Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce

This document is in: Member Profiles

Roger French OBE - Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company

Roger French is the Managing Director of the Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company and has been at the helm of the city's successful bus network since 1982. He has been involved with the Company since its days as a subsidiary of the state owned National Bus Company, participated in the company’s management buy-out between 1987 and 1993 and its subsequent sale to the Go-Ahead Group which floated as a plc in 1994. In 1997 the former municipal owned Brighton Transport was purchased and merged to form one integrated bus company for the whole conurbation. Further expansion came in 2005 when the bus business interests owned by Stagecoach in Lewes and Seaford were acquired.

Brighton & Hove's buses are regarded as one of the most successful in the UK having experienced consistent annual growth since 1993 (against a national trend of decline outside of London). By 2004, 50% more passengers were travelling on the City's buses than in 1993. This success has been achieved through a policy of investing in new buses and increasing the frequencies of the most popular cross-city services so they run every few minutes couple with a simple value-for-money fares system and a passion for excellence in customer service and marketing.

The Company works closely with the City Council who are encouraging greater use of public transport by introducing traffic management measures and sensible parking management and enforcement to ensure the City's limited road space is used to the maximum efficiency. A much admired real-time information system together with satellite based vehicle tracking for the City's bus fleet was first introduced in 2002 and became a trail-blazer for the country.

More information about the Brighton & Hove Bus Company including details of bus routes, times, fares and tickets is available at its web site on www.buses.co.uk.