Ex Royal Marine Rory joins Stagecoach South Wests North Devon team as Engineering Manager

Stagecoach South West is bolstering the strength of its North Devon team following the appointment of Rory Grey as the new Engineering Manager for North Devon.

Rory brings with him 23 years of extensive experience from the Royal Marines, where he honed his skills in engineering management and the maintenance and inspection of military equipment.

Rory joined the Royal Marines in 2001, latterly training as a HGV mechanic but over the years progressed to Artificer, a service member skilled in working on artillery devices in the field; managing the maintenance of 38-ton recovery vehicles with cranes, fuel tankers as well as anything from generators to chainsaws.

Rory Grey, Engineering Manager for North Devon said: “Out in Afghanistan you fix anything that breaks, and it is very reactive but here at Stagecoach I am working on improved reliability through embedding planned preventative maintenance of over 60 vehicles across North Devon. The organisation and planning that goes into managing the fleet is second to none.”

As an Engineering Manager, or Artificer, within the Commando Logistics Regiment, Rory led teams of junior engineers, ensuring the highest standards of maintenance for military equipment. His role involved managing a workshop, overseeing Health and Safety processes, and driving continuous improvement across his team.

Rory said: “We are currently going through a large capital investment programme in our North Devon business, which will see us adding our first electric buses to our fleet. It will be challenging whilst the work is ongoing, but the future is extremely exciting. With newer buses being added to the fleet making for mechanical simplicity and efficiency it means we have more capacity to focus on preventative maintenance to ensure the smooth running of the buses for our customers. We have a strong team here and we are committed to ensuring we provide our customers and the wider community with a bus service they can rely on in North Devon.”

In addition to providing engineering expertise to his regiment, Rory worked with outside organisations, further broadening his leadership and technical capabilities. Before leaving the marines with an engineering degree Rory helped set up a partnership between the MOD and McLaren engineers looking at vehicle performance analysis to implement meaningful change for the future.

Peter Knight, Stagecoach South West Managing Director said: "We are delighted to welcome Rory to the Stagecoach South West business. His exceptional experience in engineering management, team leadership, and operational excellence will be invaluable as we continue to improve the customer experience to communities across North Devon.”