Group chief executive Claire Miles told Young Bus Professionals how she plans to revolutionise Stagecoach’s approach to customers
Miles joined Stagecoach in October 2023 from Yell
By Andrew Garbett
Stagecoach’s recent evolution is, in many ways, symptomatic of much that has gone on with the UK’s major transport groups over the last few years, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. A stalwart of the London Stock Exchange, the Perth-based group initially entered into talks with National Express Group, now, of course, better known as Mobico, about a potential acquisition in late 2021. However, just months later, when it looked like the deal with NEG was all wrapped up – so much so that to bystanders it seemed that everyone had decided which office they were going to get at the merged transport giant – Stagecoach’s board succumbed to a rival £600m offer from infrastructure investment manager DWS in early 2022. That deal closed in May 2022.
Management changes
DWS’s acquisition of Stagecoach saw some significant changes in senior management. Stalwart Stagecoach chief executive Martin Griffiths announced his decision to retire in early 2023, a move the group said reflected the “evolution of the business from a global listed PLC to a UK private company.” Chief financial officer Ross Paterson also quit, and while Carla Stockton-Jones initially stayed on to lead day-to-day operations as UK managing director, she, too, left the group in the summer of 2023.
It was into that vacuum that Claire Miles was parachuted as chief executive last October. A respected senior manager with a glowing CV across various business sectors, including chief executive of Yell, various managing director roles at Centrica and a small portfolio of non-executive directorships. On her appointment, she noted that she aimed to “build a highly successful, customer-centred business” at Stagecoach, a business she acknowledged had an “impressive track record of delivering brilliant outcomes for customers and stakeholders”.
I am absolutely determined, going forward, that we will show up as a different type of company
Since joining the group, Miles has flown beneath the radar as she got to grips with a now UK-centric transport business that spans from the Shetland Islands to Cornwall. In her one major interview since her appointment – with The Times – Miles acknowledged the strength of the Stagecoach brand but said she was keen to ditch some of the baggage that has dogged the group for many years, specifically the controversies that have at times surrounded group co-founders Sir Brian Souter and Anne Gloag. “I am absolutely determined, going forward, that we will show up as a different type of company,” she said. “Non-political. Non-judgmental. Embracing openness and diversity. All of that is really important to me and that is how I will run the business.” When asked whether she had spoken to either of the group’s co-founders, the interviewer received a curt “no”.
But almost a year on from her appointment, Miles took time out from her busy schedule last week to speak to the Young Bus Professionals (YBP) network at its meeting in the Stagecoach heartland of Cambridge. She noted that she was now well on the way to being a “bus nerd” and was passionate about the industry she had discovered in the preceeding 11 and a half months.
A focus on the customer
Miles lives in Twickenham, West London with her two teenage sons, but her office is in Stockport. She also aims to get out to at least one Stagecoach depot somewhere in the UK at least once a week. “My life is pretty busy,” she joked. “I have to be extremely organised, but I’m fortunate to have the support to make it happen.” She admitted she never expected to end up working in the bus industry and was impressed at the strong show of hands Miles received when she asked the YBP members present who would have thought they would end up working for a bus company when they were at school. “I never did,” she admitted. “When people asked me what I wanted to be when I was older, I would say French because I had no clue and I thought being French would be incredibly glamourous. Despite that I’m incredibly happy to be here. I’m very proud to be at Stagecoach and very proud to be helping and supporting the people of Stagecoach to do what we do every single day.”
Miles was born in the North East of England and after growing up in Yorkshire, she studied mathematics at Aston University before starting a career in financial services where she helped start credit card brand Marbles. She then moved to Centrica where she spent a decade in a variety of roles before moving to Yell as chief executive.
I firmly believe that if you don’t provide for the customer, then they are not going to come back. It’s really improtant to me that we become better at understanding the people we carry on our buses
“This is my fourth industry, in effect,” she noted. “What has been completely common across all of them is they are service industries with end consumers. Service provision has been a constant throughout my career, so really understanding how a customer experiences your product and do they like it enough to come back and continue to pay for it? Over the years I have become obsessed with customer insight and customer sentiment and improving customer experience. I firmly believe that if you don’t provide for the customer, then they are not going to come back. It’s really improtant to me that we become better at understanding the people we carry on our buses.”
Miles expressed her genuine surprise at how little the bus industry understood its customers, noting it was striking that a sector serving millions of people each year had such limited insight into who those customers actually are. “We don’t know who they are and we don’t know their demographics,” she said. “We don’t know their usage, we don’t know why they are using us, we don’t know how they feel about that experience. That’s the level of insight that every other industry does have. If you know who they are you can build a relationship with them, you can build a better experience. That’s the standout difference to me. That anonymity of the customer is, to me, completely alien, but I think that means there’s also an enourmous opportunity for us to do better.”
Would you eat your own dog food?
However, she said she felt that the skills she had amassed throughout her career had led to her current role. “What I do or what the company does has to matter,” Miles explained. “It has to be important, and I must have an emotional connection to do my best work. I have been involved in different industries, and I have managed different products and services. Sometimes I’ve found it difficult to connect emotionally with what we do and its importance. Sometimes, I’ve struggled with the thought, ‘Would I buy this?’ There’s a phrase some technologists say – ‘would you eat your own dog food?’ In other words, would you buy your own product? I’ve learnt over time that if I can’t eat my own dog food then I should not work at that company. I feel wildly connected to what we do as an industry [at Stagecoach] – my kids go to school on the bus, I use the bus every day, and my dear old mum’s life would be over without the bus network of Durham. It is so important, and I feel completely motivated to get up every morning and do what we do.”
Someone told me earlier this week that they’d never known so much unpredictability or ambiguity as in our business today
She said that day-to-day service delivery, particularly the key performance indicators where a one percent improvement in performance can really make a difference for the customer naturally sparked her interest, perhaps due to her background in mathematics. “But I also need to be in a business where there is change or transformation,” Miles added. “We certainly have that in spades. When I joined the business 12 months ago, I did not appreciate how much change would go through our industry. Someone told me earlier this week that they’d never known so much unpredictability or ambiguity as in our business today. Whether it’s the government, the Buses Bill, the potential for franchising or what will happen with the fare cap, everything in our industry represents uncertainty. You have to be happy with ambiguity to enjoy periods like this, but there are massive opportunities too.
“So how do you continue to deliver growth and fantastic service, represent a smart choice for travel, get people out of their cars, deliver modal shift while greening the fleet, and deal with political interventions that could lead to a massive change to the commercial model via franchising? There’s a lot going on, but it’s really good, and I find that really exciting.”
Advice for the next generation
Miles encouraged young people in the sector to work hard. “Hard work does pay off,” she said. “I don’t mean put the hours in for the sake of it, but play your part. One of my strong values is ownership and be accountable for your part in the overall jigsaw. Work hard, don’t let the team down, do your bit and your results will be recognised. I’m a very old fashioned believer in that.”
Miles said she had always strived to put herself outside her comfort zone in her career, firstly to learn new skills, but also to ensure she was seen by a new ‘audience’. “That got me a long way,” she said. “People saw me in a different light and they saw I was more capable than the stereotype of the role where I came from. Always put your hand up.”
She said she had always been focused on climbing the ladder, but there was also no shame in moving sideways. Miles recounted that earlier in her career she had been asked to do a job that she had no interest in, but she was talked into doing it as long as it was a finite period. “You know it was brilliant,” Miles added. “It made me rounder in terms of my skills and adaptability. My career went faster too as it improved my skills. That side-step, which I didn’t want to do, just made my career accelerate.”
You have to laugh and not take yourself too seriously along the way
Miles said it was always important to seek feedback on performance and argued a mentor from outside the industry you are working in was invaluable. She also urged YBP members to have fun at work. “You have to laugh and not take yourself too seriously along the way,” Miles added. “We do a lot of serious stuff, but you’ve got to enjoy it too. The moments I remember from my career are when it has been dark times when you’re really in the shit, when you’re in your bunker with your team thinking, ‘Just how are we going to get out of this?’ And then you start laughing and can’t stop. You will remember those moments – and I’ve had a few of them – forever. That’s how you build real friendships, and you build camaraderie.”
Planning pays dividends
One YBP member asked Miles how she managed to balance her professional career with home life, sharing that she herself had struggled to stay on track while raising three young children. Miles acknowledged that it wasn’t easy and, like many parents, she lived with the constant fear of “not doing any of it well”. She admitted: “The only way to keep the wheels on is planning. I am possibly the most organised person I know. I have to plan my life in 30-minute windows, months in advance. If you look at my calendar, it’s like that seven days a week. I travel a lot because of the job; we are a national company, I live in Twickenham but my office is in Stockport – it’s not exactly handy… it’s crackers really, but it’s just about organisation, and you need a network around you to help. My kids love talking and learning about what I do. And they wouldn’t live the life they do if I didn’t work as hard as I do. So, it’s an investment in planning and organisation to make it all work.”
Another YBP member asked Miles about her vision for the future of the industry. She reiterated that it was strange the sector lacked a meaningful relationship with its customer base. Drawing a comparison to the energy market – a purchase most people begrudge, as no one enjoys paying their energy bills – she pointed out that, despite this, the energy sector has an extensive understanding of its customers’ needs and preferences.
Miles continued: “The more we can do to get customers to buy digital tickets the more we can start a relationship with them, or use the onboard technologies that electric vehicles will present to recognise who is getting on the bus and where they are going, there is lots of opportunity. It could create a mountain of customer data. We can then develop real marketing and that’s a muscle this industry doesn’t have. Every other industry has it.
We should have it too.”
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
DON’T MISS OUT – GET YOUR COPY! – click here to subscribe!
The post Miles motivated to make buses better first appeared on Passenger Transport.