Previous Events
Birmingham, June 2011
Our first regular gathering at the Copthorne Hotel in Birmingham on 8th and 9th June 2011.
Brighton, March 2012
The 2012 spring conference took place at the Landsdowne Place Hotel in Brighton on 21st and 22nd March 2012.
Leeds, October 2012
The first conference in the north of England was at the Novotel in Leeds on 23rd and 24th October 2012.
Bristol, June 2013
For the summer 2013 event, we headed to the Marriott Hotel Bristol City Centre on 4th and 5th June.
Manchester, October 2013
The autumn 2013 event was held on 23rd and 24th October at the Mercure Piccadilly Hotel in the heart of Manchester's city centre.
Reading, April 2014
Our 2014 spring get-together was held on 18th and 19th March at the Penta Hotel, Reading.
York, October 2014
Our 2014 autumn conference took place on 23rd and 24th October at the Novotel, York.
Nottingham, March 2015
The first conference of 2015 was held at the Hilton in Nottingham on 18th and 19th March.
Newcastle, November 2015
The second conference of 2015 was held at The County Hotel in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 4th and 5th November.
Birmingham, May 2016
We returned to Birmingham for the first event of 2016, held at the Jury's Inn on 3rd and 4th May.
Glasgow, October 2016
This was YBMN's first venture across the border, and attracted a record attendance of more than 100 delegates from around Britain travelled to the Grand Central Hotel on 19th and 20th October.
Liverpool, March 2017
Another attendance of over 100 delegates gathered at the Radission Blu hotel in Liverpool on 29tha nd 30th March to hear from Go-Ahead Group CEO David Brown, and First Bus MD Giles Fearnley, amongst other top level speakers.
Seminar 1: Human Resources and Staff Relations, June 2017
The first ever one day seminar, held at CPT's London offices on 16th June, focussing on a topic that comes up frequently in the conference feedback forms in greater detail. This one looked at Human Resources.
Seminar 2 Costing and Time Costing, September 2017
The second one day seminar was also held at the London offcies of CPT, ths time on 26th September, focussing on Costing and Time Costing.
Oxford, October 2017
Just under 100 delegates made their way to the Oxford Spires Hotel on 25th and 26th October to hear more top level speakers, including Arriva UK Bus Managing Director, Kevin O'Connor, and Stagecoach UK Bus Regional Director England and Wales, Mike Watson.
Edinburgh, April 2018
For the YBMN's second visit to Scotland, 100 delegates made their way to the Holiday Inn, Edinburgh on 9th and 10th April. The speakers were Richard Hall, MD of Lothian Buses, Peter Knight, Ops Director for Scottish Citylink Coaches, Matthew Moll, Senior Consultant at The TAS Partnership and Ralph Roberts, MD at McGill's. The after dinner speaker was Alex Hynes, MD of the ScotRail Alliance.
Bristol, October 2018
The YBMN made a return trip to Bristol on 17th and 18th October, where 100 delegates welcomed Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney as the after dinner speaker. The following day, Professor Graham Parkhurst began by looking at technology's effects on the traditional public transport operation. YBMN Co-Patron and First West of England MD, James Freeman, then set the scene on public transport in Bristol before metrobus Manager, Shalando Williams, introduced the new busway system, then leading delegates on a tour of the recently opened m2 route. After lucnh, Bus Users UK CEO, Claire Walters, talked about being the manager your passengers need, followed by MD of The TAS Partnership, Sarah Huntley, who looked at smart ticketing. Delegates then contributed to a workshop looking 10 years into the future, before Co-Parton Roger French wrapped up the conference.
Manchester, April 2019
Just under 100 delegates travelled to Manchester for the Network's second visit to the city on 2nd and 3rd April. In a change to previous events, the depot visit became an optional element before the official start of the conference and many took the opportunity to visit Stagecoach Manchester's Hyde Street depot. There was also an 'open house' at Omnibus Passenger Transport Solutions which some delegates attended. The after dinner speaker was BBC North West Tonight's senior reporter Dave Guest who talked about how to deal with the media in a positive way.
The following day, we kicked off with an introduction to the bus scene in Manchester from Gary Nolan from OneBus that represents Manchester's bus operators. Sadly neither the Mayor's office nor TfGM were able to put up a speaker. Kieran Proctor from Omnibus Passenger Transport Solutions outlined how the company uses data to benefit bus operators, a theme that was continued by Joe Wood from CitySwifter who looked at how big data can help operators. It was then the turn of two YBMN members to tell delegates about their career history to date and what lessons they'd learned. Alex Chutter is a rising star in the Go-Ahead Group and is General Manager for three operations - Swindon's Bus Company, Salisbury Reds and Tourist Coaches. Dan Bassett, meanwhile, is Operations Manager for the ever expanding and forward looking Reading Buses.
In another change to previous conferences, a buffet lunch was combined with the workshop. Delegates split into groups, and picking up on the theme of the previous evening, had to deal with three scenarios with different incidents and had to produce a press release as well as being interviewed 'live' about the incident.
Meera Rambissoon from The TAS Partnership talked to delegates about the importance of mental health in the workplace and specifically about what she's doing to promote good mental health in the bus industry. Finally, Chris Cheek from Passenger Transport Monitor took the audience through the latest bus numbers and trends in passenger numbers and fares, before co-Patrons Roger French and James Freeman wrapped up the conference.
London, October 2019
After may requests from delegates so see how things work in London, the Young Bus Managers Network held it's autumn conference at the Jurys Inn London Croydon. In the afternoon, delegates were treated to a trip on one of two heritage Routemasters to visit Arriva London's Croydon bus garage and Purley Way Control Centre. The visits were very well received and delegates were particulalry impressed with TfL's ibus system.
In order to secure Transport Commissioner for London Mike Brown MVO FRCS FCILT as our after dinner speaker on an evening when he was available, we had to hold the dinner at another venue, the Croydon Park Hotel. As the head of the world's largest integrated tranport authority, it was well worth hearing what Mike had to say and he answered many questions.
Wednesday kicked off with a presentation from John Trayner, MD of Go-Ahead London and the capital's longest serving MD. He started as an apprentice engineer so had a wealth of experience to share. Next up was Jim Thorpe, MD of Uno Bus who told delegates about his early career in the industry and the establishment of Uno, which provides a significant network of services around the University of Hatfield as well as a TfL route.
After coffee, YBMN member Rachel Reeve-Burnett told delegates about the concept of Transdev Blazefield's unique Vamooz operation and its development from a schools service to licensed operations elsewhere in the UK. Then came Richard Pelly from Pellys Transport & Regulatory Law who set the legal framework for former DVSA Regional Manager Graham Owen, who gave many examples of unroadworthy vehicles and got delegates thinking about their responsibilities.
The Workshop considered the pros and cons of the 'London style' of bus franchising which provoked much discussion and lively feedback. Two YBMN members then gave presentations: Thomas Manship from Grant Palmer gave a lively presentation about the company and his role within it; and Mikesh Mistry demonstrated how he was presenting data about bus lateness graphically on a map.
Finally, Chris Cheek from Passenger Transport Intelligence described the industry through the latest bus numbers, before Co-Patrons Roger French and James Freeman wrapped up the conference.
Lunchtime Sessions on Zoom, June 2021
The Covid-19 pandemic meant postponing the planned March 2020 conference. So in June 2021 we ran a series of short, snappy YBMN Lunchtime Sessions on Zoom. Lasting 45 minutes, each one started with a brief presentation followed by Q & A with leading speakers from the bus industry. The four Sessions were designed to give four different perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in the bus industry post pandemic.
We kicked off with buses minister, Baroness Vere who presented highlights of the government's Buses Back Better strategy (which led to YBMN's first mention in Private Eye with a quote from the Baroness). The following week Pete Bond, Director of Transport Services at Transport for West Midlands, give the view from a public sector transport perspective. Week three featured straight talking serial bus entrepreneur Julian Peddle, who us his views on the government strategy and the direction the industry was going. The final week featured Go-Ahead Group Chief Executive David Brown who looked to the future and what companies can do to work with local authorities and grow passenger numbers.