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Jeff to take the helm - our first new MD for 25 years
Senior Management Team unchanged Jeff Counsell, currently Director of Service Delivery, is to be trent barton Managing Director from April in a move which otherwise sees no change to the make-up of the company’s 7-strong senior team. After 25 years as Managing Director, Brian King has announced that he will step down from the post in April, continuing in the part -time role of Chairman. Ian Morgan will also be standing down as Commercial Director and will take up the part-time role of Deputy Chairman. Graham Sutton becomes Group Financial Director from the same date. Jeff entered the bus industry as an apprentice fitter at Lancashire United Transport’s Atherton depot in 1974. After the company was absorbed by Greater Manchester PTE he went on to become one of the youngest ever to hold a supervisory post when he was appointed to a Depot Foreman position in South Manchester in 1983. By 1993 he was Chief Engineer at GM Buses North and in 1996 became Engineering Director of North East Bus (later acquired by Arriva). The position of trent barton Director of Engineering tempted him south in 1999. Commenting on his new role Jeff said: “I am really proud to be taking over the helm of such a really good bus company as trent barton; a market-leading brand, as fiercely independent as ever, and with a very strong team around me. “For me the enjoyment and satisfaction of my job has always been the contact you have with people, the camaraderie that often goes with it and the laughs along the way which always help. In 34 years in the industry I’ve met and worked with many a colourful character. “I doubt that there could be a tougher time commercially than the present – but I can think of no finer place to be than trent barton. I look forward to seeing us build on the solid foundation of quality and consistency that have kept us at the forefront of the industry. “My message is simple – we will keep on doing what we do so well. We will continue to be guided by our customers’ expectations, which we will stretch ourselves to exceed.” Brian King said: “After 25 years as Managing Director and having steered the business from its state owned background through expansion, investment, training and marketing into a customer focused, award winning, innovative, private sector leader it is an appropriate time for me to hand over to another member of this great trent barton team. I know that Jeff will be a popular and dynamic MD as part of the same Senior Management Board that has worked together so well for so long.” “From April I shall concentrate on my other role as Group Chairman and with Ian Morgan as Deputy Chairman. Whilst having a little more time for ourselves and our families we will continue to retain the fierce independence which sets the Wellglade Group apart from other bus companies. We each have long and deep ties with trent barton – my own goes back nearly 50 years – and we will continue to maintain an active interest in the business. You will still see us riding on our buses and visiting depots from time to time in our wider Group roles. “trent barton’s success is due in no small part to the quality of its family of people and your attention to detail. I know you will give every support to Jeff as he takes over the helm.” There is no change to the composition of trent barton’s Management Board – Brian King, Ian Morgan, Graham Sutton, Jeff Counsell, Mark Greasley, Keith Shayshutt and Melvyn Hopwood. (Don’t miss In depth with Jeff Counsell in next month’s Bulletin) £6 million investment in high spec buses
‘Huge vote of confidence in our product and the places we serve’ Despite the economic downturn we are committed to renewing almost a fifth of our fleet this year, even although it is already one of the youngest in the UK. 43 new high-spec, low-emission buses will join trent barton in 2009, as part of a development initiative which Commercial Director Ian Morgan described as ‘a huge vote of confidence in the quality of our product and the pulling power of the towns and cities we serve’. Our customers continue to tell us they want modern, clean buses on which to travel to work and to the shops. So all 43 brand new buses will come with leather seats and trent barton’s designer interior, creating an environment that would not be out of place in a high street coffee shop. All the new single deck buses are environmentally state-of-the-art in terms of low emissions. As standard, they have double-glazing, and are wheelchair and buggy friendly – and most will also have air conditioning. Commercial director Ian Morgan said: “Like most businesses we expect to be hit by aspects of the credit crunch, but for the last 20 years our business has been based firmly on quality and value. Our customers tell us what they want and we are not going to let the recession blow us off course. Many of the big names in business may be cutting back, but our resolve is to stay right on top to ensure that we keep our customers happy – as well as attracting people who may be completely new to bus travel. “Like all retailers, we expect a tough year, but in the Cities of Derby and Nottingham in particular we have vibrant, 24hr cultures that believe in their power to attract new customers and counter competition from on-line trading. We believe in them too.” The brands that will get new buses are: - the mickleover, which will have ‘the most comfortable new buses in Derby’ from March
- The ever-popular 15 between Ilkeston, Long Eaton and Sawley
- the nines all around Mansfield, Sutton, Alfreton, Ripley and Derby in May
- Highly-successful rainbow 2 (Ilkeston – Nottingham) in July;
- and calverton connection (Calverton-Arnold-Nottingham) which will get its new buses in August
Bulletin will bring previews of the new-look brands in future editions and to whet your appetite here is a sneak preview of the new mickleover. 
Morgan for President!
* trent barton Director is CPT supremo
* Secretary of State: ‘we are listening’
Ian Morgan, trent barton Commercial Director, is 2009 President of the industry’s Trade Association – Confederation of Passenger Transport UK. His inaugural speech was made at the CPT’s annual dinner at the London Hilton in January. The packed hall included Secretary of State for Transport Geoff Hoon – a Derbyshire resident, indigo customer and fellow Rams supporter as well as being constituency MP for Ashfield. The new President’s speech addressed the Secretary of State personally on a number of key issues including service quality and concessionary fares, and received in return a positive response. From the podium Ian related how his work with CPT Council had followed the new Local Transport Bill through its various Parliamentary stages. That work would now focus on the fine regulatory detail to enable the Act to work in practice. Ian reflected that the bus industry has an overall customer satisfaction rating of 84%: “That is exceptionally high for any consumer industry, but you wouldn’t have thought so to listening to the debate in Parliament when MPs spoke of the Halcyon days that existed before 1986. “They gave us the impression that every road in the land was served by 10 buses an hour, 24 hours a day and twice on Bank Holidays…That’s not how I remember it. “…We all know that bus services today are much better than 20 years ago. Our fleets are the most modern they’ve ever been and our drivers much friendlier. “…We’ve become much more customer focused, and we’re doing things now that wouldn’t have been dreamt of 25 years ago”. Turning to Geoff Hoon, Ian recalled the words of previous Transport Secretary, Alastair Darling when he had said in 2006 that what the industry needed was ‘brave politicians and innovative operators’. To Ian that meant having the guts to let the private sector do what it does best. Under the new Act, Ian felt that there was a clear example of that bravery in terms of more pragmatic competition rules. But he stressed that ‘not taking the opportunity to hold local authorities to account for bus punctuality is the other side of that coin’. Concessionary fares – ‘between a rock and a hard place’ Ian was at pains to make clear to the Secretary of State that there were still significant areas of difficulty over the new concessionary fares scheme: “Many of our customers, to say nothing of our drivers, have had to deal with the difficulties associated with the roll-out of the National Concessionary Fares Scheme. “…As operators we feel caught between the rock of Government, who say that they have put enough money into the scheme, and the hard place of local authorities, who say that they haven’t. “Wherever the answer lies, please be very clear that the problem did not go away last April”. Ian also took the opportunity to mention other industry challenges, including upcoming EU regulations with potentially damaging repercussions. Geoff Hoon responded that although he had fond memories of Barton Buses, he likewise did not think of those as the Halcyon days, nor was he blind to the very serious challenges that the industry was facing. He acknowledged the help given by CPT in helping the Local Transport Bill become an Act, and recognized that punctuality was ‘the single most important factor in people deciding whether to use the bus or their car’. He said he knew that local authorities had a key role to play in delivering priorities that would help make the bus a viable alternative to the car. He accepted that there was still work to be done on concessionary fares and promised that ‘we will get it right…none of this is going to be easy, but it is within our reach’. The Secretary of State recognized the industry’s concerns overall and promised: “We are listening”. Ian Morgan told Bulletin: “It is a great honour for me to serve as CPT President and in all my dealings, I am proud to say that the pioneering work of trent barton is openly acknowledged”. Snow chaos
* inadequate gritting forces temporary shut-down
* praise for depot teams The Winter’s first significant snows of February 2nd were nowhere near enough to interrupt bus services, but by the time Thursday 5th came it was a different story. Inadequate gritting made many side roads impassable and we were forced to call a temporary halt in order to give our routes time to clear. Director of Service Delivery Jeff Counsell praised drivers who toughed it out: “Thursday’s news was full of stories about those who couldn’t be bothered to go to work. But many of those who did go in owe it in the first place to trent barton drivers who made so much effort to get in for their shifts, right across the day. I’m rightly proud of our full turn-out and I have nothing but praise for our crews and support teams for getting the show on the road. “We’ve seen worse than this, but although most main roads were usable, the real problem came when we had to use estate roads that weren’t properly gritted – we just couldn’t get through. “So after turning out every bus as usual in the early hours, by 9am we were completely adrift from schedule - rainbow 3 buses, for example, were taking as long as three and a half hours to complete one single trip. “That’s when I took the decision to call everything in so that we could regroup – and allow time for routes to be cleared.
“By midday most of our routes were back up and running pretty well to time”. 
A well-loaded indigo bus gets the better of the driving snows that ushered-in February. The air-conditioning was perhaps surplus to requirements on this particular journey… When it comes to the Crunch….
Bleak start to 2009 – takings down, costs increasing, but quality is the key… In a special interview for Bulletin, trent barton Financial Director Graham Sutton has described how January’s trading figures have fallen a long way below expectation while costs are moving ever upwards: “Like many businesses, we had our suspicions that people were going to have a final fling at Christmas before tightening their belts for the New Year. “And that’s what our figures reveal. In the first four weeks of 2009, takings are £100,000 below target. That doesn’t bode well for February when the weather turned against us into the bargain. “And although we are relieved to have seen fuel prices come down in the last few months – it is still easy to lose track of the fact that our total fuel bill in 2008 was 40% more than it was in 2007. “And that’s not all. Just about everything we use is going up in price. Depot utility bills, for example, are up by an eye-watering 60%. Insurance is up by 15% - and these were not small bills in the first place. “That’s the picture – less coming in; more going out” So how does Graham see the year ahead? “Clearly this is not going to be an easy year by any stretch,” he said, “but let’s look at the positives. We have worked very hard over the years to deliver a consistently good product – and that must stand us in good stead. While some businesses are frantically making cutbacks and reducing quality, we are investing in the trent barton brands with the added confidence that we serve attractive destinations. Cities like Derby and Nottingham will be doing all they can to win customers. We must do all we can to attract and retain those same people. We offer fantastic value compared with the price of city parking – before you even start to count the other costs of motoring. And we are good at what we do. “Anyone who shops anywhere will have noticed the extra attention that is being lavished on customers. People are being made to feel valued. If anything is not up to scratch or if they are kept waiting they receive an immediate apology. “We cannot change the economy but we can make absolutely sure that we serve every customer to our very best ability. Having invested so hard for so long in quality – we need customer satisfaction to be the magic ingredient that sees us through”. Extra helpings of MANGO
popular new smartcard now available on more brands 
The new ticket machines that run the new MANGO smartcard are being rolled out across many of our brands at Nottingham; radcliffe line and xprss join indigo and rainbow 4 are the latest brands to feature MANGO. So far, MANGO is proving to be an instant hit and close to 1000 customers are already using the smartcard. Cardholders simply apply and register online, charging up their MANGO so that no cash has to change hands on bus. This will quicken up boarding times and improve timekeeping. MANGO offers a 25% discount on single cash fares. Next contenders for MANGO will be the keyworth connection, ruddington connection and cotgrave connection New contract will link Derby’s Hospitals Staring on the 6th April a brand new shuttle bus will be linking Derby’s Hospitals, thanks to a new partnership with Derby City Hospital. The new brand will run every 10 minutes from Derby city centre to the hospital throughout the day. The bus will also link up with the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary with a bus every 20 minutes. It will be specially branded to tie in with the hospital’s new name which will be announced later in the year. The contract will run for 3 years, with the hospital contributing towards the costs of running the brand, which will have 4 new Optare SoLos come July. It will come under the wing of Brand Manager Kevin Pool, where it will sit alongside the mickleover, villager, X38 and harlequin brands. Kevin said: “This is excellent news. The city hospital already accounts for a lot of our established custom in terms of staff and visitors. I am thrilled that we will be adding this prestigious new contract to that portfolio and I look forward to showing exactly what we can do”. 4 centuries on the buses
Long service celebrated There is an accumulated 400 years’ service in this remarkable photo. 13 of the trent barton team were pictured at the recent Long Service Awards presentation dinner, having passed the 25, 35 or 45 year milestones during 2005. Each received a gift to mark the occasion. Managing Director Brian King paid tribute to long-serving staff who formed the backbone of the company: “One is six of the trent barton team has been with us for 25 years or more, which tells you a great deal about us”, he said. “During that time there have been more changes than most of us could name – but in today’s bus market, the customer has never been so well served. We owe our long-serving employees a debt of gratitude for their dedication and loyalty – and for the professional skills which they have handed down to the next generation of bus people”.
Back Row L-R: David Walker, Cliff Ince, David Hillberg, Gary Carter Middle Row L-R: David Harrison, William Harrison, Roger Bramley, John Murfin, Oma Shanker Front Row L-R: Gerry Booth, Geoffrey Mabbitt, Peter Steel, David Trowhill That’s Magic!
Paul Daniels will host Really Good Service Awards Now that December’s Driver of the Month results are in the Judges will determine who will take the top prize at this year’s Really Good Service Awards which will be hosted by celebrity magician Paul Daniels at Derby’s Pride Park Stadium on 6th May. The Driver of the Month title in November goes to Eric Leverton at Langley Mill, taking the title for a remarkable SIXTH time, Eric is a regular on bus 27.
November’s commendation winners are Caroline Stevens and Brian Eley at Langley Mill, and Broadmarsh’s Stuart Guthrie and Jon O’Shaughnessy. And, in December no fewer than 3 Driver of the Month titles were awarded in a dead heat. Ray Bradley and Glyn Whaley from Langley Mill were joined by Derby’s Ben Spencer. Both Ray and Glyn can be seen on the rainbow 2, whilst Ben is a driver on transpeak. The commendation winners for December are previous Driver of the Year, Langley Mill’s Dawn Jowett, Kevin Devanney also of Langley Mill and Broadmarsh’s David Smalley. And a special mention for Broadmarsh’s Brett Woodward who was a commendation winner in October. Ilkeston Flyer research results in
Drivers come out top – Erewash council’s bus shelters let us down Over 100 surveys were completed on the ilkeston flyer just before Christmas and with the results just in, the friendly team of drivers on the brand has scored top honours amongst our customers. The least-liked part of the experience was the bus shelters which are provided by Erewash Borough Council. The ilkeston flyer really is a remarkable success story. The number of customers travelling to Derby has soared over recent months and the brand was completely overhauled and upgraded in November. The new-look ilkeston flyer come scomplete with designer interior and more seating room. Clearly the Westfield shopping centre is a big attraction to customers but we also wanted to find out what customers liked and disliked about the brand. The speed and cost of the journey into Derby compares very favourably against the car said many, and when you think of the hassle of finding a parking space in the city when you get there, the ilkeston flyer offers a real alternative. Customers were also happy with the 30 minute frequency, but would prefer more buses in the evenings. But what came out worst overall was the condition of bus shelters, here are two examples of the appalling conditions in which our customers have to wait. 
Brand Manager Adrian Cadd said: “It is so frustrating that when we invest so much in quality and customer service, the squalid condition of the shelters deters people at the first hurdle. The bus shelter is the shop window for bus travel and one cannot help but wonder how many customers have been put off before even trying the ilkeston flyer. We will continue to lobby Erewash Borough Council. Happy Customers! Here is a snippet from the Derby Evening Telegraph, well done to the allestree team! 
And over at Broadmarsh, ruddington connection driver Dennis (bones) Dutton was extremely surprised to receive a very special Christmas gift from the Children at Ruddington Day Nursery. 
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