PERTH, SCOTLAND, 2016-Sep-02 — /Travel PR News/ —Bus operator Stagecoach announced today (31 August 2016) that it has appointed two new Managing Directors of its bus operations.
Edward Hodgson, currently Managing Director of megabus.com Europe, will also take on the position of Managing Director, Stagecoach South, from 1 October 2016. This follows the promotion of previous Stagecoach South Managing Director Mike Watson to the position of Regional Director South.
Mark Whitelocks, currently Operations Director, Stagecoach East Scotland, has been appointed Managing Director, Stagecoach North Scotland, effective from 1 October. Current Stagecoach North Scotland Managing Director, Steve Walker, was recently appointed Managing Director, Stagecoach North East.
Edward Hodgson was previously Commercial Director at Stagecoach South before spending three years in the US in the role of Director of megabus.com. He returned to the UK in 2011 after being appointed Managing Director of Stagecoach West Scotland and in July 2014 also took on the role of Managing Director of Scottish Citylink. In October 2014, he moved from West Scotland to take on responsibility for megabus.com Europe and, as Managing Director, led the rapid expansion of the megabus.com network within mainland Europe over the past two years.
Stagecoach confirmed earlier this year the sale of the retail part of the megabus.com business in mainland Europe to international company FlixBus. megabus.com continues to operate a number of European services on behalf of FlixBus.
As such, Edward Hodgson will now carry out a dual role, as both Managing Director of Stagecoach South and Managing Director of megabus.com’s retail business in the UK, as well as overseeing the on-going operations in mainland Europe.
Mark Whitelocks is a product of the highly successful Stagecoach UK Bus Graduate Development Programme which takes graduate trainees through a Senior Management Scheme to help them become the managers of the future. Mark has previously held managerial positions at Stagecoach West and Stagecoach South West. He was also Highly Commended in the Young Manager of the Year category at the 2010 UK Bus Awards. In September 2013 he took on the role of Operations Director at Stagecoach East Scotland.
Robert Montgomery, Stagecoach UK Bus Managing Director, said: “I would like to congratulate both Edward and Mark on their appointments. Edward’s experience as both a regional company managing director and in leading megabus.com Europe over the past couple of years will stand him in good stead to take on this dual role. I believe he has the skills and experience to deliver growth and further customer improvements at both Stagecoach South and megabus.com and wish him every success.
“Mark’s career so far is testament to the development opportunities we have in place for young managers within Stagecoach. He has worked hard to gain experience at a number of our operating companies since joining as a graduate trainee and I have every confidence that he will continue on the good work previously done at our North Scotland business, working alongside our partners in the area, to deliver even better bus services for local people.”
Edward Hodgson said: “I am delighted to be taking on this role and I look forward to returning to the south of England, where I previously worked several years ago. It’s a great business with great people and I am looking forward to working with the team there, and our local partners, to continue delivering high-quality, affordable bus travel and excellent customer service for the millions of people that rely on our services every year.”
“I am also pleased to continue as Managing Director of megabus.com which has had a very busy two years and where we believe there is scope to grow our UK business in particular even further to deliver our great value travel for even more people in the future.”
Mark Whitelocks said: “I can’t wait to meet the North Scotland team and get started in my new role. I believe we can take advantage of further opportunities to deliver an even better service for customers by utilising new technology, delivering even better customer service and working closely with our partners.”
An internal recruitment process is now underway for the position of Operations Director, Stagecoach East Scotland.
ENDS
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Stagecoach Group
- Stagecoach Group is an international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, mainland Europe, the United States and Canada. The Group employs around 39,000 people, and operates around 13,000 buses, coaches, trains and trams.
- Stagecoach is one of the UK’s biggest bus and coach operators with around 8,500 buses and coaches. The Group’s business includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge. Low-cost coach service, megabus.com, operates a network of inter-city services across the UK.
- Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has also partnered with Virgin to run the East Coast and West Coast inter-city rail franchises.
- Stagecoach operates the Supertram light rail network in Sheffield.
- In North America, Stagecoach operates around 2,400 buses and coaches in the United States and Canada. megabus.com directly links over 130 key locations in North America. Stagecoach is also involved in operating commuter, transit, contracted, charter, airport shuttle and sightseeing services.
- For further information, go to: www.stagecoach.com | @stagecoachgroup
SOURCE: Stagecoach Group plc.