How to currently purchase Bus and Train tickets

Just in case anybody has missed the messages that have been posted on the notice boards in depots at the moment this is how to get discounted bus/rail tickets 

please note you must have six months’ service with FirstGroup to benefit from these offers.

How to buy your Bus tickets

 Please write to us at: Bus Travel Offers, FirstGroup plc, 395 King Street, Aberdeen, AB24 5RP.  You will need to include the following information:

·        Employee Name and National Insurance Number

·        Email address

·        Employing company e.g. First Manchester

·        Number of FirstWeek tickets required (you can request up to 20 tickets between 1 April and 31 March)

·        Name and address you want the tickets posted to

·        Cheque/postal order made payable to FirstGroup Holdings Ltd

 FirstWeek tickets cost £6 each plus a P&P charge of £3 per order.  For example, if you request five tickets, the cheque must be made out for £33 (£30 ticket cost and £3 P&P). Please note, cash will not be accepted.

 Rail offers

To purchase your tickets, please call 0845 557 1182 between 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You will need the following information:

·        Employee Name and National Insurance Number

·        Employing company, e.g. First Manchester
·        Lead passenger name (you or your spouse/partner)
·        Lead passenger travel pass number
·        Number of adult tickets required - A maximum of four tickets per lead          passenger is permitted (two if travelling on TransPennine Express between Scotland and Manchester)
·        Number of child tickets required
·        Date/s of travel
·        Rail network travelling on (TransPennine Express, Hull Trains or Great       Western Railway)
·        Credit/Debit card for payment
·        Email address

 Day rover tickets cost £6 per adult/ £3 per child, with under-fives travelling for free. You can purchase 48 day rovers to use on Great Western Railways or TransPennine Express and eight Hull Trains day rover tickets, with up to four people on each of these. The scheme year runs from 1 April to 31 March and allocations will reset on 1 April. The lead passenger must be the colleague or their spouse/partner, and must always accompany those travelling.

 Once your request has been received and validated you will be emailed a printable ticket.

Please give as much notice as you can. Tickets can be booked 30 days in advance. We will try to process your request within 48 hours, but during busy periods this may not always be possible. Please note, we cannot process requests over the weekend.

Employee Director Forum/Xmas event

On Friday 21st October I attended the Employee Forum in London alongside 12 other EDs, 10 from First Bus and 2 Eds from our rail division. It's a real opportunity to air views to the Executive Leaders of our company. There are two forums a year and it is a chance to raise any questions that employees might have, via myself,  to the Directors of First Goup PLC.
It also paints a picture of where we are heading as a company and gives the Executive Directors a chance to question us on any concerns they have about how colleagues are being engaged and communicated to, within all our operating companies, making sure that colleagues are being treated fairly and consistently.
The meeting was chaired by Mick Barker who is the First Group Employee Director, at lunch we spent time with representatives of Prostate Cancer UK.  They are very keen to help all first colleagues with materials so if you are organizing or involved in a PCUK please contact me and I will point you in the right direction.
Secondly, with this in mind  I'm pushing and promoting some Christmas Jumper days; wear something seasonal event.  The full details will be released very soon. Last year, lots of colleagues got involved and it was a chance for us to really engage with our customers and raise some great cash for various charities.

 Lastly, I will be in Chelmsford  Depot On Friday 2nd December for a Collision task force meeting I am working hard on how we can report near misses. All the best ideas arise from the colleagues who do the job. Ideas such as, a report card, a book near signing on desks or perhaps an email address.  Small thoughts can always develop into great problem solving ideas. The most important aspect would be to get the problem solved before it becomes an incident.  I will also be in the canteen on Friday so if you have any Ideas on how to keep all our colleagues safe then please drop me a message or have a chat with me.

Get ready for winter the nights are drawing in

The clocks have now turned back and historically our driving conditions can be tougher as driving in the winter is very different than during other times of the year.  Adverse weather and longer periods of darkness  4 pm now!! makes driving more hazardous. Sometimes conditions can be extreme, as we have found out over recent winters, with prolonged periods of heavy rain and floods.

This means that we need to adapt the way we drive, and be one step ahead of the weather.

Different weather conditions create different hazards throughout the Winter and in different areas of the country at different times.  A single journey may take us into very different weather, road and traffic conditions, so we need to be prepared for each one.

The following tips may help you cope better with the various seasonal weather hazards. However, as we all know, many of these conditions can occur at any time of year:

Prepare yourself

•  Know your route, know your hot spots, know your hazards
• If raining, increase the gap 'leave yourself an out' slow down
• If foggy, do not tailgate and ensure lights are fully working
• If there are extreme strong winds, use  caution if buses are sent out, Canvey  winds from the Estuary can be noturious alongside Mersea island
• In low sunshine, make sure that your blind is in the correct position

• Beware of black ice, It’s nearly impossible to see this crystal-clear glaze, but you can spot it when your headlights reflect off the road at night. where the sun can't hit it  so you should slow down and report any spots to your supervisor who could alert others.

If I was going to summon up one message it would be "LEAVE AN OUT"  action this and you will keep yourself, your colleagues and your customers safe.

Movember 2016

It's that time of year again, Movember is nearly upon us, and men and ladies all over UK Bus will be supporting our company charity

                             PROSTATE CANCER UK.

Our fathers, partners, brothers and friends face a health crisis that isn’t being talked about.  Men are dying too young.  This is our company charity tackling men’s health on a global scale, year round. Today, we are addressing some of the biggest health issues faced by men; prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention.

In the last 13 years they have funded more than 1,200 men’s health projects around the world.

By 2030 they aim to reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25% and we can help with this by being aware. 

So if you want sign up to MOVEMBER or MOVE-VEMBER then follow the below link.

https://uk.movember.com/

I have signed up to 'MOVE-VEMBER' and will be challenging myself to move every day in November. If you want to sponsor me then click on the link which takes you to my 'Mo' space page.

                                https://uk.movember.com/mospace

 

Help us stop men dying too young.
 Join the movement.  

  

last year lots of colleagues got involved in Movember, give it go!! If you need any help with anything relating to our company charity then do not hesitate to contact me through the usual channels

Ant

A smile costs nothing

As this week is customer service week I thought that smiling would be a good subject for discussion. Tim O'Toole asked how to get 110,000 people to simply generate a smile, we all have the power to make that happen.  It is a well known fact that frowning causes more wrinkles than smiling and we all want to fend of wrinkles! What would you prefer to see a frown or a smile at the start or end of your day? Communication can sometimes lose its way in modern society and we often take the little things, like a smile, for granted.  after all, a smile offers politeness and a good level of customer service.  It tells our customers we are striving to deliver good and friendly service.

Research suggests that smiling, forced or not, can have a positive effect, reduce stress levels, and make everyone around you feel better. Happy days!

 Smiling is an easy way to boost your mood, be healthier, feel better, and help us to be viewed as more approachable. Whenever you’re in a stressful situation or are feeling down, put a grin on your face so you can take advantage of the many benefits it brings.

I have to admit, I am a smiler which many who work with me may have noticed. I must confess that my wife has told me to wipe my smile off of my face, several times.  For example, when I accidentally cut through the internet connection or the time when I was painting the kitchen table and fell back, cracking her oven door. But, I cannot help but smile. 

A valued position

It is now two years since I have been in the honoured position as Employee Director for Essex. And what a great experience it has been and continues to be.  I feel it has enabled me to help all employees. We at 'First Bus' are fortunate in that we have employees on the board to aid in the corporate and local decisions, at a leadership level.  This level of employee involvement  provides invaluable information which could be over looked if this were not the case. I see the role growing and greatly impacting upon all colleagues working lives.

One only has to look at how employee disengagement amongst other companies has sometimes resulted in serious problems.  Appointing a staff representative to break down the divisions and resentment, that has been building over time, can be a critical move in keeping a team operating and highlighting areas that hold the most challenges.  Even Theresa May is a fan and the ED role has been brought to the attention of MPs who clearly wish to see the model developed in other UK companies

This was my manifesto back in April 2014:

If I am nominated for Employee Director I will do my very best to consider the needs of all staff and promote a healthier and more positive
work environment.

 As a driver and cover inspector I have the opportunity to understand the running and delivery of the transport service, which will enable me to deliver fair subjective decisions to benefit all.

Here are some areas I would consider to ensure success:

·         Safety of drivers/vehicles/modernisation

·         Areas of improvement

·         Communication amongst staff

·         That all employees are important

·         To be a good listener

·         To promote benefits to the company

·         To ensure employees feel confident

·         To work negatives into positives

·         To ensure the success of First 

·         Honesty

   I am satisfied I have helped to achieve all of the above, and have seen huge changes in 'First' via investment and the way we operate our businesses.  The one aspect that still stands out strong for me is that we all can play a part in business progression, without every single one of us working towards a collective goal full success cannot be achieved. More of us now are, within our own roles, ensuring success by using key values.  for example, safety awareness, team work and showing good listening skills, along with other core values.  "We succeed through teamwork" look at the recent Baton competition  for some fine examples to back this up. 

    I will continue to have 'safety' at the forefront of my mind and listen and represent colleagues at all levels. 
    In late October, I shall be attending the 'Employee Director Forum' if you wish to ask a question to Tim O'Toole, Giles Fearnley or Adrian Jones then please let me know.

   Please feel free to contact me through the normal channels where feedback is always valued.

How to notice a notice board !

Notice boards are often overlooked as communication tools.  Questions like, how many will see it and is it in a populated position? Should always be considered.  On my Essex travels I have seen some positive points of displays and some that have good basics which would very much benefit from some extra input. After all, how many of us have looked at a noticeboard and just seen a blur of images.all of us!

How to make your notice board be an effective communication tool:

·         keep it simple
·         Encourage use of expiry dates, if not up-dated employees will not bother looking
·         Creative repetition can be an important thing when trying to embed an important message
·         Use interaction which can create a sense of being in a community-something you don’t get through email.

How we communicate can have dramatic effects on work performance and once up, remains a free source of communication.  Although, remember to up-date.  Notices that reflect upon employee progress can motivate and encourage employees to strive and accomplish their goals.

When I look at a notice board I want to be clear with what’s new and what is coming up.  I like to be in the know with current policies and up-dated when something has changed.  Those of you that know me , know that I like to be busy and in the loop.  A canteen is an excellent area for a notice board as most employees use this facility at some point during their shift.

Busy notice boards can lose their power of communication:  Human brains take less in if something is visually too chaotic.  We have to look at information and do something with it for the information to transfer from our short term to long term memory.  By doing something I mean, ask a question, go over it, jot it down or even have a conversation with someone else. For those notice boards that have cobwebs on, dust off and make a cuppa, then recycle and up-date.

Don't leave it this long!

Next week I will be available in Chelmsford on Thursday and Friday and contactable via the usual channels.