Page 14 - CTB N12 - 2015-04

SHOW REVIEW
Coach & Bus Live 2015 Reports 6% Increase in Attendees
the recession and is going from strength to strength.
“Based on the reaction from our industry, Coach & Bus Live 2015 was one of our best editions to date,” says event director Helen Conway. “There was such a great range of new vehicles and products on display, which provided a real buzz. We’re delighted with the feedback we’ve received from our visitors and exhibitors. Hearing news of significant business deals and orders being done over the two days, illustrates, once again, just how important this autumn event is in the industry’s calendar.”
The Master Class Theatre and Workshop Live enjoyed a host of standing-room only sessions across the two days. The 2015 line-up included leading industry’s players like Bob Montgomery, managing director of Stagecoach UK Bus, Fiona Kerr, managing director of First Glasgow, Martijn Gilbert, chief executive officer of Reading Buses,
world-class transport system”.
“We do need an industry that thinks about the future and how to do things differently,” he says, “things have to move forward.”
The need for change also came under the spotlight in Fiona Kerr’s session ‘Bus and Beyond’. Fresh from winning ‘Manager of the Year – large operator (over 150 vehicles)’ at this year’s routeONE Awards, she spoke about the importance of putting customers at the core of the business.
Citing examples of best practices and personalised campaign marketing from leading brands like easyJet and Coca-Cola, she illustrated the significance of understanding who your customers are (whether they be existing, lapsed or potential new passengers) in order to adapt to and meet their needs “at eye level”. And reflecting their diversity is key. Although half of all bus customers are female, one in eight are of an ethnic minority, and one in 20 are
Coach & Bus Live, organised by Diversified Communications UK, has reported a 6% increase in attendees for 2015.
Featuring 219 exhibitors, a packed programme of master classes and workshops, and a ‘live’ Skills Test area (supported by Mercedes-Benz), the biennial event took place during October at the NEC in Birmingham. Over two days, it welcomed 6,081 industry professionals – including senior executives from the major bus groups, coach operators, drivers, suppliers, local authority and community transport providers from across the UK.
Firmly established as the essential domestic showcase for the UK’s coach, bus, mini/midi vehicle and passenger transport technology sectors, the halls (both inside and out) were packed with thousands of highly-focused, informed, and engaged visitors looking to research
Significantly, the rise in footfall has been backed by glowing testimonials from across the show floor.
“Coach & Bus Live is the best event in the industry,” says Peter Robinson, operations manager at Stagecoach UK Bus.
“It’s great to see the energy, enthusiasm and passion right across the industry here,” added Fiona Kerr, managing director, First Glasgow, who was visiting and speaking at the show for the first time.
As a snapshot of the UK’s coach and bus market, the event reflected an upbeat – and united – industry ready to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. With the market growing in confidence, the proliferation of new ideas, vehicles and cutting-edge innovations for 2015 – many on show first time at Coach & Bus Live – were eagerly received by operators looking to meet the evolving needs of their
Philip Hitchen, managing director of Belle Vue Coaches, transport consultant Mark Yexley, and Jonathon Backhouse from transport law specialists Backhouse Jones.
“It’s useful to have a broad mix of people come together and get the opportunity to have insightful discussion about topical issues,” says Bob Montgomery, about speaking at this year’s show.
His Master Class session, entitled ‘The power of partnership – delivering best outcomes for customers’, discussed the importance of staying “relevant and dynamic” to ensure long-term growth and move the industry forward. It outlined his thoughts on the need for the proposed Buses Bill and what could be achieved, examples of Stagecoach Bus’s partnerships with local authorities, a checklist for making partnerships work, and the necessity for implementing “world-class standards” on operators to ensure “a
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, they are all under- represented within the bus and coach workforce, she says.
“The customer is king, the customer is queen, and the customer is everything in between,” says Kerr, calling for a more pro-active approach to creating an inclusive, and population-representative industry that reflects the communities it serves.
Coach and Bus Live alternates with sister exhibition Euro Bus Expo, the next edition of which is already 90% sold out of exhibition space a year before doors open. Euro Bus Expo returns to the NEC in Birmingham on 1-3 November 2016. Coach & Bus Live will take place the following year, in 2017.
everything from new vehicles, accessories and workshop equipment, to IT solutions, legislation updates, and essential business services.
customers. Indeed, for many, the continued success of the show (and its sister event – Euro Bus Expo) is a clear sign that the public transport sector has now turned the corner of
14 Commercial Tyre Business