(24 Feb 2024, 7:52 am)Storx wrote I'm surprised GoAhead still bother with everything split so much, seems a monumental waste of money.

I know there's some minimum benefits, but it would be much more cost effective to have a centralised office in the whole company where things like support is done which pretty much all the companies do.

You might not get the 'personal' touch but most people using a bus probably don't like them regardless.

Similar with branding and marketing aswell, might actually get some consistency across the company rather than some of the crap that GNE pump out.

Be careful what you wish for, Storx.

Most functions which can be centralised already are - IT, Accounts Payable and similar are all shared services for the entire Group (based at Grey Street in Newcastle).

The devolved model with local accountability is one of the things which, in my view, sets Go-Ahead apart from its competitors. In theory it should allow better, more agile, decision-making.

Alas, Go-Ahead are currently in the process of rolling out a new centralised model called ‘The Go-Ahead Way’, which will standardise practices across all operating companies, including branding (as seen by the recent change of logo) and marketing.

Other areas such as route costings will also form part of this (so profitability of the network on an individual service-by-service basis will be reportable back to Group) and fleet will also be centralised, with investment predominantly at more profitable operating companies. This means that less profitable operating companies such as Go North East can look forward to receiving even more cascaded buses from other operating companies (both from London and the provinces).

It probably won’t be too long before there is one standardised livery for the entire Group, outside of London.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk