that clean the air as they travel