Age is no barrier to drive buses

Stagecoach South has launched a recruitment campaign on TikTok and Snapchat targeted at students at University.

Portsmouth University student, Jamie Watson, who joined Stagecoach a year ago, was trained to pass his PCV licence and has been driving buses while studying for the last 12 months.

Jamie, who is studying media, said “It was great that Stagecoach trained me to get my PCV licence, the income from bus driving is really helping me get through university. I also enjoy driving buses too, my driving shifts fit around my studies, and I get to meet so many different people”.

As a result, Stagecoach South is now targeting students to come and drive buses. With Jamie being a media student, he has created a set of different social media recruitment videos, to help actively recruit students (who are 18 years or over) to apply to be part-time bus drivers.

Managing Director, Marc Reddy, said “It's ironic, but when I was at University, a long time ago, I also drove buses to help financially support me through my studies, although I had to pay for the training costs myself back then. The success of recruiting Jamie has led us to launching this campaign and we hope many more students will apply.” 

At the other end of the scale, Royston Shaw, a full-time Stagecoach bus driver in Chichester, aged 85, has just been presented with a prestigious Fleet Elite award for driving excellence, under a comprehensive driving safety measurement programme – GreenRoad.

Royston Shaw, the oldest and one of the longest-serving members of the driving team at Chichester, has been with Stagecoach for 30 years and still continues to be a full-time employee. Before joining Stagecoach in 1994, he drove buses around London. Royston has recently been presented with a Fleet Elite award for good driving, he was also the best scoring driver across the entire depot.

Marc Reddy, Managing Director, said “Royston is a great example of someone who provides excellent customer service and a smooth ride for our customers. It also shows age is no barrier when it comes to being a great bus driver.”

Why check out the videos for yourself:

https://youtube.com/shorts/22bBglr52Ag?si=pALaSSZERpIB9bEk

https://youtube.com/shorts/K4Dl5rWdGSI?si=i7UvhWudgw76_qun

https://youtube.com/shorts/bR-Un9zS9Fc?si=vSsHeuxsAnt8xfaz