The UK 12m single deck bus market is not as large as it once was, with midibuses and extended versions of midibuses claiming the dominant share of total single deck sales. Despite this, there are still operators who want to run something they see as heavier duty and among them is Simonds of Botesdale, now […]

Stagecoach North East has welcomed new Operations Manager, Laura Smith, to the team at its Sunderland bus depot. Laura was previously Operations Manager for Stagecoach in Cheltenham and the Cotswolds, which involved running both sites simultaneously and managing over 180 employees. She will be responsible for the 89 buses and 203 drivers around the Wearside […]

Following two successful years of cooperation, Grayson Thermal Systems and Smiles Engineering are continuing their collaboration. The working together of the engine cooling, heating and air conditioning specialist, Grayson and the Newcastle based engine remanufacturer, Smiles Engineering, started after signing a partnership agreement at Euro Bus Expo 2012. Smiles will continue to act as Grayson’s […]

Optare Plc has appointed Rebecca Green as Marketing, Press and Events Manager. Rebecca will report to Sales, Marketing and Service Director, David Siviero. She joined the Sales and Marketing department as Marketing Co-ordinator in February and has already coordinated a Royal Visit, new vehicle launches including the new MetroDecker and electric vehicles for London, in […]

First Aberdeen has expanded its M Ticketing initiative following significant demand from students in the city. Student tickets are now available via the ‘First Bus Mobile Tickets’ app, which enables mobiles to be used as bus tickets. Five student tickets are available, including the discounted £300 academic term ticket (normal price is £350), which gives […]

A record total of nearly 40,000 revelers from this year’s Reading Festival travelled on Reading Buses’ Festival shuttles. Figures show this was almost double the amount at last year’s event. Outgoing Reading Buses CEO, James Freeman, said, ‘Two innovations really helped us. The first was that buses had far better access to the festival site […]

This year’s EYMS’ Big Bus Day held at Hull’s Streetlife Museum beat last year’s previous record 5,600 attendance. Visitors this year are estimated to have totalled 7,200. Well over £4000 was raised for the NSPCC from donations and the sale of programmes, memorabilia, models and photos (and Shippshapes cushions and slippers) with some additional money […]

Stewarts Group has announced the appointment of Bill Tanser as the new General Manager of Leicester based Woods Coaches. Bill replaces Woods Coaches’ former MD and previous owner, Kevin Brown, who remained in post following Stewarts Group’s acquisition of the business in April 2014. Having helped to oversee the transition period following the acquisition, Kevin […]