About Stagecoach East Midlands

Key facts May 2017 – April 2018

• 45 million passengers 
• 20 million miles operated 
• 1300 employees 
• 480 vehicles 
• 99.5% reliability 
• 90.3% punctuality

Introduction

Stagecoach East Midlands is the region’s largest bus operator and runs local bus services in Kingston upon Hull, throughout Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire. Every day our staff work hard to provide safe, reliable, punctual, clean and comfortable bus services at affordable prices for our customers.

This annual report covers the year from May 2017 to April 2018.

During the last twelve months we have continued to invest in our bus services, including £4 million in new buses and £1 million in the latest ticket machine technology. We have recently introduced contactless payment facilities to all of our bus services as a convenient alternative to cash; tickets can also be purchased in advance online through our e-shop and from our Mobile App.

Last year 45 million people travelled with us across   the region.

Every day we post live travel updates on Twitter @StagecoachEMid and we now have over 9,500 followers with many regularly using social media to keep up to date with the latest travel information and get in touch with us. Customers also contact us by email, phone, letter, and through our website; this essential feedback ensures that we can keep improving the experience of travelling by bus.

Click on the tabs to the left for a few of the highlights from our year.

Seasiders

Our award winning Skegness Seasider Open Toppers – Rocky, Shelly, Sandy, Candy, Pierre, Salty, Milly and Rolly – have welcomed three new members into their family with Sunny, Teddy and Sweetie joining them at Easter. Their Cleethorpes cousins, Lolly and Splash, are continuing to be hugely popular with our younger customers in the seaside town.

‘Sunny’s Story’ is the latest title added to the expanding range of our Seasider Children’s Story Books; the book highlights the important issue of mental health and sales are helping to raise money for the charity Childline. 

Scunthorpe

In October 2017 we launched six brand new buses on the Humber Fastcat 350 bus service, which connects Scunthorpe, Barton and Hull. Each bus features a different cat character; Marmalade, Tiddles, Moggy, Tabby and Fluffy. The new buses are fitted with comfortable high backed e-leather seats, USB charging points and easy access for pushchairs and wheelchair users.

Lincoln

In January 2018 we invested £3 million in new buses to coincide with the opening of the Lincoln Transport Hub by the City of Lincoln Council. Operating on routes passing through the historic Cathedral Quarter, ten single decker buses have the latest environmentally friendly low emission Euro 6 engines and are fitted with information screens to keep passengers up to date with service changes, road works, and the latest news.

Six new double deckers have been allocated to our InterConnect 100 route, which runs into Lincoln from Gainsborough and Scunthorpe.

At the same time we introduced the popular Simplibus concept to our network of bus services in Lincoln, which has proved very successful at attracting new customers in Grimsby and Hull. The simple route numbers, frequent timetables and value for money fares make using the bus much easier for customers and we are already starting to see some growth in passenger numbers in Lincoln.

Hull 

During 2017 Hull enjoyed a hugely successful year as The UK City of Culture, which delivered a packed programme of events to attract new visitors to discover the attractions of this vibrant, modern city with a rich history. 

Working closely with the City of Culture team we were proud to play our part in the celebrations by running enhanced bus services, which included delivering a huge shuttle bus service between Hull city centre and Burton Constable Hall for BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend along with colleagues from East Yorkshire Motor Services and Acklam’s Coaches.

At the beginning of 2018 we launched SmartCommute Hull, which offers discounted commuter and leisure travel for staff employed at the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals’ Trust and Hull City Council on Stagecoach and EYMS bus services across the city; monthly fares are paid through payroll, which makes the scheme stress free and helps to promote sustainable travel to reduce congestion and car park pressures.

The Community 

Following the successful installation of a replica bus stop at a Lincoln care home, more stops have been put up in dementia wards at NHS Hospitals in Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Goole. The bus stops help to ease the stress experienced by patients with memory loss and give them a pleasant space to sit and reminisce.

In February 2018, as part of our larger ‘Health and Wellbeing’ initiative, we held a ‘Time to Talk' event at Grimsby’s Riverhead Exchange with the help of staff from Volunteer Action North East Lincolnshire and NAViGO with a focus on improving access for local people to information surrounding mental health issues. We were supported by comedian Juliette Burton, who has experienced a struggle with mental health.

Our Team 

Each depot at Stagecoach East Midlands is run by local team of staff, including managers, supervisors, drivers, mechanics and cleaners. We continue to invest in staff training and apprenticeships to ensure that our people have the skills and expertise to take the very best care of our customers. 

Last summer we were involved in ‘Smoothie Bike Challenge’ events across the East Midlands, which stimulated public discussion and focused on ways we can become more environmentally friendly and aware. We also took part in North East Lincolnshire Council’s ‘Transport 2050’ event held at Grimsby Town Hall, which was a full day devoted to showcasing the examples of cleaner, greener travel towards a carbon neutral future. 

Our ‘Health and Wellbeing Committee’ is going from strength to strength, encouraging staff to lead active, healthy lifestyles. Engagement days have been taking place at depots with free healthcare checks, screenings and advice given to staff.

In May 2018, we were given the ‘Bronze Healthy Workplace Award’, along with an ‘Outstanding Workplace Award’, by the North Lincolnshire Council ‘Wellbeing at Work Award’ scheme. The hard work by Michelle Hargreaves, Managing Director at Stagecoach East Midlands, and Helen Smith, our Grimsby Operations Manager, towards improving our staff health and well being was recognised with a Gold Award and the annual ‘Stagecoach Group Champions’ event.

Many of our staff members take part in community and charity work across the towns and cities in our region.

Our Partnership