Taking care of our community GO SOUTH COAST Sustainability Report 2018 About us Go South Coast operates a fleet of 844 buses across Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. With around 140 routes, all of our buses are locally branded to give the buses within the towns we operate in a local identity. KEY Bluestar Damory Swindon Bluestar – Southampton Excelsior Coaches Hants & Dorset Trim more Marlborough Damory – rural Dorset Bath Salisbury Reds Southern Vectis Wiltshire Swindon’s buses morebus – Bournemouth & Poole Pewsey Tourist Andover Warminster Alton Farringdon Salisbury Reds – Salisbury Somerset Figheldean Hampshire SALISBURY Winchester Yeovil Henstridge Southern Vectis – Isle of Wight Shaftesbury Southampton Swindon’s Bus Company – Swindon Blandford Ringwood Totton Dorset Unilink – University of Southampton POOLE Lymington Dorchester Newport Bournemouth Isle of Wight Sandown UNIBUS – Bournemouth University Weymouth Swanage We believe in investing in our people. We focus on developing new skills through colleague training so we can deliver the best service to our customers. Our stakeholder relationships are vital to our continued success. We are committed to the communities we serve and are always looking for new ways of engaging with them. GO SOUTH COAST Sustainability Report 2018 Follow us on social media: @bluestarhq @damorycoaches In this report @morebusco @myunibuses 2 Managing Director’s message @salisburyreds 4 Happier customers @southernvectis 6 Smarter technology @swindonbuses 7 Stronger communities 8 Cleaner environment @unilinkbus 10 Better teams For more information, 12 Finance visit our website: 13 Key data www.gosouthcoast.co.uk Our reporting structure We are committed to operating our buses in a way which helps to put our services at the heart of the communities they serve. This report is split into six sections: Happier Smarter Stronger customers technology communities To gain more happy To implement new Adding value to the customers and reward market leading communities we colleagues for technology and serve by working receiving positive adapt it accordingly. together. feedback. p6 p7 p4 Cleaner Better teams Finance environment To perform all job To work together with To improve air quality roles and tasks suppliers to jointly and encourage fuel competently to deliver the best efficiency at all allow further possible service. locations across the growth. p12 business. p10 p8 We’re part of The Group gosouthcoast.co.uk 1 Managing Director’s Message “ Welcome to our 2018 Sustainability Report. This has been a great year for the company, and I pay tribute to each of our 1,805 colleagues for their part in achieving our success.” Andrew Wickham Managing Director People, customers and colleagues are at times as people spend less time paying the heart of our business. Independent when they board. surveys showed that 91% of our customers We strive to be the employer of choice, and were satisfied or very satisfied with their continued throughout the year to invest in journeys. At Southern Vectis on the Isle of employee training, and also in upgrading Wight, some 96% of our customers were employee rest areas and other satisfied or very satisfied – this being the accommodation. Directors and managers highest rate of customer satisfaction in the regularly visit all our depots and are thus country. able to keep in touch with colleagues’ In order to achieve such high levels of concerns and aspirations. customer satisfaction, we continue to invest The consolidation of our relatively new in our fleet, and a total of 79 new buses, all Excelsior and Swindon’s Bus Company built in the United Kingdom, entered businesses into the company continued, service. They are all finished to our with vehicle and premises investment and specification, which includes light coloured, other improvements underway at both dementia-friendly floors, additional, clear units. We also continue to expand, with new white destination displays, and audio/visual routes launched in Bournemouth, displays to advise customers of the Southampton and Dorchester following forthcoming stop. their withdrawal by others, and larger We continue to invest in technology. Every buses being used in these areas to satisfy one of our buses now accepts contactless demand. In Salisbury, we’ve worked with payments, and this, coupled with our the local authority to help the city overcome ticket app and Key smartcard, helps to the economic impact of the nerve agent reduce the amount of cash collected on attack in the spring. the bus, thereby speeding up journey 2 GO SOUTH COAST Sustainability Report 2018 Our new buses are much less polluting Key highlights than those they’ve replaced. We are working with Southampton City Council to upgrade older vehicles to current UK Bus standards, as part of the council’s clean air strategy. A new double deck bus emits Operator of fewer potentially harmful particulate the Year matter than a new diesel car. The fact that, in the rush hour, a bus may have 75 Highest people on board, compared with just one customer in a car, and yet is cleaner, underlines the satisfaction fact that buses are the answer to cities’ air quality problems. rating in the UK We have been recognised for our good work. The company won ‘Large Bus Over 400 Operator of the Year’ at the Route One Awards, and ‘Bus Operator of the Year’ at drivers the UK Bus Awards – an unprecedented registered as double. Our Bluestar depot at Eastleigh Dementia also won Top Depot at this event. Friends Despite all of this, we are never complacent, and my wonderful colleagues and I continue to strive for even better performance in the years ahead. Contactless payments on Winner of the Bus Operator of the Year all buses at UK Bus Awards 2017 gosouthcoast.co.uk 3 Happier Customers all got home safely. We really were the Our customers need up-to- heroes of the community during this date, accurate and well- difficult time. presented information. They Our ‘delight the customer’ sessions are often fun and rewarding for both us and want to be greeted by a friendly our customers. We can often be found out driver and ride on a clean, and about riding our buses, giving out smart bus. They want a mince pies at Christmas or a free cereal bar and the latest newspaper on a busy network of services that go morning commute. These sessions give us where they need to at a price the chance to really speak and listen to they can afford. our customers, and are a very relaxed way of gaining valuable feedback from them, so we can find out their likes and dislikes. It goes a small way to rewarding them for travelling with us too, leaving them with a positive impression of our services which Everything we do is with this in mind. But we is spread through word of mouth. don’t take it for granted that we have the recipe right. The role of the bus driver can make or break a customer’s day. Our customer We have independent research carried out by promise course is a five-day training Transport Focus which enables us to programme completely focussed on benchmark ourselves against prior years and customer care. All drivers undertake this other operators within the UK. We can proudly programme every five years and we state we have the highest customer constantly tweak and adjust the course to satisfaction rating (96%) currently in the UK ensure it meets with any new demands. for our Southern Vectis brand operating on the Isle of Wight. During the last year we have significantly improved our network of services, Keeping customers informed is an essential allowing our customers to have more part of keeping our customers happy. A frequent buses with better connections. journey often begins at home or in the office. Our websites and social media are often the • Bluestar – usage is up by 25.8% first touchpoint for our customers, so we • morebus – usage is up by 21.6% always have accurate, easy-to-find compared to a Poole & Bournemouth- information available. Social media is used to wide increase of 19.1%, suggesting inform customers of any interruptions to we’re outperforming competitors services, often outside of our control due to • Southern Vectis – usage is up 10.2% roadworks or severe weather. The snow of winter 2017/18 certainly had a huge impact on We have an excellent track record of our operating area, and social media allowed making a commercial success of services us to engage with customers to ensure they that competing operators have withdrawn. 4 GO SOUTH COAST Sustainability Report 2018 In January 2018, we extended Bluestar 7 from Key highlights the City Centre to Lordshill, maintaining vital links to the City Centre and General Hospital. Similarly, in April 2018, we assumed commercial operation of routes R4/R5 in 96% Bournemouth and then merged with Poole customer service 14 to give new journey opportunities, satisfaction rating again retaining important links from suburban for Southern Vectis areas to the hospital, schools and shopping destinations. In both instances, our actions have prevented local authorities from having 91% to consider whether they should divert money overall customer from elsewhere to maintain links that would satisfaction have been broken. for GSC It is essential that we think about the customers of tomorrow. We regularly work with youth groups and schools, as well as over 55m targeting our marketing and approach, to customer journeys encourage children to use the bus as a more sustainable method of travel. over 25% transactions now contactless Bluestar working with Can Do finalists to Kids for a £1 – investing in our future help provide travel training for local customers by making travel accessible. people with disabilities. gosouthcoast.co.uk 5 Smarter Technology The world is changing and technology moves fast.