Exclusive interview with Sir Brian Souter

With the recent launch of eight new double decker buses for the 52 route between Exeter, Sidmouth, Seaton and Honiton, Stagecoach has clearly demonstrated its continued commitment to Devon’s public transport services. The Exeter Daily caught up with the firm's Chairman, Sir Brian Souter, on his biennial visit to the city of Exeter to Stagecoach's South West HQ to talk about his future hopes for the company.

Sir Brian Souter sweeps through Stagecoach's Exeter Head Office like a charge of electricity, lighting up the place with an infectious enthusiasm for leading this top international public transport group - which he originally launched with his sister Ann - with vision and passion. Little did he know then that it would grow to become one of the world’s biggest and most respected transport companies in the world and that he would ultimately become an award-winning Scottish entrepreneur, gaining the accolade of Scotland Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in 2010, and receive a knighthood in 2011 for services to transport and the voluntary sector.

With humble beginnings, having started with two second-hand buses on 9th October, 1980, the Stagecoach Group has been built on Sir Brian's passion for buses that goes back to his early childhood and now employs around 35,000 people in the UK and North America and runs around 13,000 buses, coaches, trains and trams. In the UK alone, two million passengers use Stagecoach services each day while in North America, the group employs 4,400 people and operates a fleet of 2,800 buses and coaches.

However, it is not the company he has created that impresses me the most, but his capacity to remember the people that keep the cogs turning, day in, day out through good weather and bad (and sadly for Devon the latter was true for so much of last year) - from the management to the drivers, and from the mechanics to the support staff.

The Stagecoach Group is clearly a highly successful enterprise, and so I wanted to know what Sir Brian thought were the secrets to its growing fortunes. He tells me "I always say that the best way to run a successful business is to understand your customer. Now I know that sounds trite, but actually the people we have running our business have all come up through the ranks, done the jobs like driving the buses.

"In order to enhance the opportunities of our staff members, we have a New Staff Development Programme, which we run every 12 months. Successful applicants undertake a 12-month training programme, at the end of which 9 out of 10 people find a position. It is a really intense programme to go through, but they come through it with experience at every discipline within the business. We also have a highly successful graduate training scheme.

"More and more females are also coming through too. Some of our most promising employees are female. Although there is still a horribly low percentage of women working for Stagecoach, it is improving and this is something we are keen to encourage.

One of the things that surprised me somewhat was the company's environmental achievements. Sir Brian says: "There has been a big emphasis on environmental issues and focus of getting cars off the road, and we're very much part and parcel of that effort. Stagecoach has made a major commitment to ensure the environment is protected, and is working hard to build on the significant progress it has made in recent years to reduce its carbon footprint, and has won many awards for our environmental initiatives.

"We have a cycle to work scheme, for which we had 82 members of staff take up the scheme. This must have been one of the highest take-ups in the country.

" We also have a fantastic green team, which is led by the staff not the managers, and this is why we've been nominated for a green award.

"In order to get more cars off the road, it is vital to get the product right, which means getting the route network right, putting new buses to replace the old and the offering the right product so that people who want to can use alternatives to car travel. We offer great value for money, and in the current climate everyone is looking for the right offer.

"Another great initiative that has enticed commuters onto the buses has been the introduction of our Megarider tickets, which are always really good value for money and help to encourage people to use the bus. Unirider is a national product that has also proved hugely successful here in Exeter - We have quadrupled the numbers that we sell just in the last 12 months! Everyone's looking for good value, especially students, and that's what we deliver."

Sir Brian continues, "The Environment is still one of THE key areas that is driving people's behavior. Two thirds of our customers are very concerned about the environment and global warming and want to do something about it."

Stagecoach used 2.2 million gallons of diesel last year, at an average of 8.41 miles per gallon. It is constructively working to improve fuel consumption through technical measures, and all its drivers have completed a Safe and Fuel-Efficient Driving (SAFED) course. Stagecoach Group has achieved the Carbon Trust Standard for reducing energy consumption and has announced a challenging CO2 reduction programme for the next five years.

All its fleet runs on low sulphur diesel, with a high-tech additive Envirox to reduce pollution and improve fuel consumption, while vehicle engines must meet increasingly higher Euro standards of exhaust emissions - 75% of the fleet meets at least the Euro 3 standard. Stagecoach recycles most of its waste, such as litter, used oils, filters, batteries, parts, etc, but also recycles the water it uses to wash its vehicles every night.

Sir Brian says, "We want to do something quite radical and look to partner people who are sitting in same environmental space as us -  this could be in the realm of recycling, insulating, local food for example.

"We have even considered a 'Green Alliance', where we'll look at partnering with people like the Council in charge of the recycling, where you have a green points scheme rewarded green points for green behavior which can then be redeemed in some of these green activities. Like our Ice card - which rewards you generously with Ice points for purchasing sustainable and energy-saving products and services from a wide range of Ice retail partners - but relating it to environmental concerns.

"Even people who are carbon creators could come into this - if you are saving energy you can get green points to use in the bus service.

"This wouldn't work in, say, Sheffield, but Devon could well see such a scheme successfully implemented. I see Devon as very similar to rural Aberdeenshire, where I come from. In both areas, people want to conserve the beauty of the area in which they live or have moved to. We have put bottle banks in the bus stations of Aberdeenshire, and if you recycle your bottles you get money off your bus fare.

I asked Sir Brian about developments to the network locally, and he tells me "We have invested in the number 52 service from Exeter to Sidmouth, and from next March we will launch a vital new service to coastal routes, attracting locals and tourists alike.

"We also have the new Cranbrook development coming, so we are putting a new bus route out to this new community, which will run every 30 mins. And we are also putting another ten drivers at least in, plus a new service going out to Digby Tesco and back into the city.

"Not many companies in the current economic climate are recruiting and we've recruited a lot of people in last few years. And with John Lewis opening, we extended the service of Park and Ride to increased frequency and later running time. The Park and Ride service now starts earlier and finishes later on Sunday, plus late evenings on Thursdays. We even put early buses on to enable more John Lewis workers to easily get into and out of the city without causing congestion.

"We've also added more Megabus services to London and other parts of the country. It's really been a growth story from start to finish."

One of the key developments for the future will be the transformation of Exeter Bus Station, which Sir Brian tells me they are still in discussion with Exeter City Council about. "We're very committed to supporting them in it. We have always said there should be some kind of amenity space and leisure facilities in the heart of the city. It's a vibrant city and we think it should stay that way. We don't like to see leisure facilities pushed to the outskirts, but created as part of a 'downtown' - and I think that's the way to keep retail growing as well. Keep the park and ride on the periphery and grow the amenities in the centre."

As Sir Brian says, many companies in the current tough economic climate are shrinking, either by cutting jobs, reducing investment or seeing customer demand for their products and services fall. And so it is encouraging to see the likes of Stagecoach continue to remain one of the country’s biggest private sector employers, attracting a growing number of people to greener, smarter and better value public transport.

If you would like to know more about Stagecoach's green initiatives, visit www.stagecoach.com