Stagecoach UK Bus announcement confirms MD’s Musical Chairs shuffle

Following our blog last week, Stagecoach has finally announced a number of moves within its bus businesses in the north of the country.

The changes, which take place from the start of next month see four Managing Directors moving to new parts of the Country.

Stagecoach told SKM that the moves are “part of Stagecoach’s ongoing business change programme, which is designed to ensure that the company is fit for the future across its business”.

The MD changes are largely within the Stagecoach UK Bus North region, which is now being led by Catherine Acton-Brazier who was appointed Regional Director North last year and who joined the company from BT & Openreach.

Catherine now oversees Stagecoach’s UK Bus businesses in Cumbria & North Lancashire, East Midlands, Manchester, Merseyside & South Lancashire, North East and Yorkshire. Throughout her career, Catherine has led customer service, operations, innovation, service improvement and change.

The MDs moving offices are:

Matt Davies, Managing Director for Stagecoach Yorkshire, will move to become Managing Director for Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire. has been Managing Director of Stagecoach Yorkshire since July 2016. He has over 25 years’ experience in the bus industry after beginning his career as a management trainee with Lincolnshire RoadCar in 1995 after completing a Transport Management degree at the University of Northumbria. Matt and his family live in the North West, and he has held senior roles in this region with Stagecoach, Arriva and First Group.

Rob Jones, Managing Director for Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire, will move to become Managing Director of Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire. Rob was appointed Managing Director of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire in December 2016. Rob began his career in the bus industry almost 30 years ago as a cleaner with a local bus company aged just 15. He gained his PCV licence and since then, has held a number of management positions including Operations Manager for Stagecoach North West during which time he won the Young Manager of the Year Award at the 2008 UK Bus Awards.He has also worked as Operations Director in West Scotland and Merseyside and South Lancashire, before becoming Managing Director.

Mark Whitelocks, Managing Director for Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire, will move to become Managing Director for Stagecoach Midlands, which falls under the south region. Mark has been the Managing Director of Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire since May 2018. Mark joined Stagecoach through the company’s Graduate Development Programme and has previously held managerial positions at Stagecoach West, Stagecoach South West and Stagecoach East Scotland before being appointed Managing Director, Stagecoach North Scotland in 2016, and then moving to Cumbria. Mark and his family are originally from the Midlands.

Phil Medlicott, Managing Director for Stagecoach Midlands, will move to become Managing Director for Stagecoach Yorkshire. Phil returned to Stagecoach in June 2018 as Managing Director of the Midlands business.Phil began his career in the bus industry in 1983, becoming a driver and then holding a series of management posts at bus companies in Birkenhead, Runcorn and London before joining Stagecoach in 2000 as Operations Director for Stagecoach South. He worked as Managing Director of Stagecoach Warwickshire, Stagecoach South East and Stagecoach North East before taking up the role as Managing Director of First Manchester in 2016.

Catherine Acton-Brazier, said: “Since joining Stagecoach UK Bus in November, I have been delighted to see the wealth of talent within the business. It’s clear there is a strong focus on delivering the best service for customers, and I want us to continue to be in the best position to embrace all the new opportunities ahead.

“These changes will enable a number of our Managing Directors to gain experience of different areas of our business and provides the opportunity to have a fresh look at our operations in the north to support our strategy for the future.
“I’d like to congratulate Matt, Rob and Phil on their new appointments within my team, and wish Mark all the best as he moves into the south part of our network.”

There are no changes to the Managing Director positions in the other Stagecoach UK Bus North businesses: Manchester, the North East or East Midlands. 

In a separate announcement, Stagecoach UK Bus has named its new Regional Director for Scotland as Sam Greer. Sam, who has been in the transport industry for 35 years, is currently Technical & Engineering Director for Stagecoach and will continue in that role as well as taking overall responsibility for the four businesses in Scotland; East Scotland, West Scotland, Bluebird and Highlands.

It follows the announcement that Robert Andrew will be retiring in June after 35 years in the transport industry. Robert joined Stagecoach in 1992 as Operations Manager for Inverness and has held many senior positions across the business, becoming Regional Director for Scotland & Wales in 2019. He has held held a number of Managing Director and Regional Director positions since 2000. Robert will continue to lead the megabus and Citylink coach businesses and Stagecoach South Wales until his retirement.

Sam Greer began his career in 1984 as an apprentice mechanic with the then Scottish Bus Group. He later worked for London Metroline and Strathclyde Buses before joining Western Scottish in 1992 as depot engineer. Following Stagecoach's takeover of Western Scottish, he was appointed as Engineering Director of Stagecoach West Scotland in 1997, a position he held until 2006 when he took on the role of Managing Director of the company. He has previous experience of being Regional Director for Scotland from 2010 to 2016, and more recently, he has held the position of UK Bus Engineering Director and Technical & Engineering Director, with responsibility for Stagecoach’s fleet of over 8,000 buses and coaches.

Mark Threapleton, Chief Operating Officer for Stagecoach, said: “Robert has played a valuable role in our business and has built strong relationships with our stakeholders. Under his leadership, we have seen many successes in Scotland, including the roll out of multi-operator and multi-modal ticketing and the trial of the country’s first autonomous bus. Robert will be a loss to our business, but we wish him all the best for his forthcoming retirement.

“I am delighted that Sam Greer will be taking over the Regional Director Scotland role, in addition to continuing to lead our fleet strategy. Sam has a wealth of knowledge of our business and extensive experience of public transport in Scotland.
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"Under Sam’s leadership, we have invested more than £1 billion in new greener vehicles and by the end of this year, we will be running one of the biggest electric bus fleets in Europe. We will continue to lead the way in the transition to a cleaner public transport future.”