First UK Bus has confirmed the appointment of two local Managing Directors.
James Freeman is joining First as Managing Director for Bristol and the West of England from his role as Chief Executive Officer at Reading Transport Limited. Paul Matthews who is currently Managing Director for Bristol and the West of England has been appointed to the newly created Managing Director position in West Yorkshire.
James will join First in the Autumn and following a handover period, Paul will move to his new role in West Yorkshire.
Managing Director of First UK Bus, Giles Fearnley, said: “These are important appointments as we look to build upon our new localised, customer focused strategy and completes our line-up of local Managing Directors across the division.
“Paul Matthews has done a great job in Bristol and the West of England since early 2013 and I’m delighted he has accepted the position in West Yorkshire. Prior to joining First, Paul had tremendous experience in leading large bus operations for the Go Ahead Group and RATP Dev, and this will be invaluable as he takes charge in West Yorkshire and looks to further strengthen relationships with all our partners and stakeholders.
“I’m delighted that James Freeman will take over as Managing Director and build on Paul’s achievements. James has led the transformation of Reading Buses delivering record levels of customer satisfaction and passenger growth and has also led pioneering work on alternative fuels. In James we have recruited one of the bus industry’s star performers – our whole business will benefit from his experience.”
Paul Matthews said: “I am delighted to have been offered this opportunity to lead the West Yorkshire business through the next critical stage of its development and transformation and look forward to working with the team and our partners. I leave Bristol in a strong position, but there is so much more do be done. I am confident that James, working with the great team there, will be able to seize the many opportunities. In the meantime I will, of course, remain fully committed to Bristol and the West of England until the transition is complete.”
James Freeman said: “The prospect of returning to the West Country is very exciting. I hail from Bath and one of my first jobs was as a clerk with the then Bristol Omnibus Company – so this is really returning to my roots! I am delighted to be joining First UK Bus at a moment in its history when, under Giles Fearnley’s inspiring leadership, it is rapidly progressing. I relish the thought of working with everybody in the team to make the bus services in Bristol, Bath, Weston, Wells and surrounding areas the very best they can be – and to make sure that working for First Bristol & West of England will be one of the most satisfying jobs anyone can have!”
Paul Matthews was previously Chief Executive of the RATP Group's UK operations between 2011 and 2012 where he oversaw London United, Bournemouth Yellow Buses and more locally Bath Bus Company. Within that role he was additionally responsible for the Metrolink trams in Manchester. Between 1995 and 2006 he was Managing Director of Go North East where he developed constructive partnerships with various local authority partners. He joined FirstGroup in 2012 to support the strategic reshaping of the UK Bus business and has been leading the West of England business since June 2013.
James Freeman has been Chief Executive Officer of Reading Buses since 2007. He started in the bus industry as an 18 year old bus conductor working for the National Bus Company (NBC) in Hampshire. After graduating from Southampton University he was selected for the NBC’s Senior Management Training Scheme. He became Managing Director of Shamrock & Rambler Coaches Ltd in Bournemouth in 1983 (at the age of 28 he was the youngest MD in the NBC). By 1986 he had become MD of Provincial Bus Company of Fareham and in 1987 led the first egalitarian employee buy-out of a bus company to form People’s Provincial Buses. In 1990 he became MD of Badgerline Rapid Transit, based in Bristol, leading the Group’s involvement in rapid transit, alternative fuels and development opportunities in Poland. In 1999 he joined Travel West Midlands in Birmingham, moving on to Stagecoach in 2001 where he enjoyed MD posts at Stagecoach in Warwickshire and Stagecoach East, based in Northampton.