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How Claire Miles put communities at the heart of Stagecoach Claire Miles took on the top job at Stagecoach a year ago By Patrick Tooher Updated: 17:01 EDT, 7 September 2024 e-mail View comments Stagecoach is on a journey that is about to come full circle. At the wheel for this new adventure is Claire Miles. She took over as chief executive a year ago to lead a company with a turbulent past that is now a pure bus and coach operator focused solely on the UK.
Stagecoach was one of the biggest champions – and beneficiaries – of 1980s de-regulation in which private firms vied with each other for profitable routes. In the driving seat: The chief executive of Stagecoach, Claire Mills Under controversial Scottish siblings Sir Brian Souter and Dame Ann Gloag, who set up the business in Perth, the company grew rapidly by snapping up rivals across the UK before expanding overseas and into trains and trams. But all that has changed.
Stagecoach, which employs 19,000 drivers, has new owners after the founders sold their last shares two years ago to DWS, the former Deutsche Bank infrastructure fund. It is also under a new boss with a commitment to passengers and to the vital importance to communities of buses. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Industry woe for 'the sick man of Europe' Germany MARKET REPORT: Burberry hits 14-year low after Footsie exit ALEX BRUMMER: Wall Street storm warning as US economy heads.
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.. Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa Miles joined after a career in customer-facing firms, including British Gas-owner Centrica.
She arrived as passengers were returning to the buses after Covid but with many feeling the pinch from higher food and fuel bills. Stagecoach has benefited from various Government-backed schemes to encourage post-pandemic public transport use. These include a £2 cap on single fares, introduced in January 2023 to help with the cost-of-living crisis.
The scheme runs until the end of this year. Read More Stagecoach back in driver's seat as passengers return to buses Miles says: ‘We’d like to see an extension. There’s definite evidence it has helped to increase bus usage.
’ But a return to what she calls ‘the norm’ of fully commercial fares, where bus operators decide prices, seems unlikely. She says: ‘If and when the £2 fare cap ends we need to plan for that in a way that’s affordable. We don’t yet know what the Government plans to do.
’ One thing the new Labour government is clear about is giving local authorities more control over bus networks in their area. This ‘franchising’ model involves local authorities setting not just prices, but routes and timetables too. In return, bus companies run local services for a fee.
The system has operated for many years in London and is being rolled out in Greater Manchester. Franchises are less lucrative for Stagecoach. Last year it lost money in London – which accounts for a quarter of its £1.
6billion annual turnover – due to driver shortages and a higher wage bill. It also set aside £21million to cover ‘onerous’ contracts in the capital. Overall, its profit grew by a third to £97.
3million in the year to April 2024 as more people used buses. Miles is sanguine about the idea of more London-style franchises. ‘Whichever model the local authority wants to go down, we’re very happy to work with them,’ Miles insists, as they ‘transition’ to a new way of running the buses.
While she expects ‘more of our revenue over time to become franchised’ it won’t happen overnight. She says: ‘It’s going to take years.’ In the meantime, Stagecoach will work with local councils to smooth the transition back from private to public ownership.
Miles cites the case of Greater Manchester, where Stagecoach is long established, and which under Labour mayor Andy Burnham is in the middle of moving from a commercial to a franchised set-up. The trick, Miles says, is ‘not trying to change too many things at once’ and to minimise disruption to passengers by continuing to provide a reliable service. This a far cry from a few years ago, when Stagecoach took the council to court in a failed bid to stop bus services being brought back under public control.
‘We don’t feel like that any more,’ says Miles breezily. ‘We’re prepared to offer bus services in any mode that exists. What matters is the community and passengers get a great bus service.
’ Buses are the most popular form of public transport in the UK with an average of more than one bus journey a week taken per person. All Miles is looking for is ‘continuity’ and ‘support’ from Ministers for an ‘essential’ service as ‘it’s a good investment for them’. The uncertainty comes as Stagecoach overhauls its buses to make them more environmentally-friendly.
Only 55 of the fleet of 8,500 are net zero but the company is investing heavily, having just placed an order for more than 400 electric vehicles. The scale of Stagecoach’s operations is vast. You can travel from Land’s End to John O’Groats on its buses, says Miles, adding: ‘You can be on some buses for two and a half hours, which is great value for money with the £2 fare cap.
’ Loyalty to Stagecoach itself varies. Miles says: ‘The brand is big in Scotland because of our heritage.’ But in other parts of the country, where routes might be carved up between several operators, ‘it is probably a lot less’.
So what attracted her to the job, especially given her lack of previous experience in transport? ‘What we do every day really matters. Everybody’s commitment to getting the job done – to getting people from A to B – is really brilliant,’ she says. ‘That’s why I’m here.
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