Essex
FIRST BUS A FOCUS ON ESSEX ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2016 - MARCH 2017
FIRST SOUTH YORKSHIRE
A FOCUS ON SHEFFIELD ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2014 - MARCH 2015
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Welcome to our annual report for First Essex which provides an insight into our business over the last year. We saw over 29 million customer journeys across our network throughout 2016/17 and we continue to encourage more people to experience our network of services across Essex and demonstrate the advantages of using the bus. The County of Essex has seen considerable change over the past few years, with rapid growth and development in and around our City and towns, creating unique and fantastic opportunities for First Essex to explore. We’ve been working closely and in partnership with our stakeholders this year, resulting in considerable development to our Airport Services, whilst also enhancing a number of our commuter services to ensure we cater for the economic growth and lifestyle we’re currently seeing across Essex. We’re also continuing our investment in technologies, such as our mobile ticketing and brand new journey planner app, providing a seamless door to door journey modal platform for our customers. There has also been a significant upgrade to our fleet of buses across Essex, with over ¼ of our fleet now having access to free WiFi for our customers to enjoy, with our Airport services also offering USB charging points.
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As we work through 2017 and 2018 we will continue to invest in our people, our communities and network to make sure we continue to provide a high quality bus service to our customers and partners and help them achieve their objectives. I hope you enjoy reading our report and if you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to get in touch – all of our contact details are on the back page. We would also like to introduce and welcome Steve Wickers who will be taking up the Managing Director roll of First Essex from September 2017, and he looks forward to working with you all in the near future.
Justin Davies Managing Director
Essex
Our customers made over
29.7m journeys
Between April 2016 and April 2017 we welcomed over 29.7 million passengers on our buses. The bus plays a crucial role in supporting the local economy and our local communities. We’re absolutely committed to driving customer growth through attractive services by working together with all our stakeholders.
16 brand new buses There has been a great deal of success this year within engineering. Notably there were winners at the First Group Excellence Awards with Essex winning the Apprentice of the Year and the Hadleigh Engineering Team winning Team of the Year. Essex Stores manager was also highly commended as a Young Manager at the UK Bus Awards in November. This has been underpinned by investment with 16 brand new buses being delivered in 2016 and 23 slightly older but recently refurbished buses transferred into Basildon Depot which in turn has led to an improvement in operated mileage and general performance.
New partnerships Airport service 12 Brand new E200 Vehicles 2016 saw the launch and rebrand of our new Airport services. Carrying over 7,000 passengers per week to London Stansted Airport and Southend Airport the X30 and new X10 service received 12 brand new buses split between the route. USB changing, free Wi-Fi, real leather seating and luggage racks are just some of the perks customers can expect to find on the brand new buses now operating from Basildon, Southend and Chelmsford.
staff 180 Years long service This year we celebrated our long service awards with a glitzy ceremony to say thank you to members of staff, who have achieved over 20 years of Service with First Essex, including 14 members of staff having a combined service of over 180 years.
Customer Satisfaction Scores
9 percentage points First Essex scores increase
First Essex recorded an 87% score in bus passenger satisfaction, in the recent transport focus survey the highest increase within First Bus.
Park and Ride Tender win 5-year contract operating Chelmsford Park and Ride This year saw First Essex win the tender contact to operate Chelmsford City’s park and Ride Scheme for the next 5 years. Investing in 5 Brand new E200 MMC’s low emission buses to operate across both park and ride sites, offering transport solutions to the local community.
Punctuality
1% increase last quarter of 2016/2017 Following the introduction of brand new timetables towards the end of the year, First Essex recorded a 1% increase in punctuality improvement for customers across the whole of First Essex.
Essex
25 low emission buses In 2016 First Essex invested in 25 brand new low emission buses across all depots, making up nearly 7% of the current First Essex Fleet. This is a huge part of First Essex’s focus to ensure we remain committed to reducing our impact on the environment across the county.
New technologies Real time information App
In a fast changing environment customers require information at the touch of a button, and that’s why in 2017 First Essex rolled out its ‘Real time information’ app, allowing customers to see exactly how far away their bus was from the bus stop in real time via their smartphone or tablet.
mTicket switch 300% growth
2016 was also a success in modal shift in how our customers were buying tickets. The introduction of our Mticket app, allowing customers to buy tickets via their smart phones, saw a huge rise of over 300% year-on-year and continues to grow further in 2016 /2017.
First Essex is part of FirstGroup plc, the leading transport operator in the UK and North America. Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly congested world...keeping people moving and communities prospering.
Our services help to create strong, vibrant and sustainable local economies and our opportunity is to be the provider of choice for our customers and communities by demonstrating the importance of our values‌
Dedicated to safety
Committed to our customers
Accountable for performance
Supportive of each other
First Essex Buses Ltd Westway, Chelmsford, CM1 3ARE Email: Firstsouthuk@firstgroup.com Customer Services phone number: 03456 020121 Customer Services opening times: 0700-1900 Mon-Sat & Sun 0900 - 1700 Traveline number: 0871 200 22 33 Calls cost 12p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge
Setting the highest standards