Adrian Wickens

UPDATE 
The funeral service for Adrian Wickens has been confirmed and will take place on Thursday 7 June, 1pm, St Mary’s Church, Old Square, Warwick, CV34 4RA. This will be followed by a wake at the Lord Leycester Hospital, 60 High Street, Warwick, CV34 4BH. Afterwards there will be a private, family-only, burial service.
The family – Adrian’s wife Catherine, son Alistair and daughter Alexandra, and future daughter-in-law Emily and future son-in-law Laurie – have asked for donations, if wished, c/o funeral directors AE Bennett & Sons, 34 Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon (Cheques payable to AE Bennett & Sons Donations Account). A collection will also be taken at the funeral service. Donations will be divided between Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Trust.

Obituary

Adrian Wickens, latterly Bus Planning Manager at Volvo Buses, has died suddenly while on a walking holiday in France

Adrian, who retired in 2015, was a Volvo Bus stalwart, having worked at the company for 42 years. He was also chairman of the SMMT Bus & Coach section for ten years and was heavily involved with the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s Suppliers Group.

Born in Old Windsor, he was a bright pupil and passed his A level exams when only 17. After reading Mechanical Engineering, he did a Masters Degree in Ergonomics, and left University College London to work at Leyland-owned Park Royal Vehicles, developing the Titan and other vehicles alongside such alumni as Russell Richardson (later at Optare) and Wesley Keys (who later worked at Walter Alexander).

Indeed, Adrian and Russel Richardson worked alongside each other at Park Royal, when Adrian left body development and became Park Royal Facilities Engineer. Adrian moved to Lancashire in a planning role for what was to become Leyland Bus, and then, just after he got married, to Cathy, Leyland announced the closure of the Park Royal factory.

After several different roles in the roller-coaster ride of Leyland Bus’s fortunes, Leyland Bus was bought by Volvo in 1988, and Adrian moved with the company. He worked for the product planning department in Sweden, where he lived, before returning to the UK as Product Planning Manager in 1994, working under Sandie Glennie.

He always expressed pride in his role helping the PSVAR team develop wheelchair-accessibility regulations. Latterly, he also chaired the Bus Group of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP), among many other non-salaried roles for which he gave up his time for the industry.

In his private life, Adrian was a follower of arts history, and travelled in Italy on cultural tours, when he wasn’t tending an allotment and studying foreign languages.

The staff at Bus & Coach Buyer will always remember his selflessness and sartorial elegance, coupled with his unsurpassed knowledge of the products he represented, and extend heartfelt condolences to Cathy and his family and friends.

You can learn more about Adrian’s life and work HERE

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