First Bus appoints two senior directors to team for North & West Yorkshire
First Bus has made two appointments to the senior leadership team of its North & West Yorkshire business.
Andrew Cullen joins as Managing Director with Kayleigh Ingham taking up the role of Commercial Director.
Mr Cullen is an expert in logistics, public sector and commercial vehicle markets and joins the bus operator from DHL Supply Chain.
He has bus industry experience from Arriva Bus & Coach , where he was Managing Director and previously Commercial Director of its Transport Solutions arm.
He said: "I’m joining the First Bus team at an exciting time for the business. There are great opportunities for us to continue to grow and succeed in the North and West Yorkshire regions. We are committed to further embed a high-performance, customer-first culture supported by our colleagues in all departments.”
Kayleigh Ingham has comprehensive knowledge of the travel and aviation industries and joins from Jet2Holidays where she worked as General Manager in its overseas function.
Mrs Ingham also led on Commercial Strategy at London Luton Airport and previously held a lead commercial role for TUI, the travel and tour company.
She said: "It’s a great time for the bus industry, with new opportunities to explore post-Covid and as we transition to zero emissions.
“I'm excited to continue to build on our partnerships with regional and local authorities to grow a sustainable bus network, responsive to new travel patterns and customer requirements.”
They will help lead a business employing around 2,250 people with five depots operating a fleet of some 900 buses across Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and York.
Earlier this month, First Bus announced further multi-million pound investment to continue the transformation of its bus fleet across the region to zero emission.
The company has worked with local authorities to help secure joint funding from the Department for Transport ZEBRA scheme.
This success will see First Bus invest a total of £28.8m in vehicles and sites, making its York depot the first in the country outside London to be fully electric by spring 2024 and a third of the fleet (57 buses) at its Bramley depot in Leeds to be all-electric by next year.
First Bus is a Platinum Partner of Leeds 2023, a year-long celebration of cultural diversity in the city. The company has also agreed commercial partnerships with support travel for a variety of the region’s sports clubs including Leeds Utd, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town, Halifax Town and York City Knights.
The company also operates York Park and Ride in a joint partnership with City of York Council and works closely with the local tourism organisation, Visit York, to promote the service to the millions of visitors who come to the city.
Mr Cullen succeeds Paul Matthews, who leaves at the end of March after nine years.
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