Ray Ramsey retires

Commercial Projects Officer at Stagecoach Midlands’ head office in Northampton, Ray Ramsey, has retired after 50 years service on the town’s buses. Chairman and founder of Stagecoach Group, Sir Brian Souter took the opportunity to thank Ray for his long and valuable contribution to the company during a recent visit to the Northampton head office and depot. Ray was sent home on his last day in an ADL Enviro400 Scania double decker, which earlier this year was painted in the green and cream livery of the United Counties Omnibus Company.

Ray joined United Counties on 9 September 1963 at the age of 17 as a Traffic Trainee at the Bedford depot. He was with the United Counties Omnibus Company until Stagecoach acquired it from the government owned National Bus Company in 1987. He was District Manager at Kettering and Corby when United Counties was divided into four companies in 1985, prior to privatisation. This was a position he continued in until April 1987, when he moved to Bedford as District Manager.

Ray recalled that when he was first appointed as Manager at Bedford the daily fleet size was around 50 buses and by the time he moved on to the Commercial Team at Head office in 2002 it had increased to well over 100. Turnover had just about doubled over that 15 year period. In addition to the introduction of the new X5 service between Oxford and Cambridge, there was a huge increase in home to school transport operations undertaken, which also allowed a significant expansion of local bus operations, both commercial and tendered.

Pic: (LtoR) Sir Brian Souter and Ray Ramsey.

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