(06 Oct 2013, 11:33 am)gtomlinson wrote More than one, in context, if the head of M&S or another major business made such a mistake I imagine they'd quickly be out of the door.
I do think PH contribution is overrated to an extent, lots of routes were culled, a fair few bad business decisions in terms of stock and routes, the benefit of a recession driving people out of cars and into buses and replacing a fleet at the end of its life with shinier newer vehicles.
Has branding been a good thing? Potentially yes, potentially no. There's a questionable benefit
In his defence - I think the branding actually worked very well and was adhered to far more under his management than it is now. PH understood the purpose of branding and took it seriously - unlike present management appear to.
Of course GNE aren't the only ones to buy inappropriately sized vehicles only to then have to backtrack - its not that long ago that the 12/38/39/40/62/63 in Newcastle all had crammed single decks every day after the push to get rid of a load of ex-Busways deckers.