I am pleased to announce the appointment of Giles Fearnley as Managing Director UK Bus with effect from 1 February 2011.
With a strong track record in both bus and rail Giles has considerable experience in the passenger transport industry.
In 1991 he led the management buy-out of Blazefield Holdings which operated bus networks principally across Yorkshire and Lancashire. He remained as Chief Executive for two years following the Group’s sale to Transdev plc in 2006. As one of the founders of Prism Rail PLC, which operated four passenger rail franchises in the UK, he was appointed Chief Executive in 1997 and led the Group prior to its sale in 2000. Most recently he served as Chairman of Grand Central, the open access operator.
He is currently Chairman of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, having been a past President of the organisation. He is also past Chairman of the Association of Train Operating Companies. Since 2001 he has chaired Journey Solutions, the bus and rail industry initiative to promote integration and also chairs Greener Journeys, the UK bus and coach industry’s campaign to promote modal shift from cars to buses and coaches.
I am delighted to welcome Giles to the Group where his extensive background and experience in passenger transport will be of great benefit to our UK Bus division and its continued successful development.
Mary Grant, currently Managing Director Rail division and Interim Managing Director Bus division, has decided to leave the Company at the end of March 2011.
Mary has been with the Group since 2003 and was part of the rail refranchising team. She led the bid for, and subsequently became Managing Director of, the new ScotRail franchise. She was appointed Managing Director of the Group’s UK Rail division in May 2009 and given additional responsibility, on an interim basis, for UK Bus in June 2010.
Mary has made a considerable contribution to the development of the Group. Under Mary’s leadership ScotRail achieved tremendous success including growth of more than 20% in passenger numbers and record highs in customer satisfaction. Most recently, she successfully led the UK Rail division through the challenging economic environment in the UK and restructured the UK Bus division to create a stronger platform for future growth.
Although we respect her decision, we are sorry to see Mary leave. She has however, established a strong and capable team and built a solid foundation on which we can continue to build. On behalf of everyone at FirstGroup I would like to thank Mary for her contribution and wish her every success for the future.
As the UK’s largest rail operator we have a strong track record of success and are well positioned to continue to benefit from the exciting opportunities arising from forthcoming franchise competitions. An announcement will be made in due course in respect of the appointment of a new Managing Director and in the meantime the UK Rail division will report directly to me.
Tim O’Toole CBE
Chief Executive