Issued: September 2nd 2019: Stagecoach boosts its management team in Bedford

SKM/ScE 2019/003
 
Issued: 2nd September 2019
 
 
 News Release
 
 
Stagecoach boosts its management team in Bedford
 
 Stagecoach East has made two key appointments to take its bus and coach operations in Bedford to the next level.
 
Josh Martin has joined the team as Operations Manager with responsibility for 203 Drivers and four Controllers whilst Neil Wilmin took charge in July as the new Engineering Manager with an engineering staff, including storekeeper, cleaners, depot shunters and apprentices of 41 and 86 buses and coaches. 
 
After graduating from University in 2013 Josh spent two years in a customer-facing role with a car rental company in South Wales. He then joined the Stagecoach on its’ graduate scheme. His training programme took place at Stagecoach’s Merseyside business where he spent time working in operations, commercial and engineering disciplines. 
 
Josh’s first management role was as Assistant Operations Manager at Stagecoach South East’s Ashford depot. There he was responsible for the delivery and operation of the ‘Little & Often’ project which saw a frequent ‘turn up an go’ service using smaller buses trialled on some Ashford town routes.
 
Moving to Stagecoach London in 2017 as Assistant Operations Manager at Leyton depot he quickly progressed to Operations Manager there. He took up his appointment in Bedford in August 2019.
 
Josh Martin said: “I am relishing the exciting and unique challenges that my new role offers. I want to develop the relationship with the drivers and the operations team. I also want to encourage discussion around wellbeing and mental health issue that are so important in today’s bus industry, and which are being championed throughout Stagecoach UK Bus.
 
“I also intend to get out and about to better understand from both our customers and stakeholders what is important to them and what we can do to increase bus use not just in Bedford but also on the key Cambridge-Bedford-Milton Keynes-Oxford corridor.”
 
Neil Wilmin joins the Bedford team from Stagecoach Midlands where he spent the last three years as Engineering Manager at Kettering depot. 
 
Neil started his career as an apprentice with United Counties which was then bought by Stagecoach. He has subsequently worked for a number of major bus operators and also spent time as an MOT examiner in the bus and coach sector.
 
Neil Wilmin said: “The Bedford operation has a number of unique challenges. The engineering and operations (drivers) functions are located across two sites more than a mile apart. It is important that we maintain good communications between the engineering and operations functions. We also maintain a mixed fleet of vehicles which includes buses and long-distance coaches.”
 
“My immediate focus is to recruit additional staff to support the engineering operation, whilst also ensuring that we provide our customers with the safe, clean, presentable and reliable bus and coach services that they expect from us.”
 
Michelle Hargreaves, Managing Director Stagecoach East said: “Both Josh and Neil have a proven track record within Stagecoach which is extremely impressive. Neil also brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience from the wider bus industry. I am confident that they are well placed to focus clearly on what is important to our customers and ensure we deliver a top class service.
 
“By providing our customers with the best bus service we can, we can play our part in reducing the number of cars on the roads in Bedford and on the Oxford-Cambridge corridor. We can also play a part in reducing road congestion and emissions. Josh and Neil are well placed to make that vision a reality.”
 
                                                                                                
                                                                                          Ends
 
 
                                                                Issued on behalf of Stagecoach East by Steven Knight Media
 
 
 
 
Images:
 
Josh Martin
 
Neil Wilmin
 
Stagecoach Bedford  bus
 
Stagecoach X5 coach
 
Stagecoach - the easy way to travel in Bedford
 
 
 
​About Stagecoach East
 
Stagecoach East provides local bus services throughout Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire including in Bedford and the cities of Cambridge and Peterborough as well as surrounding areas. 
 
We operate from five main depots; Bedford, Cambridge, Fenstanton, Long Sutton and Peterborough. In addition buses run from a number of smaller outstations in the market towns surrounding these locations. 
 
Our Head Office, which is based in Cambridge, provides necessary support to the operational depots, including our Commercial and marketing departments.
 
We offer a range of tickets including recurring monthly payment options for regular customers, through the Stagecoach Smartcard. Now the majority of weekly tickets are purchased on our Smartcards and the increasing use of contactless payments is speeding up the boarding of our buses.
 
Across Stagecoach East we carry around 40 million passengers a year with our buses operating some 21 million miles a year.
 
We operate our fleet on a bio-diesel mix, manufactured in part from recycled waste products. All our fleet run on Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel, with the additive Envirox which reduces pollution and improves fuel consumption. 

Josh Martin

Neil Wilmin

Stagecoach X5 coach

Stagecoach - the easy way to travel in Bedford

Stagecoach Bedford bus